My father doesn’t know. I told you—he’s extremely busy. He’s rarely at the estate, so as long as I keep the servants and knights quiet enough, he’ll never find out I’m learning swordsmanship.
I chuckled playfully at his flustered expression.
“Was I being too serious? To be honest, I kept it a secret because I knew he’d never allow it. He loves me so much, after all.”
He was a father who loved Julietta deeply, yet he hadn’t even realized when she died, nor did he know what she liked in life…
A bitter smile formed on my lips. Julietta had simply wanted to be loved. It seemed no one had truly been her pillar.
“It might be impolite to say, but I’m not sure whether Father’s way of loving truly honors Mother. Mother speaks of your love in such a sorrowful way. Does Father even know what Mother likes?”
If only someone had shown her attention like this now, wouldn’t Julietta have been happy?
“…You’re right. Even though he says he loves me, Yezar, who’s only known me for a short while, seems to understand me better.”
After all, the love of this family was originally meant for Julietta, the body’s true owner. It was fine. I shouldn’t be greedy.
His blue eyes shimmered. He stepped closer and whispered to me.
“I want you to tell me everything, my lady. Whether you’re being spoiled or sulking, I’ll make the effort to understand you. I’ll always be by your side.”
But perhaps it was okay to be a little greedy with the attention now directed at me—me, not the original Julietta?
“As a friend and husband?”
“Yes.”
“Alright then. I’ll make a promise too. As long as I am your wife, you’ll never have to stand behind me, endlessly staring at my back.”
I held out my pinky finger toward Yezar. He stared at it, bewildered. So I took his hand and unfolded his pinky, hooking it with mine.
“There. Done! This means we promise. When we hook our pinkies like this, it means we’ll keep our promise.”
“I see, my lady.”
He looked at our intertwined fingers, fascinated as if learning something new. He really was such a cute man.
“Now that we’ve made a promise, let me tell you about something I’ve been thinking about lately.”
“What is it?”
I saw him perk up, fully focused on my words. I recalled the letter I had reviewed with the butler not long ago and answered.
“I think it’s about time I responded to the tea invitations from the noble ladies. Do you think it’s alright if I attend?”
Given how unexpected our marriage was, the noblewomen must be dying to meet me and hear the story firsthand.
They’d want to know where Yezar and I met, what we did together, why we kept it hidden, and how life in the Duke’s household is now.
Rumors about me probably paint me as just the eccentric daughter of a reclusive count, but some well-informed noblewomen might know Yezar once loved someone else. So they’d dig into the suspicious aspects of our marriage.
If possible, I’d rather avoid it, but as the Duchess, I had to engage in public activities. I could delay it at first by pretending to adjust, but eventually, I’d have to attend official events.
And then, I’d have to naturally act like a loving, inseparable couple.
“Are you sure you’re comfortable with this, my lady? Didn’t you say you dislike social gatherings and banquets?”
But judging from his usual behavior—always concerned for me first—it didn’t seem like we’d raise suspicion.
“I am the Duchess of Ferhaem, after all. Avoiding such events for no reason would only spark rumors. Besides, I do intend to participate in public affairs.”
He seemed to fall into thought again. He could’ve just let me go, but I didn’t mind his careful consideration. After a moment, he spoke.
“Then… what if I accompany you?”
“Accompany me? I appreciate the thought, but other ladies might think you’re being overbearing. It’s just a simple social gathering where women chat and gossip.”
“But…”
“It’s fine. I’ll make sure to show everyone just how harmonious we are as a couple and come back unscathed!”
When I said this with determined enthusiasm, he murmured softly.
“Harmonious couple…”
“What?”
“Nothing at all. Quickly now, go to sleep. It’s getting late.”
It wasn’t quite the middle of the night yet, but I didn’t want to tire him further, so I lay down on the bed.
“Yezar, good night.”
Responding to me, he gave a small nod. Another peaceful night had passed.
[This is the timeline separator]Yezar carefully rose from the bed when he heard soft, rhythmic breathing. Now that they had been sharing a bed for a little while, he had discovered one small thing about Julietta.
His wife had a sweet, adorable habit—whenever she fell into deep sleep, she would smile gently. Seeing her sleeping face, so unaware of the world, made it hard for him to look away whenever he woke first.
