To You, So Noble and Vulgar (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
“There really is such a thing as karma.”
Isaac said with evident satisfaction.
Just then, a gust of wind blew, making his splendid golden hair shimmer brilliantly.
Yet, not a single person in the duke’s mansion noticed he was up in the tree.
Because Isaac and Cyrus were using a stealth technique passed down only to a select few even in the North Territory.
“I like that young lady.”
Isaac, who easily warmed up to others, already seemed fond of Ariana, but Cyrus was not.
‘She’s sixteen?’
No matter how he looked at her, there wasn’t a single part of her that seemed sixteen.
Her appearance was so youthful and petite she looked barely past ten, yet the way she guided situations—her gaze, her shifting expressions—was far beyond what an innocent girl unaware of the world could manage.
Ariana knew precisely when to produce the right expression and how to swiftly conceal it, and she could even freely adjust the tone of her voice depending on the situation.
These changes were so subtle and discreet that one could only notice them through careful observation.
Now alone, Ariana quietly slipped the medicine packet from the nightstand beside her bed into her skirt pocket.
Cyrus’s crimson eyes darkened as he watched.
‘She’s certainly no ordinary girl. What scheme is she hiding?’
Ariana was an unexpected anomaly in the duke’s mansion, which they had visited to uncover any connection between the East Marquis and the West Marquis.
They had only intended to observe briefly, hoping to find some weakness to exploit later when dealing with either marquis—but instead, they’d witnessed something surprising.
“In any case, we can’t just keep watching that girl here forever. What now?”
At Isaac’s words, Cyrus averted his gaze from Ariana.
“Let’s explore the mansion tonight.”
“Will we really find anything worthwhile? I heard Duke Bronte is just a timid fellow who cares only about appearances.”
“Even if Duke Bronte knows nothing, Rachel Bronte might. After all, she married the East Marquis right at that exact time—perhaps she still holds evidence related to him.”
+++
Ariana, having set aside the sleeping medicine, lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling.
‘This is all I can do for now.’
Louis would be locked for several days in a room similar to the one where Ariana had been imprisoned after receiving his beating.
She wasn’t sure whether Rachel would scold Helena for orchestrating this, but she doubted it.
To Rachel, Helena was a particularly sore spot; unless Helena killed someone—and even if she did—Rachel would never reprimand her.
‘This is enough for now. Given the power I hold in this mansion, this is the best I can manage.’
Since her birth mother Rachel didn’t cherish her, her adoptive father Duke Bronte certainly wouldn’t treat her well either.
To them, Ariana was nothing more than a chess piece to be sold off for the family’s benefit.
‘Only a few months left.’
In a few months, Rachel would marry Ariana off to Ingou Alprehi, a viscount of the West Territory.
Sixteen was considered marriageable age, though recently it had become customary to marry only after turning twenty.
Nevertheless, the moment Ariana turned sixteen, Rachel immediately moved to remove her from the Bronte mansion—as if she’d been waiting.
To a man sixteen years older than Ariana and of lower status.
Rachel must have insisted on taking Ariana during the divorce for this very reason. In this world, daughters were raised to marry into good families and bring advantage to their own house.
‘I must escape this mansion before then.’
Vivid memories of the dreadful days spent in the Alprehi household resurfaced. Back then, she hadn’t even realized how hard it was, foolishly enduring it all with a smile. She never wanted to return to that life again.
‘I need the East Marquis’s power.’
Her father, the East Marquis Russell White, whom she’d never exchanged a single word with.
Ariana had seen the East Marquis only once—at the imperial ball several years later.
Even then, they’d merely made eye contact without speaking.
The moment the East Marquis met Ariana’s eyes, he frowned as if witnessing something unpleasant and turned away.
His coldness had deeply wounded the timid Ariana.
‘The West Marquis and Rachel hate the East Marquis. And the East Marquis holds no goodwill toward the West Marquis either.’
The vassal states of east, west, south, and north surrounded the Cameria Empire under the pretense of protecting it, yet constant covert struggles for power had always existed among them.
The North and East Marquises, who governed the northern and eastern regions plagued by barbarians and heretic remnants, held the strongest influence, followed by the South Marquis, while the West Marquis’s power was the weakest.
Thus, the West Marquis had sent his daughter Rachel to keep the East Marquis in check.
‘Back then, the North Territory’s strength was weak—they couldn’t have foreseen the North Marquis growing so rapidly. The East Marquis’s power has weakened due to Rachel, but he’s still far from negligible.’
Rachel had described the East Marquis as “an extremely cold, calculating, and cruel man.”
She had endlessly drilled into Ariana how dreadful life in Dongryeong was and how ill-mannered and despicable the East Marquis’s family members were.
-“So, Ariana, you should be grateful I rescued you from that hellish place. Compared to Dongryeong, this is heaven.”
She had truly believed it. Foolishly, she trusted those words.
Not realizing this place was just as much a hell.
‘No matter what Dongryeong is like, if I prove useful to the East Marquis, he won’t cast me aside. Since his relationship with the emperor has soured because of the West Marquis, if I bring him something that could serve as the West Marquis’s weakness, he’ll accept me.’
She didn’t desire her father’s love.
Ariana wanted only one thing.
The status of being the East Marquis’s daughter.
As long as she could secure that, she didn’t care what the East Marquis or his family thought of her.
