It looked similar to the ring I received as a gift from Prince Tesler.
And that ring was the one I gave to Bonis, the bathmaid of the baron family, who was my closest friend before I left the kingdom.
“Right. That ring, why is it here…?”
After confirming the pink diamond among the dissipating cold air, I looked up again at Duke Martins.
The Duke seemed to indicate me to look more closely at the jewel box with his finger.
I looked back down into the jewel box.
As the foggy cold air almost disappeared, I started to see the inside of the jewel box clearly.
“…Huh!”
As soon as I checked the contents of the jewel box, I put it down on the table as if throwing it.
“Your Majesty, do you want to check… whose this is? Uh!”
Before the Duke’s question even ended, I quickly grabbed the poker next to the fireplace and pointed it at his neck.
I wanted to pierce the Duke’s neck with this immediately.
“Explain!!”
I shouted at him, holding onto a piece of my fading sanity.
Even if I killed him, it wouldn’t be too late to hear an explanation of what the hell this situation was.
“Why is Bonis’s little finger here?!”
“Em, Empress, please calm down first!”
Duke Martins spoke in a tense tone, glancing down at the poker, just about to press down on his throat.
“Answer my question first! If not, I will calm your beating heart by pressing this down!”
While shouting, I pressed the poker heavily on his heart.
“Ugh! Your Majesty, killing me now won’t help you find the owner of that finger.”
Duke Martins quickly added, rubbing near his heart with his palm.
“I don’t know anything. I just received the jewel box.”
“Did you really get it from Prince Tesler? Why, why did he send Bonis’s finger to me? Why!”
“It seems like a warning.”
“How would the Prince know if I needed a warning or not?!”
“The Prince seems to have started feeling uneasy.”
At Duke Martins’ words, my hand lost its strength.
“What unease?”
I asked, jabbing the end of the poker on the ground.
“He seems uneasy because you have started to favor His Majesty the Emperor.”
“You’re the one who reported such nonsense! So the Prince sent me this?”
I thought the cause of all this was Duke Martins.
If it weren’t for this man, Bonis’s finger wouldn’t have been cut off.
If he hadn’t spoken strange words to Prince Tesler, if he hadn’t…
I pointed the poker at Duke Martins’ throat again.
“Duke, it’s your fault!”
“Your Majesty, please listen to me first.”
He raised both his hands as if to calm me down.
“I did receive a report from my subordinate that you two spent the night together, but I received this jewel box before that.”
“What does that mean…?”
“Yes, there must have been someone who reported before me. There are eyes and ears of Prince Tesler in the Laphion Royal Palace, besides me.”
“Who would do such a thing?”
My heart fluttered at Duke Martins’ unexpected words.
“I don’t know yet. Your Majesty, please sit down.”
I lost my energy all at once and flopped down on the sofa.
When my breathing calmed down and I felt a little more composed, I opened my mouth again.
“There is a spy that the Duke doesn’t know? But why did Prince Tesler plant someone else here, not the Duke?”
Prince Tesler was no longer a person to whom I should attach ‘nim’ (a Korean honorific).
“I find it strange too. I don’t know if Prince Tesla didn’t trust me from the start and planted a spy, or if it’s a new spy this time.”
“Do you have any guess?”
“Not yet.”
Duke Martins seemed frustrated as well.
I squinted my eyes and stared at the jewelry box again.
The chill inside the box had completely dissipated.
The pinky finger of Bonis, who was wearing a pink diamond ring, was too clearly visible.
I clenched my teeth tightly and closed the lid of the box.
“I have no clue. But one thing, I think it must be one of the people close to Her Majesty the Empress.”
The Duke spoke, looking down at my hand closing the lid of the box.
“A person close to me…?”
Hmm, I couldn’t think of anyone.
Who on earth is the person who is close to me and has a relationship with the Shatunil Kingdom?
“If it’s someone who knows about Her Majesty’s visit to the main palace last night, and the visit to the harem with Her Majesty, wouldn’t that person be close?”
It seemed that Duke Martins had already thought a lot about this.
“Do you mean one of the harem?”
“It could be one of the servants who serve the harem. I’m not sure, but I think the likelihood is high.”
“Hmm, that’s true… Bonis. Do you, Duke, have no idea what happened to Bonis after she went through this?”
I asked, pointing at the jewelry box with my chin.
“Yes, I apologize. I have asked my subordinate to find out, so please wait a bit.”
I looked into Duke Martins’ eyes for a moment.
It wasn’t a lying gaze.
“Do you really think it’s Prince Tesla’s doing?”
“Isn’t the Prince currently in charge of all affairs of the royal family on behalf of His Majesty the King who is on the sickbed? Without his command, there would be no one to send such a thing.”
“Why would he do such a thing? Why to me!”
I clenched the hem of my dress tightly.
“Probably intimidation.”
Duke Martins spoke as if it were a matter of course.
It was because of me.
Bonis had gone through this because of me.
Anger and guilt came over me.
“He must feel threatened.”
“Me?”
“No, Prince Tesla.”
“Isn’t that all thanks to you diligently reporting all this time?”
At my sarcastic tone, Duke Martins wore a wronged expression.
“It seems that not reporting diligently has rather turned out to be bad, and came back to us like this.”
He sullenly gestured towards the jewelry box.
“Bonis, did you say? She seems to be very close to Her Majesty.”
It seemed like he really didn’t know about this, judging from the way he asked that question.
“She’s the young lady of the Ephin noble house, who was with me in the royal bath as a bathmaid…”
I covered my face with both hands, bent my waist, and buried my face in my thighs.
“By any chance… is Bonis’ father the court magician Logan Ephin?”
“Yes, it’s right. The missing Logan is her father.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Duke Martins looked thoughtful.
“Why do you say so?”
“Oh, it’s nothing…”
He shrugged and continued his words.
“By the way, did you recognize Bonis’s little finger with the pink diamond ring at a glance?”
“Yes. I gave it to Bonis the day I left for here. And that pink diamond ring was a birthday gift from Prince Tesla two years ago.”
“Aha, so Prince Tesla sent the pinky finger of Bonis wearing the ring, so you can recognize it right away.”
Duke Martins nodded as if he had solved the puzzle, then leaned forward with a serious face.
“Prince Tesla told me to ‘keep each other’s line’.”
“Line? I crossed the line first, so he crossed the line too? That’s why he cut off Bonis’s little finger?”
Prince Tesla, you bastard!
I won’t let you get away with this.
“I guess that’s what he means. And if Her Majesty continues to cross the line, then perhaps something else of Bonis…”
“Stop! I don’t want to hear it.”
I plugged my ears with my hands and hung my head.
“Her Majesty, you need to keep calm, especially at times like this.”
Duke Martins spoke seriously, lowering his voice.
“Prince Tesla will be visiting the Laphion Royal Palace soon.”
“What?”
I lifted my head in surprise.
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
