……Whaaaaat?
What did I just hear?
Smith gaped, mouth wide open, letting out a bizarre sound as if struck by immense shock. After a while, his pupils wandered aimlessly before he barely managed to spit out the next words.
“You’re… you’re lying, right?”
“It’s true.”
“B-but why? You said you broke off your engagement last time. Who are you marrying…?”
At that moment, footsteps echoed from behind me.
“Who else?”
A low… yet somehow teasingly cheerful voice, tinged with mockery. Smith’s expression darkened as he recognized the person approaching from behind me.
“It’s me.”
Edan shoved his right hand into his pocket and proudly extended his left toward Smith. On Edan’s fourth finger rested a ring identical in design to mine. He looked unbearably smug.
Smith’s gaze flicked once to my left hand, then once to Edan’s left hand. Then his face twisted into one on the verge of tears.
A supremely satisfied, triumphant smile curled at the corners of Edan’s lips.
“If you’ve grasped the situation, behave yourself. I tolerated your antics for fun until now, but from this point forward, no more confessions. No more flirting like just now.”
“……Ugh.”
“Not ‘ugh.’ I mean it—I’ll kill you.”
“…….”
Edan, with that beautiful face of his, casually declared murder and tilted his head slightly with a smile.
His expression was gentle, but his eyes were genuinely murderous—like a predator’s.
Smith flinched backward. Yet he bit down hard on his lower lip, took a deep breath, and steadied himself.
“D-do you… do you actually like Lady Latieana Merigold?”
Pfft—Edan let out a scoff.
“Like her? That’s not even close.”
“……? Then what is it?”
“Love.”
“…….”
Sigh. What childish squabble is this.
Smith wore the face of a thoroughly defeated man, utterly shocked—as if he’d just lost his entire kingdom.
“I’ll let you leave gracefully today. Just go.”
Edan stood beside me and gave a light, dismissive nod.
“No! I have something to say!”
“What.”
Edan frowned deeply, clearly annoyed and unwilling to engage further.
Intimidated by Edan’s menacing aura, Smith instinctively stepped back first—likely traumatized from being hit there before. He really should’ve just left, but instead, Smith clenched both fists as if staking his life and shouted his question.
“F-favorite beautiful spots of the person you love—name one hundred million! Tell me!”
“What?”
“You said it to me before! That you could easily name a hundred million beautiful spots of the person you love, while I couldn’t! Today it’s my turn to ask—you answer too!”
No! Not that! Smoothie! What’s wrong with you! Snap out of it!
I shook my head vigorously, signaling Smith to stop, but he didn’t budge.
Where did he get this courage?! Edan’s icy gaze landed squarely on Smith’s face.
“Ah. That.”
“…….”
“Well, easy.”
Huh? Is he seriously going to answer?
I stared up at him with curiosity no less intense than Smith’s.
I expected Edan to brush it off with something like, “Why should I even answer such a ridiculous question?” Instead, he smiled benevolently—with absolute confidence.
Edan lifted one corner of his mouth and replied brightly.
“Every single strand of her hair. Even roughly counted, someone like Latieana Merigold must have around a hundred thousand strands.”
“…….”
“…….”
“And the human body contains cells. Conservatively estimated, at least thirty trillion.”
“…….”
“…….”
Smith and I froze, staring at Edan as he spoke with perfect nonchalance.
Was he seriously thinking of that answer? How am I even supposed to process this ridiculous response? Isn’t this outright cheating?
Too stunned to speak, we stood silent as the chilly autumn wind of the eastern region whistled past us.
Creak—Smith turned his head toward me. He too was speechless, lips twitching meaninglessly. After a moment, as if snapping back to reality, he suddenly yelled.
“Th-th-th-that counts as a beautiful spot?!”
“What, got a problem with it?”
But Edan paid zero attention to Smith’s reaction.
“That’s so unfair! Hair and cells?! That’s… that’s ridiculous!”
“Smoothie.”
“My name is not—!”
“Yes. Smoothie.”
“…….”
Smith’s lips pressed tightly shut under Edan’s cold, condescending gaze as Edan tilted his chin arrogantly.
“Hair is still part of the person you love. If you truly love someone, even their hair looks beautiful.”
“But still…!”
“What, can’t accept it?”
“Of course not! How could anyone accept that?! My answer from back then was at least more sincere than yours now!”
“Oh, right.”
