“Outwardly, I’ve let it be known that I’ve admired the Empire and studied for a long time… Don’t you know, Duchess?”
His upright posture leaned towards me secretively.
“As a regressor, I’ve been living by rewinding time countless times…”
A small voice, as if whispering.
“…Of course, I can’t help but have far more common sense and knowledge than most people of the Empire.”
Ah.
For a moment, a wave of heat rushed over me, startling me and causing me to lean back.
Had his breath reached me? It wasn’t that close of a distance.
“Duchess?”
“…It’s nothing.”
I continued speaking while fanning myself unnecessarily to cool my heated breath.
“Anyway, I understand that part. With this level of recommendation, other nobles will have no choice but to acknowledge Lord Joseph.”
“Especially Baron Baden, right?”
That’s right. That’s what’s important.
Along with my relief, Lord Joseph’s smile deepened.
I too could feel that the aroma of tea was pleasant for the first time in a while.
It felt somewhat surreal that an issue I had worried about for a month was resolved so easily.
“By the way, you haven’t forgotten our promise, have you, Lord Joseph?”
We had agreed to draft the contract after having tea.
It’s not an employment contract. I plan to write that under the same conditions as the tutor sent by Baron Baden, in his presence.
The document I’m about to write with Lord Joseph now is closer to a pledge than a contract.
A pledge to maintain a strictly allied relationship with me while serving as a tutor for the Daierns, and above all, to act with the children’s safety as the top priority.
If this is not kept…
“What else doesn’t make sense to you?”
It seems I had slightly furrowed my brow, as Lord Joseph keenly noticed my state and asked.
“Lord Joseph, you previously referred to me as an ‘investment’, didn’t you?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“I think I need to know exactly what that means now.”
The pledge was now down to writing the last sentence.
But there was something I couldn’t understand at all. The fact that this contract seemed excessively favorable only to me.
There’s no such thing as a one-sided deal in this world.
Only deals that are satisfactory to both parties can be maintained with trust for a long time.
Why?
There’s no need for the disadvantaged party to maintain a deal that only satisfies one person.
After all, a contract is an act of putting shackles named clauses on each other.
“That way, I can confirm what Lord Joseph wants to gain from me through this troublesome contract, and whether it’s something I can actually provide.”
“Ah, just a moment…”
“…? Lord Joseph?”
Suddenly, Lord Joseph’s brow, which had shown a relaxed attitude until now, wrinkled sharply.
Startled by his sudden action, I reflexively rose and approached him.
“Are you alright?”
Up close, I could see he was sweating, albeit a small amount.
When I handed him a handkerchief as he pressed his temples firmly, he finally exhaled deeply as if in relief.
“I’ve shown an unsightly side. I apologize. I sometimes get headaches, perhaps due to the change in water.”
“You must be suffering.”
It’s something people from distant regions often experience.
When I was about to call for the court physician, he straightened his posture as if nothing had happened.
It was to the point where I felt embarrassed for having worried, as he looked perfectly fine as if it had been a lie.
Come to think of it, when we first met at the banquet hall, he had said he was resting due to a headache too.
Well, it’s not something for me to worry about.
“Since my sweat is on the handkerchief, I’ll return it to you next time out of embarrassment.”
“You don’t need to return it.”
I deliberately gave him a handkerchief without my initials or the Daiern crest.
I decided it was better to consider one handkerchief lost rather than risk being seen exchanging handkerchiefs with an unrelated man.
“Then, returning to the main point… You were curious about what I intend to receive from you, Duchess?”
“That’s right.”
“Now that I think about it, I haven’t had the chance to talk about that until now due to the circumstances.”
Lord Joseph adjusted his posture. I too focused my attention on his next words, meeting his eyes.
“Your concern is justified, Duchess. But I’d like to tell you not to worry. After all, what I want is something that only you, and no one else in the world, can give.”
His soft voice continued like a song.
“By any chance, Duchess, do you know where the territory of ‘Alperon’ is located?”
“I don’t. I was curious about that, actually.”
I didn’t think it was the right time to bring this up. Of course, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t curious.
A month of isolation.
During that time, I tried not to let my precious time go to waste.
