Melly seemed to finally understand.
The reason why Edric hadn’t visited her shop for the past ten days or so.
It was for this very moment. To show her that he could have easily trampled on everything she had if he wanted to, but had been holding back until now!
He took a step towards her.
Passing by the people who had moved aside, he walked slowly, as relaxed as a satiated predator.
“Have you been well, madam?”
He asked as he finally stopped in front of her.
Melly was stunned by his fresh smile that was so out of place in this situation.
She was so dumbfounded that words failed her. As she struggled to calm her trembling limbs while her lips quivered in bewilderment, he smiled and grabbed her wrist.
“Since I’ve come all this way, let’s have some tea. And take a look around the shop.”
Melly swung her arm to shake off his hand.
His brazen attitude finally loosened her tongue.
“How could you… How could you do this to me?”
Then, as if her hand was still in his grasp, he looked down at his own hand for a moment before raising his gaze.
“Do what?”
Edric tilted his head with an innocent face, as if he had no idea why she was angry.
Melly shook her head in disbelief and said,
“This isn’t right.”
“…”
“It might be a worthless shop to you, but it’s the most precious place to me. You have no right to trample on such a place.”
“Think rationally, Melly.”
Edric’s calm voice contrasted sharply with Melly’s voice, which was agitated with excitement.
“I am both a high nobleman and a businessman. A businessman is always looking for places that can make a profit. This is exactly such a place.”
His eyes swept over the place he had discovered once more with satisfaction before returning to Melly.
She was chewing on her lower lip.
“Still, there’s such a thing as business ethics. This is nothing more than the tyranny of the wealthy.”
“Tyranny…”
Edric chuckled and folded his arms.
“How is providing an opportunity for commerce to enter an underdeveloped area tyranny? When the village develops and the population increases, it will be good for you too.”
“…”
Every time she talked with Edric, Melly often had such thoughts.
His words were logically flawless, but still… wrong. Unable to express why it was wrong, she had always remained silent.
But now Melly could put it into words.
“That’s sophistry.”
“…”
“It’s just sophistry to prettily wrap up the fact that you’re trying to ruin my shop and monopolize the profits!”
She clenched her trembling hands into fists and shouted. For a moment, she even felt proud of herself for criticizing him so harshly for the first time.
But Edric just stared at Melly, as if her sharp criticism didn’t affect him at all.
‘This woman. So she has this side to her as well.’
…With a curious gaze.
But soon he smiled and said,
“That’s not how you should say it, Melly.”
He pronounced each word clearly with a kind expression, as if teaching manners to a child.
“Please. Help. Me.”
“…”
“That’s what you should say. Isn’t that right, madam?”
His long eyelashes, gently curled upwards, cast shadows like curtain tassels over his bright blue eyes.
Those beautiful eyes that were once lovely now only made her shudder.
“I don’t need it.”
Melly said, barely suppressing the tears that were about to well up.
“I will never ask you for help.”
He was not a person who would help without asking for something in return.
He would demand something from her under the pretext of helping. For example, putting her back in the position of a duchess. Or…
‘You should continue the ducal lineage.’
Making her have a child so that she could never leave him again.
To him, a child was merely a tool to achieve his goals.
Melly didn’t want to give in. It was her last bit of pride.
“Do as you please. But I won’t go back to you.”
Melly said firmly. Edric let out a laugh and unfolded his arms.
“Then there’s nothing I can do.”
“…”
“Let’s do well from now on.”
He added, offering Melly a handshake.
“As fellow businesspeople in the same industry.”
His long, delicate fingers were stretched out straight in front of her. Melly’s lower lip curled inward again as she looked at that hand.
She had forgotten.
That this very image of not hesitating to use any means to get what he wants is the true face of Edric Pelton.
How foolish she felt for thinking he would give up soon because of his pride.
He was rather a man who wouldn’t give up on her because of his pride.
Because he had never failed to get what he wanted.
“Well then, goodbye.”
Melly turned around without taking his hand.
Her vision quickly became blurry.
‘Don’t cry. Crying means losing.’
She had bitten her lip so hard trying to hold back tears that she tasted the salty blood in her mouth. But even so, with each step she took, tears betrayed her will and flowed warmly down her cheeks.
She cursed herself so much that she wanted to erase the moments when she had wavered towards him, even if just for a moment.
She couldn’t bear the hatred she felt for herself, for secretly hoping that the miraculous streak of luck she had experienced so far might have been his secret help.
‘Please help me. Isn’t that what you should say at times like this?’
That will never happen.
Melly vowed.
I’m no longer who I used to be. Not the helpless Melissa Pelton who lived only for you.
Suddenly, she felt defiant.
She gave up the idea of quitting the shop out of intimidation from the grand tea house.
If she looked, there would be something unique about her shop. And she would use that to stand up to Edric.
No matter how small and plain her world might be, she would never easily fall to his enormous world.
She resolutely walked on, wiping away the falling tears with the back of her hand.
