To You Whom I Don’t Love That Much (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 048
48.
It was as if words had completely failed her. Cardier hadn’t suddenly gone mad and slashed his arm for no reason. Even Rosetta, who was rather unfamiliar with noble customs, could grasp why this had happened.
Virgin blood. While living as Lea, suffocating anxiety had been an everyday occurrence, but this was by far the worst. It would have been somewhat easier if only she were suffering—but this was truly…
“I failed to control my strength.”
Cardier added, almost as an excuse, seeing Rosetta frozen in shock.
“This is customary. It applies whenever no blood is drawn.”
…Right. She had overheard maids whispering about it before. Since the princess and the crown prince had been engaged for quite some time, there was concern—what if the princess failed to leave a trace on their wedding night?
For noblewomen, producing a legitimate heir to continue the family line made physical purity one of the most crucial aspects of their dowry. Regardless of how outdated such thinking was, no one wanted to hand over a family built over generations to a bastard whose father was unknown.
Even now, after more than seven hundred years, people still judged a woman’s virginity and the validity of a marriage by the bloodstains on the sheets. If no trace was left on the bed after the first night together, it could become valid grounds for annulment. Even in these slightly more liberal times, a union between two ducal houses like theirs still required this ritual as an unquestionable formality.
So, she had thought—some blood had to be shown, one way or another. But like this…? Rosetta clenched her teeth, staring at the crude wound torn open by the dull paper knife.
“…Are you really insane?”
“I couldn’t exactly walk into the bridal chamber carrying a sharpened blade.”
He actually dared to call that an excuse. ‘Rosetta’ was known to be sensitive to the sound of a blade being drawn, whether in front of or behind her—that’s why he’d deliberately prepared the paper knife. He couldn’t stand the idea of her feeling even a moment’s wariness toward him.
No wonder the bridal room had felt unnatural with such an object… As if he’d planned this from the start, Cardier calmly pressed on the wound and applied the bandage he’d brought.
“…Give it here. I’ll do it.”
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
A very interesting story. I’m delighted.