To You, So Noble and Vulgar (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 8
Ariana only realized after returning to her room that she hadn’t brought back a single bite of food. The food she’d intended to take was probably rolling around beneath the display shelves.
The thought that she hadn’t even managed to eat properly because Cyrus had suddenly appeared made her chest feel tight.
‘I never expected to meet the Northern Marquis this soon…’
She had anticipated that, living differently from before, she might someday encounter either the Northern or Southern Marquis. But she never dreamed she’d meet the Northern Marquis sneaking into the Bronte ducal mansion.
‘Why would the Northern Marquis enter this mansion?’
There was absolutely no acquaintance between the Northern Marquis and Duke Bronte.
Try as she might to recall past days, she couldn’t remember either Duke Bronte or Rachel ever mentioning the Northern Marquis.
‘Ah, Helena…’
She remembered how, around this time, Helena had loudly declared her desire to marry the Northern Marquis.
Helena had fallen for him at first sight after seeing his portrait, which a merchant house had sold while staying in Seoryeong.
Ever since, she’d constantly talked about wanting to marry him—even though she’d never seen his face—and had pestered Rachel and Duke Bronte so much to send him a formal proposal that they’d been put in an awkward position.
-“The Northern Marquis is perfectly matched in status and lacks nothing—why won’t you let me?”
She recalled hearing Helena whine those words while cleaning the hallway around this time.
It was nearly unheard of for a noble lady of earl rank or higher to initiate marriage talks herself; if discovered, it would only invite ridicule. Yet Helena had acted so childishly.
‘Could Helena have begged them to send a proposal to the Northern Marquis? And then, while investigating her, did he uncover the truth about her birth and sneak in here to learn more details?’
Though plausible, recalling Cyrus’s gaze from their encounter earlier made her doubt that was the reason.
He might have tried to hide it, but Ariana clearly sensed the hatred in his eyes. Even when pressed close together between the display shelves, his eyes held only cold loathing toward her.
A man like that wouldn’t sneak into the Bronte ducal mansion merely to investigate a potential bride.
There had to be another reason Ariana couldn’t yet grasp.
‘This is troublesome.’
The Northern Marquis was a difficult opponent.
If she incurred his enmity now, before any preparations were made, it would severely disrupt her future plans.
Until she understood his intentions, she must avoid entanglement with him at all costs.
+++
Helena, true to her Seoryeong origins, had slightly darker skin, deep double eyelids, black hair, and brown eyes.
She wasn’t unattractive, but compared to Ariana—who resembled the Eastern Marquis—or Victoria—who resembled Rachel—she looked rather ordinary, having taken strongly after her father, Jacob.
She stood in the corridor wearing a fresh-looking green dress, glaring at the door to Ariana’s room.
Servants who saw Helena bowed deeply and passed by—a stark contrast to how they treated Ariana.
‘Ariana.’
For the first time yesterday, she’d been scolded by her mother Rachel because of Ariana.
It was the first time Rachel had ever worn such a stern expression in front of Helena.
‘Ariana, Ariana.’
Helena’s feelings toward Ariana were complicated.
Before learning the secret of her birth, Helena had felt inferior to Victoria rather than to Ariana.
Helena, whose mother was the daughter of a baron.
Ariana, daughter of the Eastern Marquis but raised by her mother with a different father.
And Victoria, born to both parents within a proper family—and even prettier for resembling Rachel so closely.
Even as a child, she sensed her parents favored Ariana less, yet she disliked Victoria more.
In fact, she even felt a sense of kinship with Ariana, believing their situations were similar.
Thus, she’d steal things Victoria owned and torment her out of her parents’ sight. When Rachel noticed, instead of scolding Helena, she’d embraced her and said,
-“Victoria is your one and only younger sister, Helena. You must support and cherish each other. If something upsets you, take it out on Ariana instead. Ariana will accept all your anger without complaint.”
At the time, Helena didn’t understand why Rachel treated her better than her own daughters. She only sensed that Rachel didn’t particularly like Ariana.
For the same mistake, Ariana was scolded many times more harshly, sometimes locked in her room, eating only once every two days, and forced to write endless letters of reflection.
At first, Ariana seemed pitiful, but her parents’ coldness infected their children too.
Thus, Ariana became someone Helena could vent her frustrations on whenever she felt upset.
Yet, partly because she also felt sorry for Ariana, Helena would secretly care for her when she felt like it.
