The woman who said that put down the hibiscus tea cup she had brought to her lips without drinking it.
Some time passed in silence.
“It would be troublesome in many ways if what you worked so hard for gets leaked. You must have done well, but double-check those who moved this time and handle them appropriately.”
“Yes.”
“Fire the child who brought the tea today. The chef as well.”
“…Pardon?”
When the woman opened her mouth, the person who had been bowing their head asked back in surprise.
The woman stared blankly at the tea that had barely touched her lips and had not diminished at all.
The woman, who had rubbed the lip mark left on the tea cup with her thumb, opened her mouth again.
“I told them not to bring out dessert, so they put sugar in the tea.”
“…I know this is presumptuous to say, but the royal physician who visited recently said your health has deteriorated greatly. Since you have become too thin, they recommended gaining some weight…”
“When I had new clothes made recently, the tailor said there was hardly any difference in measurements compared to before I gave birth to the princess. Dresses look best on me at this size.”
“…”
Yellow eyes were vaguely reflected in the pale red tea with rising steam.
As she circled the top of the tea cup with her finger, the surface gently rippled. The woman continued.
“I have to endure that much to look good in nicely fitted clothes.”
“But your health-”
“I don’t really like repeating the same story many times.”
“…”
“Do you understand what I mean?”
“…Yes.”
“Send them away. Even if not for that reason, I don’t want to keep close those who do things their master didn’t order.”
“Understood.”
The woman slowly blinked at the person who answered softly and bowed their head again. Red hair caught her eye.
The well-textured red hair the same color as the flowers blooming in the garden curled down to the woman’s waist.
She had cut it short when young because it was bothersome to manage, but after being unable to stand her father’s scolding and calling a mage to restore it, she had never touched it again.
The woman stroked her lush red hair with her fingertips and opened her mouth.
“I heard His Majesty took a new concubine this time?”
“Yes. They say she is the daughter of a baron family known for only giving birth to sons for three generations.”
“A baron… I see. I wonder which family the young lady is from.”
“…Well, since they are a fallen noble family, there was hardly any information.”
“…Is that so?”
Then she must be a timid child. The woman said as she turned her head to look out the window.
“Send a gift.”
“…”
“The usual. But let’s take special care this time.”
At the woman’s words, the person bowing their head familiarly listed the ‘gifts’ in their mind.
Pineapples and peaches, various dairy products pasteurized at low temperature. In addition, they thought of a few other things like crustaceans and tea leaves.
“You may go now. Don’t forget to find out how the gifts were used.”
“Yes.”
“Ah, come to think of it, I heard the princess was happy about her good history exam results recently.”
“I will tell them to send a reward to her as well.”
“Tell them to give something appropriate. Giving too much unnecessarily may make her conceited.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Good.”
“…”
The person who was about to go out to handle the task at the woman’s additional order froze for a moment.
It was because they had forgotten to mention the most important thing.
The woman, who had been looking at the person bowing motionlessly with curiosity, tilted her head and asked.
“You’re not leaving?”
“…”
“…”
“…Actually, there was a message from the temple a few days ago.”
“Is that so?”
“…”
“But why are you telling me that only now? Didn’t I say to bring letters from the temple to me right away?”
“To check for any potential issues…”
Tok, tok.
The woman tapped the table with her index finger. As soon as that sound rang about five times, cold sweat ran down the back of the person who had their gaze fixed on the floor.
The empress only keeps by her side those who move exactly as she orders.
Even if they acted with her in mind, she cannot stand situations arising outside her control, so if they do not follow orders, she will mercilessly cast them out.
This was something they had done on their own due to excessive suspicion, so they had to accept whatever consequences followed.
The person, who had been by the empress’s side since she was the daughter of Viscount Alvarez and is now the head court lady of the empress’s palace, closed her eyes tightly.
She was waiting for the words that would soon fall upon her head…
“Dora.”
“…”
“I truly cherish you very much. Perhaps if it weren’t for you, I may not have been able to endure in this imperial palace. I’m tempted to tell you to pack your bags and leave right now, but…”
“…”
“It would be difficult to find someone like you again. There won’t be a second chance, so I hope you won’t disappoint me any further.”
“…!”
Dora hurriedly raised her head, barely coming to her senses.
None other than ‘that’ empress had turned a blind eye.
As Dora bowed deeply for a long time, the empress who had been silently watching her opened her mouth.
“So did you bring the letter?”
“Yes, yes. It’s here. There were no unusual traces on the letter.”
Dora, who had secretly hidden the letter in her sleeve, immediately handed it to the empress.
Due to the previous order not to check the contents, the wax seal remained intact.
The empress unfolded the pure white letter she received from Dora.
Then-
Fwoosh!
“…!”
Dora was startled by the letter burning in midair and blinked rapidly.