Edan gave a small nod at Smith’s stubbornness. At first glance, it looked like he was yielding gracefully to Smith’s opinion.
Edan pulled his right hand out of his pocket and slowly raised it into the air.
“What… what are you doing?”
“You’ll understand how precious hair is once you go bald.”
“……Huh?”
“Seriously. I think every single strand of hair on the person I love is precious and beautiful—but you clearly don’t. So why not experience it firsthand?”
Edan sneered and grabbed Smith’s head firmly with his large hand.
“Bald Smoothie. Doesn’t sound bad.”
Ignoring Smith’s rapidly paling face, Edan gripped his hair without hesitation.
Is he planning to pull it all out? Is he insane?!
“Edan, stop messing with people.”
“…….”
Unable to watch any longer, I stepped in. Edan clicked his tongue lightly and finally released Smith’s head.
“I’m sorry, Smith. The wedding will be next spring. I’ll send someone to the postman to deliver invitations. Please come, okay?”
Smith nodded rapidly up and down while clutching his head with both hands. For a brief moment, he’d clearly been gripped by terror at the thought of actually going bald. And honestly—if it were Edan, he really might’ve pulled it all out. It’s possible.
I glanced worriedly at Smith’s hair. Thankfully, not a single strand was missing.
Ugh. Seriously!
I whipped my head around to glare at Edan—just as Ruben appeared at the entrance, his black cloak billowing. Approaching expressionlessly, Ruben frowned slightly at one eyebrow, as if assessing the situation. After briefly scanning us, he bowed his head toward me, then turned fully to face Edan.
“Your Grace. The Imperial Palace has sent documents requiring your verification.”
Instantly, Smith lifted his head.
“Wha… what? Your Grace…?”
Ruben’s icy gaze turned toward Smith.
“And you are?”
“I’m from the neighborhood below—”
“He’s my acquaintance, Sir Ruben.”
I abruptly stepped between them.
Smith—if he gets any more shocked, he might actually start crying.
“Ah, an acquaintance of Lady Latieana Merigold.”
Ruben’s gaze softened slightly as he gave a light nod.
“How close are you two?”
“I’m even inviting him to the wedding. He’s not a bad person—don’t scare him like that.”
“Understood.”
Ruben dropped his murderous glare and continued.
“But aren’t you standing a bit too close?”
Ruben… did you catch Edan’s obsession syndrome?
“Seems that way.”
But without a word, I stepped several paces away from Smith.
It was true we’d been standing a bit close—and Edan, glaring fiercely, had clearly been about to say something similar.
I couldn’t let poor, kind Smith get beaten up any further.
“Um… Lady Latieana Merigold as a duchess? What do you mean?”
“You didn’t know?”
“I mean, what—”
“This is Edan Dietrich, Duke of the North and Second Imperial Prince. And the Lady Latieana Merigold before you is scheduled to become Duchess next spring.”
Smith’s face instantly flooded with shock.
“……What?”
Normally, this would be the perfect moment to shout something rude and storm off—but Smith just stood there, dumbfounded, staring blankly at Edan and me for a long while.
***
The Imperial Palace, which I hadn’t visited in a long time, had changed greatly. The castle’s overall location and structure remained unchanged, but the gardens and finer details were completely transformed. They’d apparently rebuilt nearly everything after heavy wartime damage—and now it looked far more elegant and beautiful.
“What kind of person did you think she was?”
“Hmm. Had dark hair.”
“And?”
“Was she tall?”
“Anything else?”
“Don’t know.”
“What kind of answer is that.”
I slumped back against the carriage cushion, disappointed by Edan’s indifferent replies to my questions about Empress Benica Dietrich. There was nothing useful to extract.
“Well, she doesn’t seem like a bad person.”
“Really? Why?”
“Seems like my brother quite likes her.”
“Oh.”
Is that really how you judge people? I couldn’t help but laugh at Edan’s childishly simple reasoning.
To hide my smile, I turned to gaze out the window at the palace scenery.
Killian Dietrich had adored Ciela intensely—but she was never someone you could call “good.”
“She’s different from Ciela.”
As if reading my thoughts, Edan added.
“I hope so.”
And… she truly was.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Benica Dietrich.”
Wasn’t Killian Dietrich’s type supposed to be petite and delicate like Ciela? Or did his tastes change completely after that traumatic incident?
Either way, it was a good thing—though Benica, the wife Killian Dietrich had taken, was utterly different from what I’d expected.
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.]
