Woke Up And I'm A Married Woman (17 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 5
“Normally, it’s the father who expresses his wishes, but in the Periway family, there are only my sister and me. Our parents passed away, and I inherited the title of Baron Periway.”
“So?”
“I need my sister’s inheritance.”
Was she seriously suggesting she’d stamp her seal on her sister’s marriage contract for the sake of that inheritance? It sounded utterly absurd. Hadn’t she just said she’d already inherited the barony? The sister’s entire estate already belonged to the woman standing before him.
Yet, surprisingly, Nelly Periway had another inheritance awaiting her beyond the Periway family’s wealth.
“In one year, the academy will deliver an inheritance left long ago by an archmage to my sister. But my sister is currently comatose. A mage who visited the day before yesterday told me she likely won’t ever wake up again.”
Diana stared straight into Cedar’s eyes and spoke clearly, her crimson pupils revealing an unmistakable, unhidden desire.
“Then wouldn’t it be only right for someone capable of using it to claim that inheritance?”
Cedar scoffed. Though her words sounded reasonable, she was simply saying she wanted everything her sister owned.
“So you want to marry and have your husband manage the inheritance on your behalf.”
“Yes.”
Her greed was so excessive it went beyond repulsive—it was laughable, yet not even laughter came to him. Cedar crossed his arms and gave her a skeptical look.
“How can you be so sure I’d willingly hand over that enormous fortune?”
“There isn’t a soul in this country who doesn’t know Sir Cedar is under pressure to wed. But you won’t find a bride as trouble-free as my sister—she’s literally lying there like the dead.”
“…….”
“Just hand over the inheritance. That’s all I want.”
“You’re reckless.”
“I’m not recklessly reckless with just anyone. I know flattery won’t work on you, Sir Cedar, so I’m being frank.”
Diana seemed to have decided there was no need to hide herself anymore—she dropped even the pretense of meekness. The woman standing tall before him was completely different from the shy, gentle girl who’d stepped onto the terrace earlier.
“I dislike people like you.”
“Coincidentally, I also dislike people like you, Sir Cedar.”
“What kind of person am I?”
“The kind who sees me as nothing but a pretty-faced piece of trash?”
“……You understand well.”
Cedar frowned. Regardless of how repulsive he found her, the truth remained: a bride who lay perfectly still was undeniably appealing to him. Especially if there was a high chance she’d never wake again?
After a brief pause, as if lost in thought, Cedar slowly spoke.
“There’s one condition.”
“What is it?”
No matter how firmly the academy’s mage insisted she’d never awaken, Cedar was the sort of man who always considered “what if.” Without that cautious nature, he wouldn’t have survived this long.
He spoke in a serious tone.
“If she wakes within a year, our contract will be considered null and void. Her own will matters too.”
Cedar fully expected Diana to refuse this condition. To his surprise, she readily nodded.
“If my sister wakes before the inheritance is transferred? That’s fine with me.”
“Fine with you?”
“Yes.”
Diana smiled confidently.
“My sister adores me. Once she wakes, I’m certain I can easily manipulate her however I please.”
[This is the timeline separator]Cedar’s eyes changed hue. When deep in thought, their color grew darker—nearly black.
His gaze rested on the woman sitting on the bed—small, frail shoulders, petite like a child.
Nelly Periway.
Her face was petite, and her round eyes were large as marbles, oddly giving her a childlike impression despite not actually being young.
Cedar twisted the corner of his mouth.
‘This woman is the exact fool she described.’
The foolish older sister Diana had mentioned—the one who indulged her younger sister’s every whim.
‘I never expected she’d actually wake before the inheritance was unlocked.’
Indeed, nothing in this world was ever “certain.” It was a good thing he’d been wary and set that condition.
‘That means my contract with Diana is now void.’
The condition hadn’t been solely to his advantage. Diana, anticipating betrayal, had already secured a divorce decree bearing Cedar’s signature.
‘So I needn’t feel guilty at all.’
His attention wasn’t on Diana, who wasn’t even present—it was fixed firmly on Nelly before him.
‘I never expected her to wake up so suddenly.’
After their hasty marriage, every night he’d quietly stared at Nelly’s sleeping face.
There’d been no particular reason. He was only human—he sometimes needed someone to confess his inner thoughts to. A woman who couldn’t hear or speak had simply been the perfect confessional.
‘She certainly looks different with her eyes open.’