That was how things were—until Rachel revealed the secret of her birth.
Her mother, who’d had to leave Seoryeong immediately after giving birth to marry the Eastern Marquis against her will. Helena, who’d been raised pretending to be born to the daughter of an unnamed baron.
-“Poor thing.”
Rachel had repeated those words several times while telling her the secret.
Thus, Helena truly believed herself deeply pitiful, and all her resentment turned toward Ariana.
Upon reflection, Ariana had done nothing wrong.
But Helena had grown up hearing, as if brainwashed, “You may do whatever you like to Ariana,” and “Your only sister is Victoria.”
Without Helena even realizing it, a wall had risen between them, making Ariana a complete stranger. Helena could only believe Ariana—not her family—was the root of all problems.
Victoria, who knew nothing and believed only she had proper parents, was equally unpleasant to look at—but Ariana was even more detestable.
-“She said she never wanted to have that child. Truly, she never wanted to.”
Rachel had hugged Helena tightly, repeating those words over and over while weeping.
Thinking of her mother, who’d been forced to marry a man she didn’t love and bear a child for Seoryeong’s sake, made her heart ache.
Thus, Ariana—who’d been born under such circumstances yet lived in the Bronte ducal house treated as the second young lady—grew increasingly hateful.
Yesterday, because Ariana had spilled everything in front of the old duchess, Louis had been beaten and locked in a storage room, and Helena had been scolded by her mother.
Moreover, Ariana had escaped the barren storage room and was now using a nice chamber complete with a bed.
‘How dare she, of all people, deserve that room?’
Helena couldn’t bear to see Ariana enjoy even a single thing belonging to the Bronte family.
She wanted nothing more than to storm into that room right now, grab Ariana by the hair, and make her pay for yesterday’s incident. But Rachel had told her to endure it until the old lady passed away.
As Helena clenched her fists tightly, Victoria approached and linked arms with her affectionately.
“Sister, why do you look so upset?”
Helena glared at Victoria, who was unusually mature for her age.
Victoria, who resembled her mother more than her father, had slightly dark blonde hair and green eyes, making her look both lovely and pure.
“It’s because of you that I got scolded by Mother.”
Victoria quietly stared at Helena, who spoke like a child.
Though three years older than Victoria, Helena often acted childish—a result of Rachel indulging her willfulness.
Unaware of Helena’s secret, Victoria couldn’t understand Rachel’s behavior at all.
‘Why does she favor Helena, daughter of the former duchess, more than me—her own daughter—or even Ariana?’
Such doubts frightened the young Victoria.
The anxiety that she, too, might fall out of her parents’ favor and suffer treatment like Ariana’s. The urgency to gain more recognition from her parents than Helena ever could.
These pressures made Victoria mature beyond her peers.
Always attuned to her parents’ moods, Victoria was perceptive and exceptionally quick-witted.
“Huh? Because of me? Oh—do you mean what happened with Louis yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“Sister, why is that my fault?”
“It’s your fault. You said it’d be good to feed her spoiled food. She collapsed after eating it, and Mother scolded me terribly.”
Though Victoria found the claim absurd, she hid her reaction and put on a worried expression.
“Did Mother scold you badly? That must’ve been upsetting, Sister. What can we do? But Sister, I only meant that Ariana suits eating rotten food, and now that Mother brought her here, she’s living in luxury. Still, if my words caused you to get scolded by Mother, I’m truly sorry.”
Victoria’s sincere apology softened Helena’s mood slightly, and she pouted.
Victoria inwardly smiled, watching her easily manageable older sister.
Walking slowly with her arm still linked through Helena’s, Victoria said,
“Sister, you really must be upset—it’s all Ariana’s fault. She told Grandmother everything… Even though you’ve been so kind to her, Ariana showed no gratitude and betrayed you to Grandmother.”
“Exactly!”
“Because of Ariana, Louis is locked in the storage room, and you’re inconvenienced by losing a maid, while she’s comfortably lying in a nice room?”
“Ugh, I really hate her! She should’ve gone to Dongryeong—why stay here causing trouble?”
Victoria knew exactly why Rachel insisted on keeping Ariana.
A daughter born into a noble house must serve as a foundation to strengthen her family’s power by forging alliances with other good houses.
But some houses, while possessing necessary influence, have poor reputations—making it regrettable to marry off a cherished daughter.
Ariana would eventually be wed into such a house.
As soon as they entered Helena’s room, a portrait hanging on the parlor wall caught their eye.
