A cold chill flowed down her back.
Belia took a deep breath at the goosebumps that emerged. She needed to calm down. She had to organize her thoughts more calmly.
“Hoo…”
If the assumption she just recalled was true.
“No. It can’t be.”
Covering her face, Belia rested her elbows on the desk.
Leading an army and attacking without saying a word, just as Raul had done to Ronica in her previous life, would be condemned across the entire continent. Therefore, the current Emperor would never engage in such actions. It was only natural to declare in advance before starting a war.
“But what if negotiations with the Yakum Kingdom were secretly underway from the beginning?”
If the capturing of hostages was also a ploy by Raul to put Khalid in the negotiator’s position?
If this war declaration was not sudden but rather a pre-arranged agreement between them…
“If we assume that the Yakum Kingdom and they had already secretly allied…”
An individual who could conduct negotiations undercover and carry out such actions must not be someone unfit for the position of the current Emperor.
Though he was ambitious, deceiving everyone and scheming secretly wasn’t his nature.
‘In the end, in all these circumstances, it’s not the current Emperor but Raul who is the mastermind.’
Raul, who regained his memories, showed a completely different course of action than before.
He had endured more than ten years in the position close to the emperor. He was the one who ruled the empire for more than ten years as a prince almost on the throne. The experience and perspective differed from before.
When he gathered the eastern nobles and formed an alliance between the southern and eastern regions, Belia should have noticed.
“…It’s a mistake.”
She thought he hadn’t fully regained all his memories, watching Raul calling her Empress. But to make all the assumptions true, it must be presumed that Raul had indeed recovered all his memories.
Belia swept her hair away with both hands and leaned back against the chair, resting her head on the back.
“If he regained all his memories…”
Until the moment he killed her.
The hand covering Belia’s eyes trembled slightly.
From when, to where, and how.
“Empress.”
Then why did Raul always cast such a tender gaze whenever he looked at me?
“Belia.”
The auditory hallucination of Raul calling her name in a husky voice lingered in her ears.
A few days ago, when she asked the maid to check the atmosphere in the palace, the maid said it wasn’t much different from before.
There was some turbulence due to the sudden war declaration, but it didn’t feel abnormally strange.
However, there was one part that couldn’t be easily overlooked in the maid’s words.
“…Are you sure about that?”
Belia asked quietly.
The maid responded with an expression of incomprehension.
“Yes. The maids and servants in the First Prince’s residence have changed a lot.”
The news brought by the maid was a story that even Belia hadn’t anticipated. She had only asked to read the atmosphere, thinking she might sense something being prepared.
The maid’s voice was heavy.
“At first, I didn’t notice. It’s natural to get familiar with new maids because new ones have come. But when Your Highness asked me to check the atmosphere, it suddenly came to my mind. Most of the maids in the First Prince’s residence are newcomers.”
“Where did the existing maids go?”
“I don’t know. I tried asking other maids, but they all quit their jobs and went back to their hometowns.”
The maid bit her lip.
“But it’s impossible.”
Belia closed her eyes.
Why did they all disappear?
And so quietly and secretly that nobody could notice.
“Disappearing nearly ten maids in just half a year. Moreover, when including the male servants, the number of disappearances is even greater. This doesn’t seem like a trivial matter.”
It was clear that some incident had occurred.
Khalid, who had become busier due to the sudden declaration of war, returned after finishing his work and nodded as he listened to Belia’s thoughts.
“Perhaps the maids found out about the secret dealings with the Yakum Kingdom.”
Khalid spoke quietly.
It seemed that he had harbored such suspicions for a while.
There might have been some kind of deal between the Empire and the Yakum Kingdom.
“…Are they dead?”
“Probably.”
Belia let out a deep sigh.
“The maids have been changing one by one for the past six months. If that’s the case, they might have been aware of secret talks with the Yakum Kingdom around that time.”
It hadn’t been long since Raul confessed to Belia about recovering his memories. However, if all of that was just an act…
“…Did they abandon us?”
“Well, who knows. Anyway, if there were dealings with the Yakum Kingdom, there should be traces left somewhere. We’re looking into that as well, and something will be revealed soon.”
After all, the purpose was not a real war.
“The goal is to raise Raul as the Crown Prince.”
Khalid nodded.
“This winter will be crucial. And Erington Grand Duke should start taking more active actions than planned.”
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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