The Deposed Empress and Her New Husband (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
With eyes brimming with intense curiosity, Renev thought, her lashes lowered.
When no immediate reply came, Ikar impatiently raised one eyebrow and pressed her.
“Or perhaps you haven’t heard even a whisper about the foreign emperor?”
Renev took a deep breath before slowly opening her mouth.
“I understand His Majesty, the Emperor of Vaschker, to be exceedingly ‘devout’ and ‘chaste.’”
“What?”
One of Ikar’s eyebrows shot sharply upward.
Though his expression looked vaguely roguish, his strikingly handsome features only doubled his charm.
“Lord Drhan, of all people—you’ve received direct orders from the Emperor himself. You must know His Majesty inside and out.”
“If you’re trying to probe me, stop. I won’t let it slide.”
“…….”
This time, one of Renev’s eyebrows tilted downward.
Hadn’t he just been curious about her own reputation?
She couldn’t fathom why he’d changed his tone so abruptly.
Just as Renev’s lips twitched, about to voice a hint of complaint—
Ikar suddenly raised his voice.
“Stop the carriage!”
The swiftly moving carriage jolted to an abrupt halt, throwing Renev off balance.
“Ah!”
A cry escaped Renev as her head struck the carriage wall. Ikar glanced at her briefly with a look of pity.
But only for a moment—then, without further concern, he leapt out of the carriage.
“What was that, all of a sudden? Ahh, it hurts…….”
Renev was clutching her head and groaning softly when—
“…….”
A low growl sounded from outside the carriage.
Renev checked that the carriage door was tightly shut, then peered out the window.
Enormous black creatures—too large to be mere wolves—surrounded the carriage.
At that moment, one beast lunged at Ikar. Ikar swung his sword toward the charging creature.
Each beast was as large as a grown man, yet every time he swung his blade, another collapsed to the ground.
He swung again at a beast charging from the side.
Dark crimson droplets sprayed onto the carriage window, and the severed head of the creature rolled across the ground.
“……!”
The sight triggered something in Renev.
For an instant, Patrick—lying decapitated on the execution block—overlapped with the beast in her vision. Renev fainted right then and there.
Ikar swiftly dispatched the pack of wolves and climbed back into the carriage.
His eyes fell upon Renev, slumped limply against the seat.
“Hey! Hey! Wake up!”
While patting Renev’s cheek, Ikar shouted to the coachman.
“Change course to the nearest village!”
“Yes, yes!”
The coachman immediately urged the horses forward.
Inside the rattling carriage, Ikar looked down at Renev and quietly murmured as he wiped the bloodstain from her cheek.
“If the young lady wakes up and sees herself like this, she’ll faint again…….”
When Renev regained consciousness, she was inside the jolting carriage once more.
“Hey, are you awake?”
Through her narrow, blurry vision, she saw Ikar’s furrowed face.
“I think… so.”
As she tried to sit up, Ikar gently pressed down on her shoulder.
“Stay lying down a while longer.”
“I’m fine now.”
When Renev tried again to rise, Ikar huffed in annoyance.
“How can you say you’re fine when you keep fainting like that at the slightest thing?”
Renev truly wanted to sit up. After all, the back of her head was resting against Ikar’s thigh, which felt as hard as stone.
And with the carriage shaking her violently as it sped along, her head was beginning to ache.
“My lord Drhan, I appreciate your concern, but I really am fine.”
Renev firmly asserted herself and sat up.
“You’re unusually stubborn.”
Shaking his head, Ikar helped her rise.
‘How much farther do we have to go?’
Renev absentmindedly turned toward the carriage window—but froze. A flash of memory from before she’d fainted returned.
But she quickly steeled herself.
‘I can’t keep hearing that I faint at the sight of blood.’
She didn’t want Ikar to think of her as a nuisance anymore. Renev blinked rapidly as she looked toward the window.
It was clean.
“Did you clean the carriage window, my lord Drhan?”
“Weren’t you the one who fainted at the sight of blood?”
“Well… maybe.”
Renev turned her gaze outside, avoiding the memory she didn’t wish to recall.
“We don’t seem to have passed the western border yet.”
“I turned the carriage around. With a precious young lady fainting like that, what would be the point of going to Vaschker?”
It sounded like a reprimand at first, but Renev thought Ikar might actually be rather kind.
‘Come to think of it…’
That time had been similar.
Back when she was pregnant with Kael, Renev had suffered from severe anemia. On the day of the Founding Festival, the palace staff had urged her to rest.
But Lucius refused to allow the Empress’s absence.
He insisted that if the Empress didn’t appear at such an important event, the nobles would suspect discord between the imperial couple.
In the end, Renev had to stand before the crowd at the Founding Festival, cradling her swollen belly, and smile like a stuffed doll.
She’d barely managed to endure, crushed under the weight of her constricting dress and heavy ornaments.
Dizziness had suddenly washed over her.
After all, it wasn’t surprising—she’d been walking the vast imperial palace for hours.
‘Are you all right?’
Someone had reached out a hand to steady her as she swayed.
“Hey, are you really okay? What if you had a brain hemorrhage or something when you passed out…?”
Ikar asked, one eyebrow raised.
