Arcadia frowned at me.
I quickly bowed my head.
“I apologize. It’s just that everything still feels new and unfamiliar. I’ll try to adjust quickly.”
Arcadia snorted dismissively.
‘He’s openly hostile.’
I took the still unconscious yellow caterpillar to the medical tent.
There were soldiers injured from battles with barbarians.
It seemed they had heard rumors about us – I couldn’t tell how far or accurate they were – as their looks were unsettling.
As I asked the doctor to take care of the caterpillar, I heard whispers from behind.
“Why did the Duke bring in such a monster? And one that might even be a Southern spy.”
“Is this what we get for risking our lives in battle? A monstrous woman like her?”
A pang of hurt settled in my chest.
‘Is their dislike for me extending towards the Duke?’
That shouldn’t happen.
After politely entrusting the caterpillar to the doctor, I left the tent. Arcadia called out to me, seemingly to catch me.
He led me to a small tent.
“I set this up just for you, though it was quite a bother. You’re the only woman here. This isn’t the soft Southern castle; it’s a battlefield, so I hope there’s no fuss.”
Arcadia emphasized the word ‘fuss.’
I quietly smiled.
“Anyway, this is much better than my underground room in the castle. Thank you. In that place, my bed was a pile of hay, but here there’s a real bed. This is a first for me.”
I didn’t want to be disliked by him. So I wanted to convey how grateful I was for the situation.
“The Duke saved me from the South. I’m truly grateful for that.”
Arcadia muttered.
“How much of this should I believe? Well, I’ll find out soon enough. I’ve sworn my life to the Duke. Whatever you try, if you’re up to something, I’ll catch you in the act. Be prepared.”
“I hope you will trust me.”
“That’s for me to decide.”
Arcadia glanced at me with cold green eyes and an icy expression.
“In the Blue Star Castle, joking with the Duke, he seemed like a mischievous puppy.”
Do all Northern men have such multifaceted temperaments?
“And since you’re here, you’re not planning to idle around for free, right? You’ll need to prove your worth, being the ‘one thing I wanted.'”
He almost spits out the words ‘one thing I wanted’ with a sense of injustice.
“…….”
“What are you good at? What did you do in the South?”
What should I say?
Cooking? Cleaning stables? Laundry?
I’ve never done any of those. But I want to be useful.
I asked, “What skills are considered useful in the North?”
Arcadia’s eyebrow twitched. He sighed as if dismissing me.
“Ha, quite provocative. Well, there’s only one most useful thing. We’re bordered by the Ssangtooth Empire to the north and plagued by monsters in the northwest. Our job is to fend them off. Being good at fighting, that’s the best.”
“Then… yes. I can fight well. That’s what I’m good at.”
A thought struck me to be honest. Without ‘swordsmanship,’ I had no experience.
Claiming to be good at cooking or laundry would quickly expose me as a liar. I might just gain a reputation as a deceiver.
So, I decided to simply say I was good with a ‘sword.’
Just enough to seem capable for my age, not too skilled but with potential.
That much I had managed to fake in front of the Black Worm.
To someday become a person whom the Duke of the North could rely on in battle, I had to take this gamble. I could pretend to reach the level of a sword master with practice.
But then.
Arcadia burst out laughing, pointing at me.
“You? With a sword? With those thin arms? That scrawny body? Ha. Come on, don’t exaggerate.”
“…….”
“Sorry, was pointing rude? My apologies.”
“It’s alright. But I do want to be useful to the North. I’m not lying.”
Arcadia looked puzzled.
“Why do you want to be useful to the North?”
“Because the South is wrong. I may have grown up there, but I don’t like it. The same goes for the yellow… ah, my friend, who still doesn’t have a name. I heard he’s from the North too. He probably feels the same.”
I hoped so.
“That makes me more suspicious,” Arcadia remarked.
A long silence flowed between us.
I quietly removed the mask covering half of my face, revealing my original, unmarred face with sky-blue eyes. The gentle sunlight entering the tent touched my face.
Arcadia’s eyes widened upon seeing my real face.
“This is my real face. I don’t know why the left side has collapsed. I have no memory before the age of five. But… the South must know why. I don’t like the South. That’s why I wanted to come to the North.”
“….”
“I will prove it if I have to, that I can be a useful person.”
Arcadia let out a low hum. He couldn’t take his eyes off my original face.
Then, the tent flap was pushed aside, and a familiar voice spoke.
“Good spirit. With this, we can give her a chance to prove herself, right, Arcadia?”
“Your Grace!”
Arcadia straightened up. It was the Duke of the North.
I quickly bowed to the Duke.
“Lift your face,” he said.
As I looked up, I saw him looking into my sky-blue eyes. He didn’t avert his gaze. His blue eyes seemed like a burning lake.
‘?’
“Arcadia, assign this lady to serve in my retinue. It’s an order.”
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
