My Husband Was Stolen Twice (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
His snow-white shirt was soaked entirely in blood. It wasn’t just the shirt—his hands… even his face was splattered thickly with blood.
Grand Duke Arteum swept back his hair with his bloodstained hand without even wiping it clean. Dark crimson blood clung thickly to his strands, gleaming under the light.
The Grand Duke… killed someone?
Before Roje could even rise, the Grand Duke approached her as she lay sprawled backward. He quietly reached his hand toward her.
His massive hand loomed over her as if about to swallow her whole. It stopped abruptly in midair, just short of gripping her throat. The thick, metallic stench of blood from his hand vibrated right under her nose.
Roje was terrified. She believed she would meet a brutal end just like the man whose agonized screams she had heard earlier.
“Oh dear. Offering a bloodied hand to a lady isn’t quite proper etiquette.”
Without averting his gaze from Roje, Grand Duke Arteum withdrew his hand. He casually wiped it on his shirt and then extended it toward her once more.
Snap.
Without waiting for Roje to take his hand, the Grand Duke pulled her up.
Startled almost senseless by his touch, Roje stood up without even letting out a sound.
What in the world is this man trying to do?
Pale-faced, Roje couldn’t grasp his intentions and merely swallowed hard.
“You’re quite a sight. Your dress is ruined.”
Her sky-blue dress was completely muddied and disheveled. But Roje was too preoccupied to even check her ruined dress.
She couldn’t afford to lower her guard in front of the Grand Duke. Her full attention remained fixed on Grand Duke Arteum.
‘What does he intend to do with me?’
He couldn’t possibly be unaware that she had been present at the murder scene…
The spot where the man had screamed and where Roje stood were barely a few steps apart.
‘…Is he this relaxed because he could simply kill me too?’
Roje racked her brain, trying to figure out what words might spare her life from the Grand Duke.
‘Should I beg for mercy? Pretend I saw nothing… and plead that way?’
Who knew—maybe if she begged earnestly enough, she could at least keep her life.
Trembling violently, Roje hesitated for a long while before finally locking eyes with the Grand Duke, her gaze unsteady.
And then she made up her mind—to gamble everything on Grand Duke Arteum.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything.”
Instead of groveling for her life, Roje chose to confront him head-on. At her words, an unreadable, peculiar smile appeared on the Grand Duke’s face.
It puzzled him—clearly terrified and shaking, yet displaying such audacity toward him.
“See what, exactly?”
He casually wiped the blood from his cheek with the back of his hand and asked.
“I’m saying I’ll pretend I didn’t witness you murdering someone, Your Grace.”
She tried to sound composed, but the tremor in her voice was impossible to conceal. The Grand Duke stared silently at Roje, who spoke so bluntly.
That in this situation, she didn’t beg for her life—instead, she acted so boldly.
“Murder…”
Grand Duke Arteum narrowed his eyes slightly, trailing off. Then he leaned toward Roje and murmured in a low voice.
“My lady… you truly believe I murdered someone?”
Struck right at the core, Roje flinched.
“Well…”
His question, phrased so matter-of-factly, left her tongue-tied.
Seeing Roje’s flustered expression and her inability to speak, the Grand Duke spoke once more.
“Did you perhaps see it?”
“…Yes?”
“Did you see me kill someone?”
“…No.”
She hadn’t actually seen it—but she had heard the man’s scream… and immediately afterward, the blood-soaked Grand Duke appeared. Moreover… there was even a bloodied knife at his waist.
Circumstantially, the Grand Duke must have killed him.
“You claim you saw nothing, yet you assume I committed murder. My lady, just what do you think of me?”
Though she thought of him as a “heartless, insane duke,” she couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud.
Seeing Roje stay silent like a mute, the Grand Duke shrugged nonchalantly.
“Well, I suppose my current state might invite such misunderstandings.”
“Ah…?”
So… you’re saying I’ve completely misunderstood the situation?
“Follow me.”
He gestured toward the dazed Roje and calmly began walking. Roje hurried after him, still in a daze.
The Grand Duke’s stride wasn’t particularly long, so Roje could easily keep up—indeed, he seemed to be walking unusually slowly.