A beautiful man with silver hair, pale skin, sharp eyes, and red irises—it was the portrait of Northern Marquis Cyrus Karha.
Though it was shameful for a noble lady to openly display a stranger’s portrait, Helena showed no embarrassment whatsoever.
With Victoria beside her, Helena clasped her hands before her chest in rapture and gazed up at the portrait.
“Isn’t he truly beautiful?”
“Yeah, he really is handsome. But does he really look like that? Nowadays, nobles always ask painters to make them look better than they are in portraits.”
“The Northern Marquis is different. They say he’s far more handsome in person than in his portrait.”
“We’ll be able to confirm that once the Northern Marquis arrives in Seoryeong, won’t we?”
At Victoria’s subtly dropped remark, Helena turned, eyes sparkling.
Male lead Asks for a Divorce Every Day
It’s not often you come across a plot like this in the female-dominant genre — make sure to check it out!
This is a novel I’m planning to reread as well.
The male lead is strong, skilled in martial arts, and not the usual fragile type you often see in matriarchal novels.
Meanwhile, the female lead is a scientist—rational and logical. Even when she falls for the male lead, she doesn’t let her emotions cloud her decisions.
If you push through the first few chapters, you’ll gradually find the story really intriguing.
It has a mix of mystery, detective elements, and romance.
The author’s writing style is like crafting a puzzle—except they deliberately leave out a few pieces, making it hard to predict what happens next, yet keeping you hooked.
In the end, everything will come together and be explained.
One-sentence summary: Wife, stop playing with beakers and look at me!
In a laboratory accident, research scientist Zhu Wansheng accidentally travels to a matriarchal world. The original owner of the body is an eighteen-year-old only daughter of a wealthy rouge merchant, already married with a handsome young man.
Zhu Wansheng grins: Nice! She always said she was heaven’s favorite granddaughter. After a life of toil in her previous life, she can enjoy blessings in this one.
However, her joy lasts no more than three seconds as bad news arrives: the original owner’s family is about to go bankrupt, and her husband wants a divorce.
Even worse, she’s stuck with a research system full of restrictions.
Zhu Wansheng: ? Is this the destiny of a research dog?
——
Faced with this mess, Zhu Wansheng pours herself a bowl of wine to drown her sorrows. In her drunken haze, her husband arrives.
His figure is imposing, holding a long sword, with a dignified air that captivates Zhu Wansheng.
Gu Yingqing, however, looks at the alcohol-reeking Zhu Wansheng with undisguised disgust and coldly asks, “Divorce or not?” The intoxicated Zhu Wansheng mumbles vaguely, “I think… it’s not… it’s not… impossible!”
——
The next day, after sobering up, Zhu Wansheng is full of energy, rolling up her sleeves ready to make a big move. As for yesterday? She has no memory of it.
Zhu Wansheng is ambitious; a research dog fears nothing!
Upgrading rouge, extracting fragrances, producing perfumes, researching lipsticks… all shall bow to the power of modern technology!
The original owner’s dying rouge shop is revitalized. Her mother is pleased and with a wave of her hand, passes on the family business to her. As she takes control and her experimental results gain popularity, it’s the pinnacle of her life…
——
But there are always those who can’t stand to see her doing well. Jealousy, scheming, assassination attempts – they want nothing less than her life.
The person who has always kept his distance from her suddenly holds her tightly in his arms, eyes full of concern.
She is unharmed, but he falls into a pool of blood…
Zhu Wansheng feels guilty, “I can grant you one wish.”
Gu Yingqing tentatively circles his arms around her, carefully resting his head in the crook of her neck, pleading softly, “I regret it. Can we not divorce?”
Zhu Wansheng: ? When did I agree to a divorce?
[Small Theater]
The newly developed rouge is beautifully packaged, and Zhu Wansheng is eager to try it.
Gu Yingqing suddenly appears: “My lady, may I apply it for you?”
Cool fingertips lightly brush her lips. His Adam’s apple bobs as he leans in for a light bite.
Zhu Wansheng: ?
Gu Yingqing: It smells so good, I wanted to taste it…
On a warm spring day, Zhu Wansheng tries a new perfume: “Spring Night.” Gu Yingqing corners her against a wall.
Warm breath lingers on her neck.
“My lady, from now on, may I test the fragrances for you?”
[Humorous female scientist vs scheming live-in son-in-law male lead]
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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.