Other than that, there was no outward indication, so if someone else saw, there would be almost no chance of them realizing she was quite surprised.
The empress seemed to be an exception.
Rolling her eyes to glance at Dora, the empress said,
“I told you to burn the letter as soon as you see it. His Majesty also has many accessories like this, so you don’t seem that surprised.”
“…I apologize.”
“That much is fine. More importantly,”
“…”
“It seems it’s time to appoint a new viscount to the Ratliffe family. I’m afraid to take my eyes off them for a moment, as they keep causing trouble outside my sight…”
“…Pardon?”
Dora rolled her eyes at the empress’s unexpected remark.
What in the world was written in the letter for her to suddenly say such a thing?
That question did not last long. The empress, who beckoned Dora closer with her finger, opened her mouth and spoke softly into Dora’s ear.
“It seems the duke has a new lover. According to the pope, she seems to be the daughter of a branch of the Mason family.”
“…Is there a woman in the Mason branch family? As far as I know, there’s no one except those older than the previous duchess…”
“Even she passed away last year, so it must be a lie. In the first place, you know there would be few who believe that.”
“…”
“The duke should still have a young son. Considering he’s trying to take a second wife not long after returning from the battlefield, it’s suspicious.”
“I will look into it.”
“He’s a duke and a swordmaster. It would be troublesome if we carelessly provoke him, so do it quietly.”
“Yes.”
Dora bowed briefly.
As Dora immediately turned to leave the room, the empress, who had been silently watching her back, thought.
‘Earl Mason definitely left for his territory yesterday.’
That in itself was nothing special, but it was strange that he took a carriage instead of using a gate or scroll.
The earl’s workload was not small as far as she knew, so deliberately taking a carriage when he could reach the territory at once was odd.
Tok, tok.
The empress, who had tapped the table a few more times with her index finger, called Dora to a halt.
“-I heard Earl Mason is heading to his territory by carriage, so check it out. We need to find out if it’s really the earl moving alone.”
“Yes.”
“Before the sun sets today. Find out by then.”
“…”
“Be careful not to let this reach Father’s ears. He has such a hot temper that he may act hastily and ruin things. It’s the same for elder brother, so keep quiet.”
Dora listened silently to the empress’s continuing words and bowed deeply.
Knowing that meant agreement, the empress slowly blinked as she looked out the window at the still blue sky.
‘…Maybe I should visit the princess’s palace in the evening for the banquet I couldn’t attend last time.’
The letter that had burned black and turned to ash was sinking under the red tea.
[This is the timeline separator]Meanwhile, inside the carriage headed to the Mason territory.
Aeli watched the child who had at some point left Lutis’s lap and was now pressing her forehead against the carriage window to look outside.
‘I’m glad the child doesn’t get motion sickness, but…’
Wasn’t that state a bit much to maintain for days?
Aeli clicked her tongue as the stuffed rabbit in the child’s hand got squished against the window in the meantime.
Motion sickness wasn’t easy to completely cure even with medicine depending on one’s constitution, so naturally the child suffered the entire time traveling by carriage.
The departure was later than expected, so they had to find a village before sunset to avoid camping out.
They couldn’t camp out with a child present, even if it was fine with just adults.
So the plan was to take a gate to a nearby territory of the Masons to save some time in the middle.
[…] [Adi.] […] […Adi?]The child froze with a betrayed expression at the familiar gate unfolding before her eyes.
She declared she would rather camp out than take that, and they tried to appease her somehow, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, Noel, who had been intently watching this scene, approached the child and brought his finger to her small forehead.
[I, I like trees. I can sleep anywhere well?] [Adi. It’s not about the trees…] […Come here.]Then he cast magic.
It was natural for the child, surprised by her instantly cured stomach, to look up at Noel.
And to add, Aeli also looked up in surprise.
Because she had never heard of such magic existing until she died.
As she blankly looked up at Noel and belatedly asked, she received the answer that he had made it before but stopped using it because it became useless.
‘Why is this useless…’
The difficulty of casting the magic was too high compared to its use.
She wondered what weirdo would create such a formula for curing motion sickness, but it turned out to be her own flesh and blood.
Aeli sighed softly and gazed at the child’s back.
Anyway, since she didn’t get motion sickness after that, she fidgeted in the carriage for a while, slept, whined to her and Lutis that she was bored, and eventually stuck her nose to the window.
It seemed not bad to quietly watch the rapidly changing scenery, as there wasn’t much to see outside.
Aeli was about to tell the child to sit down right away as it was dangerous to stand in a moving carriage.
Screech-.
“We’ve arrived!”
A short shout came from the coachman’s seat. Only then did Aeli realize the scenery outside the window was too familiar, and her mouth opened slightly.
It was the final destination of their days-long journey.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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