She walked beside him. Just a few steps in, as they turned a corner, the stench of blood grew even stronger, so intense it made her grimace involuntarily.
Roje covered her nose with one hand and glanced around. There was no one in the grass—not even a trace of anything.
‘I definitely heard someone’s voice.’
It couldn’t have been a mistake. That sound was far too clear and agonizing. But apparently, Roje wasn’t the only one perplexed.
“She’s vanished…”
Roje heard the Grand Duke mutter, looking around at the empty surroundings.
“…What happened, Your Grace?”
“I merely rescued Marquis Bled, who was under attack by a monster.”
“Then this blood is…?”
At Roje’s question, the Grand Duke looked down at himself and replied quietly.
“It must have gotten on me while checking whether the fallen Marquis was still breathing. And that’s when I heard your footsteps.”
He explained that he’d come over, concerned there might be other victims.
‘So this was truly all a misunderstanding?’
Though some doubts still lingered, Roje nodded and said,
“…I see.”
Just then, they heard the sound of people running toward them.
“Over there!”
“Arrest the Grand Duke at once!”
Armored knights rushed swiftly toward the Grand Duke and Roje. In an instant, they surrounded Grand Duke Arteum.
“So it was you after all, Grand Duke Arteum.”
A sneering voice came from behind the knights. A man pushed through the ranks of knights with an arrogant expression.
“What is the meaning of this?”
Unfazed by the knights encircling him, the Grand Duke locked eyes firmly with the man before him.
“Grand Duke Arteum, you still seem incapable of reading the room.”
The middle-aged man, unable to hide his sneering smile, was Duke Fliche—the emperor’s closest confidant and the mastermind behind the faction aiming to execute Grand Duke Arteum.
“Marquis Bled is dead.”
‘Marquis Bled… the very man the Grand Duke claimed to have helped?’
Roje stared wide-eyed at the Grand Duke. It seemed the Grand Duke had finally realized what was unfolding.
That he had fallen straight into an inescapable trap.
Grand Duke Arteum clenched his fists as he looked at the duke who had cornered him.
“I understand the situation well enough without you spelling it out.”
The suddenly vanished Marquis Bled and the monster’s corpse—clearly, these men had conspired to frame the Grand Duke as a murderer.
People began to chime in one by one, gathering behind Duke Fliche.
“How shameless—to kill a man and act so brazenly.”
“How long do you think His Majesty will continue turning a blind eye to your actions!”
They hurled insults at the Grand Duke from behind the knights, refusing to face him directly.
“I didn’t kill Marquis Bled.”
“How absurd. Your very appearance is evidence—you’re the murderer of Marquis Bled!”
Duke Fliche pointed accusingly at the blood-drenched Grand Duke.
His presence was overwhelming. Roje didn’t yet know his title, but she could feel with her whole body that he was no ordinary man.
Yet Grand Duke Arteum was no pushover either. Unintimidated by Duke Fliche’s aura, he stepped forward toward him.
The knights, unwilling to give the Duke even an inch, drew their swords and aimed them at the approaching Grand Duke. Their blades all targeted Grand Duke Arteum’s throat.
Surrounded, Grand Duke Arteum showed no fear at the blades pointed at his neck. In fact, it was the knights who seemed unnerved.
“How dare you aim your swords at my throat? Are you so eager for death you’ve lost your wits?”
Anyone who harms a member of the imperial family is executed without question. No matter the crime, imperial family members are judged solely by imperial law.
When Grand Duke Arteum took a single step forward, the knights flinched and retreated in unison.
They had drawn their swords trusting in their lord, Duke Fliche, but they knew they could never lay a finger—let alone a blade—on the Grand Duke.
“Put your swords away.”
Ordinarily, any man would crumble when a blade is held to his throat.
Seeing his plan unravel, Duke Fliche—who had intended to drag the flustered man straight to prison—was forced to back down a step.
Grand Duke Arteum slowly walked toward Duke Fliche.
“I merely stepped out for a stroll when I found Marquis Bled under attack by a monster. I simply helped him. This blood got on me while I checked if he was still breathing.”
“A monster? Don’t make me laugh.”
Duke Fliche let out a derisive snort at the Grand Duke’s words as he approached.
