This Marriage Must End in Tragedy (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
Ansi’s pupils wavered.
It was as if she had misheard something.
“You’re considering… marrying me?”
“Yes.”
“You like me that much?”
“Yes.”
Contrary to his blunt answer, the man turned his head slightly, as though embarrassed. Ansi stared at his profile with an expression of utter disbelief.
A quiet steam locomotive.
That’s what she decided to call him.
To have even imagined such an ending—he must surely be out of his mind.
How could anyone possibly harbor such feelings in the first place? Was it even conceivable to decide something as weighty as marriage based on that trivial emotion? Was he merely speaking carelessly, or was he truly serious?
She didn’t know—and that uncertainty flustered her.
After all, Ansi didn’t believe in love.
While girls her age read romance novels, she read history books. While her friends discussed the price of gowns for balls, she discussed the market price of arugula from her estate.
When her close friend Elise claimed marriage was a sacred ceremony to be shared with someone you loved, Ansi thought such a reason was utterly absurd and impossible.
And now, the man standing before her—this man—wanted to marry her for that very absurd reason? With her?
“I…”
Fine. What was there to delay? Might as well marry now.
Her mind commanded her to say it, yet the words refused to leave her lips. The thought of courting—and possibly marrying—a man from the house she despised, Orphe, wrapped her in unrefined fear.
“I…”
Her trembling voice slipped out. Ansi quickly clamped her mouth shut. Giving an answer felt unbearably difficult.
“I suppose I’ve pressed you too hard.”
Noticing her state, Damion spoke up.
“I knew you didn’t love me yet. Even so, having heard so much about you from Colonel Rubelsa, I suppose that explains my feelings…”
“Hm?”
What pulled her out of her hesitation was another truth the man had just revealed.
“Oh, I haven’t mentioned it yet, have I? During my time in the military, I served briefly under Colonel Rubelsa. He often spoke of you—how clever and resolute his daughter was.”
[This is the timeline separator]“Did Father… really talk about me that often?”
A glimmer passed over the hesitant woman’s face.
A faint thrill enveloped Damion—similar to the sensation just before a successful hunt.
He could have mentioned Colonel Rubelsa from the start, but he’d been cautious. He didn’t know how this woman felt about the father who’d ruined her future, and he feared sadness or melancholy might overshadow any affection before it even began.
The mention of a deceased father was a card with too unpredictable a reaction, so he’d wisely set it aside for now.
Thus, he’d used their meeting at House Jepp’s charity event as his opening.
She must have mulled over that simple, powerful fact—“love at first sight”—countless times over the past week.
Meanwhile, Damion had recently learned something new: a young woman had visited Colonel Rubelsa’s long-neglected grave, and the graffiti on the tombstone had been cleaned away.
Now was clearly the right moment to play that delayed card.
“The Colonel was always so proud of you. Hearing him repeatedly boast about his beautiful, impressive daughter in the capital made even me feel excited.”
A powerful bond between people makes one look again—and sometimes becomes the very reason one finally reaches for the other’s hand.
In their case, that bond was Colonel Rubelsa.
And, as expected, events unfolded precisely as Damion had foreseen.
The woman, who had briefly lowered her head in sorrow at the memory of her father, lifted her face again to meet Damion’s eyes.
Her next words carried a noticeably softer tone than before.
“Father was a man of few words. If he spoke of me often, it must mean he trusted you deeply.”
“I admired the Colonel greatly as well.”
“Perhaps… he even considered me a suitable match for you.”
“In fact, he once told me he wished to entrust you to me.”
Damion frowned slightly and let out a soft chuckle—an intentionally bashful, practiced laugh.
The truth was, Colonel Rubelsa, like any good father of a noble daughter, hadn’t gone around boasting about her. He knew that carelessly sharing details about his daughter would only make her fodder for gossip among men.
Yet it was true that the Colonel had trusted Damion.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have revealed the secrets of his earldom just to beg for his wife’s life. Nor would he have asked someone to care for his wife and daughter after his death.
And he certainly wouldn’t have disclosed the truth—that altering a loved one’s future required sacrificing one’s own lifespan—unless he believed Damion wouldn’t steal his daughter’s life in return.
But Colonel Rubelsa’s judgment had been mistaken.
Damion de Orphe was a selfish man who placed his own goals above all else—and would willingly sacrifice others to achieve them.