Was it because she seemed so different from her waking self? He often wondered where such vibrant energy came from, hidden behind that small, delicate face.
As he quietly watched, her beautiful rose-pink hair, softly curling, caught the moonlight and shimmered.
Yezar gently stroked Julietta’s hair. It was a secret she didn’t know—he had touched her hair once, and since then, he often found himself brushing through it, caressing it.
Perhaps because he dared not touch any other part. Gently smoothing her hair, he carefully ran his fingers over her head.
Then, a smile spread across her lips. In response, Yezar’s own lips curved into a soft smile. Whenever he was with her, he found himself smiling more.
“…My lady, I have a concern of my own.”
He whispered quietly to her sleeping form—something he couldn’t bring himself to confess to anyone else.
“The truth is… since our marriage, I’ve been receiving constant letters from Bertisha. I’ve been avoiding her because it hurts. This time, she wrote saying she couldn’t come to the royal wedding due to circumstances, and now she wants to meet me again—just to see you, my lady.”
Yezar’s eyes twisted in pain.
Bertisha was a painful love for Yezar. The moment he saw her, he fell helplessly, as if fate itself had chosen her—blinded to everything except her.
“Yezar, look! Isn’t this beautiful?”
When Bertisha smiled, holding a lush bouquet of flowers, Yezar would smile back. But at some point, all he could see was her back. The more he suffered, the happier she became, until eventually, Bertisha fell deeply in love with Camileo, the Crown Prince.
Was that why he, who rarely drank, started visiting taverns?
Afraid of being recognized, he pulled his robe deep over his face and even changed his eye color to a common brown.
After a drink or two, he felt ridiculous sitting there and tried to stand—when a woman suddenly grabbed him.
“Hey, sir! Why are you stealing someone else’s drink?”
Her lips were pouted, her eyes sharply raised. Her cheeks were flushed from a few drinks. Her clothes were simple, but her well-kept hair and skin suggested she was a noblewoman.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention. I’ll pay for it.”
But the woman, seemingly displeased, pulled him back onto the chair.
“…I have plenty of money! I don’t need your payment—just stay and have a drink with me!”
“What?”
“Oh, you said yes! That means you agree!”
Even now, recalling their first meeting felt awkward. In a way, it had been forceful.
“You really should consider drinking less.”
As he said this, Yezar suddenly remembered—he had just been murmuring his painful thoughts to the sleeping Julietta moments ago.
Yet, why did his thoughts always return to Julietta? Yezar couldn’t understand. But his pained expression softened, and a gentle smile touched his lips.
Whenever he was by Julietta’s side, all his painful emotions scattered like passing wind. With her, he no longer had to suffer alone in silence—he could laugh.
“Letters like that become easy to forget, as if they never mattered. You may not remember, my lady… but our first kiss wasn’t by a quiet lakeside. It was right here, in this bedroom. On a beautiful night when soft moonlight bathed the bed instead of a gentle breeze, it was you who came to me.”
On their wedding night, Julietta had been thoroughly intoxicated, completely relaxed. Yes, just like that noisy tavern where they first met. Then, he had asked her.
“My lady, we’ve met before, haven’t we? Do you remember?”
“Hm? Yezar? Me?”
“Yes, you. Didn’t you stop me at some loud tavern?”
“Hmm. I don’t remember blue eyes shimmering like the sea under sunlight. I did stop some foolish knight and talk to him, though!”
Foolish knight… To suddenly hear the honest truth about their first meeting left him dazed.
“Oh, that person did look a bit like Yezar. I had someone I loved for a very long time. I’m giving up on him! Honestly, I almost burst out laughing when I heard that!”
Julietta clenched her fist tightly and slammed it on the table, as if truly exasperated. Yezar couldn’t help but chuckle. Her reaction was just like when she had listened to his story in that noisy tavern.
Quietly listening, Julietta continued talking.
“Seriously! I even thought about snatching up that knight and just marrying him on the spot!”
“Is that so? But now, your husband is me, isn’t he?”
“It’s just words! Just words!”
As she reached for the wine again, he stopped her. She glared at him, clearly demanding he let her have it.
“I’m not drunk.”
“Your tongue is all tangled.”
“Hmm… I’m not…”
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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