“You expect us to believe Marquis Bled was attacked by some mere monster?”
“He was completely drunk and couldn’t even stand.”
“Does being drunk mean he’d fall to some common monster? He was a member of the Imperial Knights!”
“It wasn’t an ordinary monster. It was something I’d never seen before.”
The Grand Duke recalled the massive monster that had invaded his mansion—its razor-sharp claws and fangs capable of decapitating a man in one strike, and strange wings on its back.
‘It resembled a wolf… yet bore wyvern wings on its back.’
Not only was the creature grotesquely shaped, but it also possessed terrifying strength. Even he, skilled in swordsmanship, had failed to dodge its claws and suffered a deep gash on the back of his hand.
Looking at the fresh wound still visible on his hand, the Grand Duke thought of the monster that had vanished without a trace.
“How absurd. Then where exactly is this ‘monster’ you speak of?”
Duke Fliche, who had been listening, took another step forward and asked smugly.
“When I returned, it was gone.”
At the Grand Duke’s words, scattered chuckles rippled through the crowd.
“Looks like our Grand Duke has finally gone too far this time.”
Duke Fliche placed his hand firmly on the Grand Duke’s shoulder and continued,
“You should know better than to provoke the wrong person. Why go after Marquis Bled—my close friend and His Majesty’s trusted right hand?”
Was it just Roje’s imagination, or did the man’s expression seem oddly elated as he spoke of his “deceased friend”?
Wearing a sneering smile, he tightened his grip on the Grand Duke’s shoulder.
“Didn’t His Majesty just say last time—if you caused trouble once more, he’d show you no further mercy?”
The Grand Duke fell silent as he looked at the duke squeezing his shoulder.
‘They’d planned this trap all along.’
He’d said he’d lie low in the north like a dead mouse…
‘This time, there’s absolutely no escape for you, Grand Duke.’
Duke Fliche glared at the Grand Duke with mad, gleaming eyes.
He was certain of his victory—after all, he’d left the Grand Duke no room to maneuver.
Trapped, Grand Duke Arteum frantically searched his mind for a way out. But aside from revealing “that” last resort, no other option came to mind.
‘Must I reveal everything here and now?’
He couldn’t possibly lay all his cards on the table…
Just as Grand Duke Arteum was lost in thought, an unexpected voice cut in.
“I saw everything.”
Everyone turned their heads in unison toward Roje at the sudden, clear voice. At the center of their gazes stood Roje, her expression resolute and solemn.
Until then, they’d been so fixated on the Grand Duke they hadn’t even noticed her presence. They seemed genuinely surprised to find her there—up until now, Roje had been as insignificant as dust floating in the air.
“What exactly did you see? And since when have you been here?”
Duke Fliche shot Roje a hostile glare for interrupting so abruptly.
“I’ve been here the whole time.”
Roje felt every eye in the crowd suddenly fix on her and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. Then she continued in a calm voice,
“I witnessed the Grand Duke rescuing Marquis Bled and fighting the monster with my own eyes.”
At Roje’s words, the man’s face—who had been smiling moments ago—twisted grotesquely in fury.
He’d thought he’d already won…!
The Grand Duke looked at Roje, standing amidst everyone’s stares, with an unreadable expression.
Just moments ago, she had believed him to be a murderer—never in his wildest dreams had he expected her to come to his aid.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
Most Commented This Week
The Villain Has Gone Mad For Me (Completed Main Story)
I’m The Lowest-Ranking Daughter Of A Martial Arts Villain (2 Chapters Left to Complete)
I Became the Assassin Family’s Foster Daughter (Completed Main Story)
Men of the Harem (137 Chapters Left to Complete)
The Duke Only Needs My Child (Completed Main Story)
At the End of Ruin, There You Are (56 Chapters Left to Complete)
She’s a Villainess but her Husband is Handsome (Completed Main Story)
People Aren’t Meant to Be Fixed! (4 Chapters Left to Complete)
My Discarded Fiancé Returned (Completed Main Story)
Summer Must Die (16 Chapters Left to Complete)
I Received The First Time Of My Extraordinary Superior (9 Chapters Left to Complete)
Regret With All Your Might (Completed Main Story)