‘Everyone will head to the capital during the April social season. Will the East Marquis attend this year’s imperial ball?’
Since Ariana had never been to the capital during the social season before her marriage, she couldn’t know at this point whether the East Marquis would attend.
As far as she knew, except for the West Marquis, the other marquises only sent their families to the imperial ball and never attended in person.
‘It’d be fortunate if I could meet even one of the East Marquis’s family members. But even if I meet no one, it doesn’t matter—as long as I find a way to Dongryeong, I’ll manage somehow.’
Two months remained.
‘Before then, I must find evidence compelling enough to sway the East Marquis. And I should also prepare to escape alone, just in case things go wrong.’
To Rachel, Ariana was a convenient daughter to use. A pretty, obedient daughter would greatly aid Rachel’s upcoming plans.
Marrying her off to Viscount Ingou Alprehi, the empire’s largest arms dealer, was merely the beginning. Thus, Rachel would never allow Ariana to slip away easily.
‘The more I act, the more the future will change. I must be ready to handle any sudden situation.’
Ariana pulled her arms out from under the blanket.
Seeing her pitifully thin arms, she sighed.
With a body like this, she wouldn’t be able to run far if trouble arose.
Time passed, yet no meal arrived.
Everyone seemed to have forgotten about Ariana.
Even the old woman had stopped paying her any mind after the earlier incident ended.
Since she’d expected this, she wasn’t particularly hurt.
Ariana waited until deep into the night, then quietly slipped out of her room and headed toward the kitchen.
+++
The time when everyone was asleep.
Pushing through the darkness, Ariana reached the kitchen and felt around with her hands until she found the storeroom.
Since she often helped in the kitchen, it wasn’t hard to figure out what was inside.
The large storeroom held fruits, grains, hams, cheeses, and other items neatly arranged by type.
True to a duke’s mansion, it overflowed with fresh, high-quality ingredients—but Ariana had never properly tasted such things.
She had always eaten only the leftovers from the duke’s family.
Ariana took out some ready-to-eat ham, cheese, and a few pieces of fruit, then sat down on the storeroom floor.
Since no one would come to the kitchen at this hour anyway, she planned to eat her fill and take a few items with her.
Having gone so long without proper food, she decided to start with the fresh fruit.
Peeling an orange and putting it in her mouth, she was filled with its fragrant, sweet-and-sour juice.
Ariana closed her eyes briefly, savoring the aroma.
‘I should’ve done this sooner. What was I so afraid of, starving myself every time?’
After finishing the orange, Ariana unwrapped the ham.
With no knife to slice it, she took a whole bite and chewed slowly. The savory, salty aroma of the ham filled her mouth, yet her stomach still growled loudly as she ate.
She quickly swallowed, then took another bite—this time slightly larger.
Rustle-
That was the exact moment someone approached.
Ariana froze mid-bite, glaring into the darkness.
‘A person? At this hour? Or… a rat?’
Unable to even blink, she watched the darkness with sapphire-blue eyes when the rustling sound came again.
Her hands tightened around the ham.
She’d let her guard down. Even if no one usually came to the kitchen at this hour, she should’ve been more careful.
As she regretted this, a low, rough voice spoke.
“The second daughter of House Bronte has a peculiar way of dining.”
It was a husky baritone Ariana had never heard before.
“And such a large mouth.”
Only then did Ariana realize she still had the ham stuffed in her mouth.
Slowly lowering the ham, a figure emerged from between the storeroom shelves where he’d been hiding.
Just then, the clouds hiding the moon parted, and moonlight streamed through the small window, dispelling the darkness.
He stood with his back to the moonlight, casting his face in shadow, so Ariana couldn’t make out his features—only that he was tall with broad shoulders.
Click-
With a soft sound, a small lamp on the storeroom shelf lit up.
Now Ariana could see his face—and the moment she recognized who he was, her breath caught.
Hair more radiant than moonlight, skin as white as pearl, almond-shaped eyes tracing enchanting lines, filled with blood-red irises. Flawless features as if painted, and a gaze so cold it sent chills down her spine.
Staring at the man whose beauty resembled a descending moon god, Ariana swallowed hard.
‘Why is the North Marquis here?’
In her previous life, Ariana had only ever seen the North Marquis in portraits—never in person.
She’d gathered news from the North Territory for Third Prince Herald, but had never actually encountered the North Marquis. She’d only heard rumors about him.
The iron-blooded marquis with hair like brilliant moonlight and ruby-red eyes.
Many women and young men admired him yet feared him equally; even the emperor yielded to him, such was the might of his power and army.
He kept no one close except those he chose himself, and rumors claimed he avoided people so much he was practically a recluse.
There was even a tale of a duke in the capital who secretly sent his daughter to win the North Marquis’s favor—only for the marquis to behead her right before her father’s eyes.
North Marquis Cyrus Karha was famed for never hesitating to draw his sword, and his blade showed no discrimination beyond its master.
Since he rarely left the North Territory unless absolutely necessary, Ariana had never expected to meet him.
Thus, she hadn’t even considered Cyrus Karha in her plans—she’d assumed she’d never become entangled with him in this life either.
She never dreamed that just days after reincarnating, she’d encounter the iron-blooded marquis.
And in a situation like this.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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I finally found the chapter corresponding to chapter 42 of the manhwa!
Here’s a mother who refutes the “instinctive motherhood” notion.