His life’s purpose was to claim Orphe.
During those hellish days, he had thought endlessly about why he himself should live—and that was the conclusion he’d reached.
He felt sorry for Colonel Rubelsa, but that trust had become a finely honed blade in Damion’s hands.
“It might sound foolish, but I believe this is fate—that I lost my heart the moment I first saw you, that I happened to serve under Colonel Rubelsa, and that we’ve met again like this. All of it.”
It was an utterly convincing tale—even Damion himself almost believed it as he spoke.
And to this foolish woman, cornered and vulnerable, how perfectly tempting that lifeline must have seemed.
“…Yes. It does feel like fate.”
Her reply was simple.
But a clear light flashed in her eyes—a certainty so strong it might as well have been called conviction.
“To be honest, I thought you’d take back your words about liking me.”
“Well…”
Damion tilted his head shyly, his pale blond hair spilling slightly forward.
“I’m sorry. I acted pettily because you were pretending not to see me.”
“I never meant to ignore you.”
“I know. But I find myself elated or disheartened by your every move. Even now, I’m anxious, wondering how you’ll answer me.”
Ansi stared openly at Damion as he gave a bitter smile. After blinking slowly, as if finally organizing her thoughts, she spoke.
“Then let’s court.”
At last.
Damion’s face lit up with a bright smile. Though his expression usually appeared cold, it softened beautifully when he smiled.
Silently gazing at Ansi with excitement and tenderness, he gently pulled her hand and drew her into his embrace.
When her body met his firm chest, Ansi unconsciously held her breath.
“Lord Damion.”
“I’ll treat you well.”
His gentle voice echoed in her ear. After a brief moment of stiffness, she slowly raised her hands and wrapped them around Damion’s back.
Damion’s lips curved upward.
The deer, once trembling in fear and fleeing, now accepted the food offered by the human before her, her eyes wide and trusting.
Unaware that this peaceful, cozy place, where food lay so kindly, was in truth a trap of his own making.
[This is the timeline separator]“Mother.”
Back at home, Ansi prepared water and medicine, then opened the door.
Sophia de Rubelsa, the former countess, lay fast asleep on a narrow bed. Noticing the dried tear tracks at her mother’s eyes once again, Ansi gently shook her awake.
“It’s time for your medicine.”
“Derel?”
Calling her son’s name, Sophia opened her eyes. Seeing her daughter seated by the bed, she gave a faint smile.
“Oh, it’s you, Ansi. I thought you were Derel.”
But brother is dead, Ansi swallowed silently.
Overwhelmed by the simultaneous deaths of her husband and son, Sophia had half-lost her mind. Half her time remained in the present, while the other half lingered in the past. Nowadays, it was often hard to tell where she truly was.
“Just take your medicine and go back to sleep.”
“No, I dozed off and slept too long already. Mother must get to work. Lately, I find knitting more fun than embroidery.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Ansi’s lips curled into a smile. Sophia rose from the bed.
“Rain, I baked a fig pie—would you like some?”
Whenever she called her daughter “Rain,” it meant Sophia was truly lucid—she’d always made a habit of using that name even in daily life, to avoid accidentally calling her “Ansi” in front of others.
Staring intently at her mother, Ansi asked,
“What if… we lived in the capital? What would you think of that?”
Sophia’s eyes widened in surprise, but then she smiled warmly.
“Mother would be happy anywhere, as long as it’s where my daughter is.”
Sophia left the room. From the small kitchen that doubled as a living room came the sounds of her bustling about. Whenever she wanted to forget her pain, Sophia always kept herself busier.
“…”
The knot twisting inside her chest swelled.
Ansi, who had been staring blankly at the door, suddenly stood up.
Striding swiftly to her desk, she pulled out pen and paper and quickly scribbled something down. Like someone half-mad, she wrote dark ink onto the page.
Then, abruptly, she sucked in a sharp breath.
Orphe. Holding the paper densely filled with that name, Ansi walked straight to the candle and set it ablaze.
The enemy’s name blackened and vanished swiftly. Standing in the lingering scent of burnt paper, Ansi stared fixedly into the flame.
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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She’s just going to embarrass herself. Someone smarter would wait to confront instead of causing a commotion in front of everyone.
Damion may be conniving and manipulative, but he’s at least protective of Ansi even while she is not around.