The bundle of cloth stuffed inside her clothes kept slipping down beneath her loosened corset. As a result, her belly looked lower than usual, but it didn’t matter since it was almost time to give birth anyway.
The belly naturally drops when it’s time to deliver.
She knew that fact all too well.
[This is the timeline separator]‘Just ask for help.’
A sigh escaped Edric’s lips as he watched Melly turn away.
What’s so difficult about that? Does she think I’m going to eat her alive if she says that?
‘If I was going to eat her, I would have done it long ago.’
He felt a twinge of regret, wondering if it might have been easier to do so.
Then he wouldn’t have had to scheme like this, and she wouldn’t have had to choose a difficult path and could have lived comfortably.
They say couples grow alike. It seemed to him that both he and Melly were no different in taking the long way around when there was an easy path.
Momentarily amused by this similarity, Edric turned away with a smirk.
“…”
The tea house he had created came into view.
It was a tea house that had opened after only a few days of simple repairs to the worn-out parts.
Everyone seemed to be impressed by the luxurious surface, but to his eyes, there were still many flaws in the exterior.
But the interior was different.
Unlike the hastily refined exterior, he had instructed that the interior be thoroughly decorated.
He used neat furniture and antique accessories to ensure the shop didn’t pursue excessive opulence, and created a charming ambiance with small decorative items.
He also brought in the long chair where he and Melly used to sit and chat in their childhood, and even the antique swan ornament she liked, which had been broken long ago due to a careless servant’s mistake. It had been quite a struggle to find it, but he had managed to get his hands on it in the end.
It was all for her.
‘Since you’ve come all this way, let’s have some tea. And take a look around the shop.’
Those words weren’t meant to provoke her. He had said it hoping she would take even one look inside the shop.
And if she had looked, she would have surely known.
That he hadn’t opened this shop just to ruin her.
That he still hadn’t forgotten her tastes.
He was ready to transfer ownership of the shop to her right then and there if that’s what she wanted.
He wanted to provide her with a life where she could work comfortably, managing subordinates in this beautiful and elegant shop, rather than a life of running around alone in an old, cramped shop with an unidentifiable, dubious sign. That way, she wouldn’t have to deal with customers directly either.
But she didn’t even come in to take a look, just glaring at him with eyes full of contempt.
‘It’s the most precious place to me. You have no right to trample on such a place,’
And then she declared that she would not accept any kindness from him, and now she’s… walking with difficulty to the end of the alley, trying to support her drooping belly.
“…”
Edric felt even more displeased as he watched her walk away, supporting her lower abdomen in a rather natural manner.
“Just give up, Melly.”
He warned in a low voice, hardening his deep and delicate eye line.
“The longer you resist, the more you’ll lose.”
Even though his words wouldn’t be audible due to the distance, Melly increased her pace as if defying his words.
She disappeared around the corner of the alley, the hem of her loose navy dress brushing against the wall.
Edric’s eyes narrowed as he watched the afterimage she left behind.
Her tone and behavior had become quite stubborn and firm.
‘But it’s all for nothing.’
He would undoubtedly conquer Melly’s small world. Then he would subjugate her to himself.
If that was the only way to make her return to him, he would ruthlessly drive her into a corner.
That’s why he had been searching frantically for the past three years.
My Ex-Girlfriend Is The Regent In The Female-dominant World (Male lead transmigrates to the matriarchal world)
Two years ago, Gu Sui picked up a homeless woman in ancient costume from the street.
Apart from occasionally claiming to be a princess from a female-dominant country due to illness, her figure, appearance, intelligence, and martial arts skills were impeccable.
Naturally evolving from roommates to girlfriends, as time went on, Gu Sui found it increasingly difficult to tolerate her queen syndrome.
“Mu Jiulu, can you stop controlling me inside and out? Let’s break up.”
Gu Sui made a breakup call, and since then, he couldn’t find any trace of her.
A year later, Gu Sui, who was planning to move, woke up the next day and found himself in a different place.
“Young Master, today is the day you choose your Wife-master through martial arts competition at Jade Dew Pavilion. Please get up quickly.”
Gu Sui: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
As the only son of a general’s mansion in a female-dominant dynasty, the young empress personally issued a decree allowing Gu Sui to select his Wife-master through martial arts competition. Whoever could defeat him could marry him.
Gu Sui: “……”
He didn’t inherit the original owner’s martial prowess, so anyone could defeat him! And what the hell is a Wife-master?
Forced to come to Jade Dew Pavilion, the densely packed women below made Gu Sui’s agoraphobia act up, and his face was full of resistance.
Until he saw the Regent sitting on the second floor, with a smile on the corner of her lips, her eyes wicked and nonchalant.
Hmm… she looked a little familiar.
It turned out that the Regent also found him a little familiar.
Mu Jiulu fiddled with her bone clasp, her deep gaze locked on the man who was out of place in this world.
“Finally, I found you.”
Male transmigrates into female-dominant world
One-sentence summary: What goes around comes around, taking turns in the crematorium