I had many things to protect, and as such, my vulnerabilities were clearly exposed.
In the midst of all this, Lord Joseph was the only one who declared he would be on my side.
‘But if you ask me if I really trust him, well…’
At best, I’ve only received a few instances of kindness and help. Anyone can offer that much.
Also, building rapport is an effective method of persuasion.
That’s why I tried to coldly assess Lord Joseph.
I needed to calculate whether he was a trustworthy person, and what I could pay him in return.
But there was something strange.
‘No matter how much I examined the map, I couldn’t find the Alperon earldom.’
The continent is vast. The Empire is unique, but there are many principalities and independent kingdoms.
So I vaguely thought that the land of Alperon, which I had never heard of, would be part of some kingdom somewhere.
But it wasn’t there. Such a place name didn’t exist.
However, there’s no possibility that Lord Joseph is impersonating a noble.
Without a noble status recognized by the Emperor, one cannot enter and exit imperial banquets.
“Of course. My land isn’t on the map.”
Lord Joseph said it so nonchalantly that I almost went along with it, thinking, ‘Ah, I see.’
“Not on the map. You mean it’s an unknown land?”
“That’s right. A land not yet revealed, unmarked on public maps. That’s where my land is.”
“…?”
Wait a minute.
Strangely, whenever I talk with this man, I feel like I’m becoming a fool. Why is nothing within the range of expectations?
I asked with a dumbfounded expression.
“Then where is Alperon? Does His Majesty the Emperor know about this as well?”
“I’ve reported it, but His Majesty seemed more interested in the items I presented. That’s why he granted me the title of Count of the Empire and recognized me as a noble.”
“…”
I couldn’t close my mouth.
This was an incredible statement. It meant that Lord Joseph was not just a simple count.
A new land not on the map. The owner of that place. Someone who obtained the title of Count of the Empire just by presenting items to the Emperor…
“…Now that I think about it, Lord Joseph should be addressed as ‘His Majesty the King of Alperon’, not Count Alperon.”
“Such a title is embarrassing. I’d like to be called just ‘Lord Joseph’ by you, Duchess.”
Lord Joseph said with a voice full of amusement.
Good heavens, not a count but a king.
I was dumbfounded, but that didn’t immediately change my impression of him.
Perhaps because his attitude wasn’t authoritative like the Emperor of the Empire?
“Anyway, Duchess. The reason why I need to form an alliance with you, and no one else, lies in the land of Alperon.”
His long fingers, covered in white gloves, elegantly interlaced and rested on his knee.
“I want to establish a trade route connecting the land of Alperon and the Empire. And I know that you’re the only suitable person to take on this task.”
[This is the timeline separator]It was a lie.
Joseph actually had no interest in trade routes.
Of course, it would be nice to have them. But he didn’t need the Duchess of Daiern for such a trivial matter.
Rather, he had to solve a more fundamental problem.
For instance…
Survival.
[This is the timeline separator]
Lieselotte Karin Daiern was beautiful.
Joseph first noticed her in the past, during one of his countless regressions.
It was a ball he couldn’t even remember. She was a lonely lady who had lost her spouse, dressed in pitch-black mourning clothes with a black veil.
Nevertheless, she was so beautiful that one couldn’t dare to take their eyes off her. Especially the white and slender nape of her neck revealed beneath her updo, the symbol of married women.
It wasn’t that he felt some childish emotion like love at first sight.
He simply couldn’t help but gaze at her beauty, like admiring an astonishing work of art, as beautiful as the goddess of the night.
He had never stared at someone like this before.
‘Oh no, how rude…!’
Standing there like a dazed fool, he ended up bumping into her.
That was the moment.
When the monster that had been raging in his mind, threatening to devour it for a very long time, suddenly became quiet.
At that time, Joseph didn’t have the leisure to consider the reason. He was too preoccupied with marveling at his refreshed physical state after so long.
And exactly one day later…
…The cursed pain once again devoured Joseph like a monster.
Yes, a monster.
There was a monster living in Joseph’s mind.
A monster that slowly tore apart a person’s brain, eventually driving them mad and leading to death.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
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