This Marriage Must End in Tragedy (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
“It’s not that there’s a problem or anything…”
“Then I ask you to spread the word throughout the Empire until no one remains unaware. That Damion de Orphe steadfastly sought out Ansi de Rubelsa, who had been living quietly, and brought her into the light.”
So that no one would make the same mistake again.
Everyone understood the unspoken message behind those words. When Damion smiled brightly, the men exaggeratedly nodded and showered him with congratulatory remarks.
The atmosphere no longer allowed anyone to ask whether he’d gone mad or why he’d made such a choice.
Damion de Orphe knew how to make the mood relaxed and enjoyable, yet he was certainly no easy man to deal with.
“Then I’d like to spend a bit more time with Miss Ansi. I’ll take my leave first.”
Damion placed his wine glass on a tray and smiled. Seeing his more relaxed expression and tone, the others eased their tension and teased him gently.
“You might end up completely under your wife’s thumb once you’re married.”
“If she tames me, it’d be an honor.”
“Goodness.”
Leaving behind the men’s awkward laughter, Damion walked toward Ansi.
It seemed true after all—the rumor that Damion was the one clinging to her. That woman showed no interest whatsoever, while he was clearly desperate just to be near her.
She had no idea what was going through his mind as he approached her.
‘What a tired woman.’
All the ladies who’d been with her had disappeared, leaving Ansi de Rubelsa alone. Moreover, seeing her heading toward the back entrance, it seemed she intended to leave the party entirely.
Being unsociable wasn’t a flaw, but lacking social grace certainly was.
Though irritation rose within him, he couldn’t possibly leave her by herself. After all, his role in this charade was that of a romanticist whose thoughts, whether sitting or standing, revolved solely around Ansi de Rubelsa.
Marrying her and becoming her companion would be easy—except the choice ultimately lay with her. If that woman didn’t give him her heart, he wouldn’t even speak of his future, no matter what it held.
Thus, Damion absolutely had to win Ansi’s heart.
In fact, if one thought about it, her current state of isolation might actually make things easier for him.
Quickly spotting the silver lining, Damion let go of his frustration and followed after her. In the dark night, she entered a uniquely intricate maze garden.
[This is the timeline separator]After wandering aimlessly for some time, Ansi suddenly lifted her head and looked around. Tall walls thickly lined with dense foliage surrounded her.
“Where is this…?”
The Baylis family’s maze garden.
Ansi sighed. Walking mindlessly wherever her feet took her, she’d ended up here.
She’d visited this place once before—with Elise.
Back then, they’d gotten hopelessly lost and had to wait several hours before adults finally found them and led them out.
Created with great care by Marquis Baylis, who loved all things novel and entertaining, this maze garden boasted a complex layout and enormous scale.
Yet it wasn’t a popular spot. Early visitors, seeking a simple diversion, quickly grew frustrated—and word of their ordeal spread fast.
Still, she was older now than she’d been back then. Perhaps that would make a difference. Clinging to that hope, Ansi took a step forward.
“…”
Only after hitting five dead ends did she realize that growing older hadn’t improved her sense of direction one bit.
What should she do?
By now, she truly began to feel desperate.
The night deepened, and she was completely alone. If only she’d thought to tie a string behind her, like in the old tales she’d once heard—but she’d already wandered far too deep.
Worse yet, no one even knew she’d entered this place. A chilling fear crept over her at the thought that she might never escape.
Just then—
She sensed someone behind her.
An unfamiliar presence in the darkness. Normally, this would have terrified her—but to Ansi right now, it felt like a lifeline.
“Is someone there?”
Ansi swiftly turned around and strode toward the sound, praying desperately it was a person and not some bird, mouse, or cat.
And the moment she rounded the corner—
She nearly collided with someone. Instinctively stepping back, she tripped over her own dress hem.
“…!”
As her body began to fall backward—
A firm pair of arms caught and steadied her from behind.
Reflexively, Ansi braced her hands against the man’s chest. Even through his formal frock coat, his body felt strikingly hard and solid.
Then, a quiet voice reached her ear.
“Are you alright?”
“Lord Damion?”
Ansi pulled away quickly, staring at him with wide eyes.
“I grew worried seeing you leave alone.”
“Oh… Thank you.”
When had this young master noticed her leaving while pretending to mingle? As if reading her thoughts, Damion tossed her a playful remark.
“My attention has always been on you, Ansi.”