Snapped out of her reverie, Renev gave a faint smile and thought:
She really had fainted just now.
But ‘faint like that’?
It was almost as if Ikar had witnessed what happened at the imperial ball.
“By the way, my lord Drhan—why did you say I ‘keep fainting like that’? I only fainted today for the first time. ‘Like that’ implies it happens often.”
Just then, the carriage stopped, and a voice came from the driver’s seat.
“The road to the nearest village is flooded.”
“This is troublesome.”
A faint crease appeared between Ikar’s otherwise straight brows.
Though she was slightly curious about his answer to her earlier question, Renev focused on the present.
“Why the village all of a sudden?”
“Why? My lady, you are the precious daughter of a noble house.”
“Did you change course because of me?”
Ikar gave her a look that said, “Do you really need to ask?”
“If that’s the case, I’m fine now. We can go straight to Vaschker.”
Renev quickly added, and Ikar sighed as if resigned.
“Well, at this point, it seems there’s no other way but that road.”
How much longer had they traveled toward the border?
Outside the window, the sky had already turned the color of sunset.
Every inch of Renev’s backside and spine ached, yet she couldn’t bring herself to suggest stopping for rest.
They were already delayed because she’d fainted and forced a detour.
Besides, she didn’t want to hear again that she was “the precious young lady of a noble house.”
“Hold on.”
Ikar, who had been silently gazing out the window, tapped the carriage wall.
The carriage gradually slowed and soon came to a stop.
“We must have reached the border.”
Renev nodded faintly as she gazed at the desolate western sunset.
“I suppose so.”
“This should be the region bordering the Seiren Marquisate. You speak as if you’ve never been here before.”
Though the landscape felt oddly familiar, today was actually the first time Renev had come this far.
“I’ve lived in the capital manor since I was a child.”
The sunset, vanishing beneath the endless horizon, was breathtakingly beautiful.
For a moment, she recalled Kael’s soft face, nestled warmly in the folds of her dress.
She’d always wanted to show Kael only the best things in life—the child she would never see again for the rest of her days.
“…….”
Her eyes quickly grew damp, but Renev lifted her chin slightly to hold back her tears.
Just as Renev turned to get out of the carriage—
“……?”
A large hand suddenly entered her field of vision.
“You must be stiff from sitting in this jolting carriage. Yet you didn’t complain once during the whole ride.”
Could he possibly be… complimenting her?
Startled by Ikar’s unexpectedly warm hand—so hot it bordered on feverish—Renev instinctively pulled away.
“Do I need to carry you out of the carriage, my lady?”
As he spoke, Ikar moved to lift her. Renev’s cheeks flushed slightly as she hastily waved her hands.
“I-I’m fine! I can get down on my own.”
“As you wish.”
This time, Ikar offered his hand politely. Renev gave a small, amused snort and took it.
The moment Renev stepped down from the carriage, Ikar’s hand withdrew.
She stared at his large hand for a brief moment.
Before she’d transmigrated into this book, she’d died a lifelong singleton. There was even a saying: “If you don’t do it by thirty, you become an archmage…”
Anyway, for that reason, Lucius had been the entirety of her romantic experience.
And his hands had always been cold.
Unlike him, Ikar’s warm hand leaving hers felt… just a little regrettable.
“By the way, my lord Drhan—why did you suddenly stop the carriage?”
Surely not out of concern for her backside?
“We should freshen up first.”
Ikar pointed toward a nearby stream.
His clothes were stiff with dried blood.
In the original story, he’d been described as slightly fastidious. She supposed it must feel unpleasant indeed.
And she felt the same.
Renev crouched down a short distance away from Ikar. When she dipped her hand into the clear water, she let out a short cry.
“Ugh!”
“What’s wrong?”
Ikar’s sharp voice followed instantly.
Too embarrassed to admit the water was just too cold, Renev hesitated.
But before she could stammer out an explanation, Ikar had already drawn his sword and rushed right up to her.
Renev sighed deeply and confessed honestly.
“The water’s really cold—I just jumped when I put my hand in….”
She expected him to mock her again as a fussy young lady.
But for some reason, Ikar defended her.
“You’re right. You could get frostbite—better be careful.”
He looked down at Renev’s quickly reddened hands as he spoke.
‘Huh?’
She couldn’t figure out at all what part of that had earned his sympathy.
While Renev puzzled over his confusing reaction, Ikar walked over to the coachman and gave some instructions.
The coachman led the horses toward the water. Their tiredness was evident in their weary whinnies as they moved away.
It would be cruel to keep riding them like this.
“My lord Drhan—how about we rest here until sunrise?”
Ikar nodded, as if he’d been thinking the same.
‘I never expected we’d end up spending the night outdoors without even stopping by a village.’
Renev’s brow furrowed at the unforeseen turn of events.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (83)
I am actually with Ikar on this one! If you knew you are helpless without maids, should have brought atleast one along
What happened to the intense revenge drama ? Not liking this !
Just as I was getting annoyed about the faking, they added the hair dying , I will allow it
Inline Comments (1)
It felt familiar yet warm—somehow.
How an already 30 chapters in without anything significant happening?!
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VKotaku28
Poor horses!! But even with your past life as an empress, you know surprisingly little