Though she shared similar features with Diana, Nelly’s eyes held a warm green hue. Watching life and expression bloom on a face that had once been blank and obedient felt incredibly strange.
“Oh? So sleeping women are your type?”
He needed to correct that. Her expressions were varied, and her words were just as odd.
‘What on earth is going through her head?’
However strange his tastes might be, to suggest sleeping women were his preference felt like an insult to his honor—yet meeting her wide, blinking, innocent eyes made lashing out feel foolish.
His snide remark about his contract with Diana had stemmed purely from a petty irritation toward her.
“You have a wonderful little sister.”
Such a devoted older sister would surely be deeply shocked to hear those words.
Though he expected her to be hurt, perhaps even tearful—and admittedly, that would annoy him—his steel-gray eyes stubbornly tracked every detail of her face, refusing to miss a single gathering tear or furrowed brow.
Realizing his own behavior, Cedar pressed his fingers firmly against his brow.
‘Damn it.’
He’d clearly watched her sleeping face far too long. Otherwise, why would he be so fixated on her expressions now?
As if mocking him, Nelly—far from crying—blinked her large eyes like a deer and asked in a voice that sounded almost cheerful,
“How much time is left until the inheritance is transferred?”
“About a month?”
“Does Diana visit this mansion often?”
“No. She hasn’t come even once until now.”
“I see.”
Her small head bobbed up and down, deepening the furrow between Cedar’s brows.
‘She doesn’t seem shocked at all?’
In fact, she appeared perfectly composed—as if she’d expected her sister to act exactly this way.
‘But that can’t be…?’
Diana had proudly claimed she could control her sister. If Nelly had shown even a hint of suspicion, Diana wouldn’t have been so confident.
There was only one possible explanation for this strange contradiction.
‘This woman’s been deceiving her younger sister all along.’
She must have known her sister’s schemes from the start and simply pretended not to.
Now aware his opponent might be shrewder than Diana, Cedar instinctively grew wary. Just as he narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze on Nelly—
in a tone so light it felt almost weightless, she cheerfully asked,
“What should I call you? Husband?”
Husband?
For an instant, he felt a sharp discomfort—as if a stranger had carelessly stepped into a deeply personal space. Cedar snapped back in a brusque, commanding tone,
“Call me Cedar. It’s my name.”
But this tiny, chick-like woman simply shook her head.
“I’ll just call you ‘husband.’ I don’t want to be on such familiar terms as to use your name.”
If she was just going to do as she pleased, why ask in the first place?
‘And what’s that about not wanting to be on name-calling terms?’
They were already married—what else could they possibly be? Nelly, of course, wouldn’t remember, but from Cedar’s perspective—who’d watched her sleep for nearly a year—it felt oddly vexing. Resting his chin in his hand, he asked with a mocking edge,
“Isn’t ‘husband’ usually something you call someone when you’re closer than just using their name?”
“Not for me.”
“Then what should I call you? ‘Wife’?”
He mocked her, expecting a reaction—but Nelly blinked calmly and replied,
“Why not just ‘Mage’?”
Cedar’s brow furrowed, and he called her name stiffly.
“……Nelly.”
She’d been his wife for almost a year, yet this felt unbearably awkward. Facing his rigid expression, Nelly narrowed her eyes into a gentle smile.
“Creepy, right? Just call me ‘Mage.’”
But seeing her smiling face again twisted his mood further. Cedar turned his head sharply and declared,
“No. I’ll call you Nelly.”
“Hmm.”
Nelly grinned again, as if saying, “I knew you’d say that,” then shifted her tone and added,
“Your informal speech really grates on me, but since you’re clearly older and I’m clearly in the weaker position, I’ll let it slide.”
“Are you seriously demanding honorifics from me?”
“I don’t know who you think you are, but as the Empire’s only archmage, aren’t you worthy of honorifics?”
“…….”
That left him with nothing to say. Pouting slightly, Cedar retorted,
“If you’re such an important person, why accept the weaker position? Why not act dominant for once?”
“Because I have a request for you.”
He could guess what she’d ask.
“If it’s about divorce—”
“No. Could you please keep our marriage intact?”
“What?”
Cedar’s eyes widened. Though she and Diana shared little resemblance, her ability to leave him flustered was identical.
Frowning suspiciously, Cedar asked,
“Are you seriously saying you want to be my wife?”
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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