Unable to find a proper reply, Ansi averted her gaze. Smiling fondly as if charmed by her shyness, Damion gently ruffled her hair and glanced around.
“Do you know the way out of this maze?”
“And you, my lord?”
“So you don’t know either.”
“We’ll just find it.”
Pretending she hadn’t been despairing at all, Ansi stepped to Damion’s side. Just knowing she wouldn’t die alone here eased her tension considerably.
Watching her, he chuckled softly and raised one hand to press against the hedge wall.
“In an ordinary maze, if you keep one hand on the wall from the entrance like this, you’ll eventually reach the exit. Because all these walls are connected.”
“Then we can get out.”
“No—if we’re already halfway in, that method won’t work. But I have another idea.”
Damion picked up a fallen branch and made an X mark on the ground.
“We’ll avoid paths we’ve already taken. Shall we go?”
They matched their steps and began walking together.
In the quiet garden, only the chirping of crickets, the soft thud of footsteps, and the occasional scratch of a branch against the earth could be heard.
The fresh scent of spring grass mingled with the dry, lingering fragrance of winter leaves.
After each X, he drew a cross over it, forming a star—and they never returned to a spot marked with a star.
Breaking the silence, Ansi spoke toward the man who wordlessly bent to draw another cross.
“Isn’t there a fairy tale like this? Where children drop bread crumbs to mark their way to a gingerbread house?”
It was a story she’d heard as a child. Damion stood up and resumed walking as he answered.
“It seems you don’t particularly like that tale.”
“Why not?”
“Do you like that story, Ansi?”
“I don’t remember it clearly, but I do like it. After all, the witch who tried to eat the children ends up punished and dead.”
A perfectly just, inevitable ending—Ansi liked that.
“You seem to favor stories where virtue is rewarded and vice punished.”
“Wouldn’t anyone? But why don’t you like this story, Lord Damion?”
“Perhaps because, despite taking the gingerbread house from the witch, the children return to their original home instead of staying there.”
“They have their family in their original home. No matter how delicious the sweets are, they can’t abandon their family to live there forever.”
“Do you remember why the children had to drop bread crumbs in the first place?”
Ansi pondered briefly, but the memory was too distant—it had been so long ago. Wasn’t it to escape the witch’s gingerbread house?
“I’m not sure. Was it really that important?”
“No.”
Damion shook his head. For a fleeting moment, his voice seemed subdued—then he spoke again.
“I just don’t particularly enjoy stories where children suffer. Many fairy tales follow that pattern.”
“Trials are necessary for a heroic tale to be exciting. And if it’s a story for children, it’s best if the protagonist is a child too. Besides, the hero always gains greater fortune after overcoming hardship.”
“But perhaps the child protagonist wished for simple happiness instead of that grand reward at the end.”
At his cynical tone, Ansi stared straight at Damion.
Part of her agreed with him.
The catharsis after hardship is merely self-comfort—truly, a life without hardship at all would be far better.
Ansi herself understood that better than anyone.
It would have been far happier never to have met the witch at all—rather than narrowly escaping death only to carry that memory for the rest of her life.
“Well, there’s no need to take it too seriously. Fairy tales aren’t real, after all.”
It was Damion’s cheerful voice that cut short her deepening thoughts.
“And the trials we’re facing end right here.”
At his words, Ansi looked forward again. Beneath the bright moonlight, the exit had already come into view.
Finally.
Hurriedly stepping out of the maze, they emerged into a spacious rear garden. Having escaped a place she’d thought she’d never leave, a shiver of relief shot from her head to her toes.
This small trial hadn’t been so bad after all.
“I thought we’d never get out.”
“If it’s with you, even that wouldn’t have been so bad.”
“Let’s head back quickly.”
“First, look up at the sky, Ansi.”
At Damion’s words, Ansi instinctively lifted her gaze. To her night-adjusted eyes, the black expanse appeared embroidered with shimmering stars.
“…Ah.”
A soft gasp escaped her lips. The cascading lights seemed both to flow like a river and to swallow the sea where they stood.
She’d seen the night sky many times before, yet for some inexplicable reason, she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Even blinking felt like a waste.
It was a strange sensation—an emotion she couldn’t quite name, both joyful and sorrowful at once.
“When I was on the battlefield, I’d sometimes lie flat on the dirt and stare up at the sky.”
At his quiet words, Ansi shifted her gaze back to Damion’s face. He, too, lowered his head. Their eyes met.
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.”
_____
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