Episode 120: Ex-Wife #2
Rudbeckia’s anger flared to the limit. This woman should have been too ashamed to even show her face, yet she stood there so confidently. The sheer audacity left her speechless.
However, her face did not flush. She did not lose her composure. Instead, her green eyes turned cold, becoming even sharper.
“Did you think I would give up just because you showed me that? What were you thinking that made you provoke me even further?”
Rudbeckia let out a scoff, her voice low and chilling. She took a deep breath, but her chest felt as if it were about to burst. Even though she wasn’t outwardly agitated, she struggled to suppress her emotions.
Clink.
Francia quietly set her teacup down.
A wisp of white steam brushed past her fingertips.
“I simply stated the truth.”
Her crimson eyes slowly pierced through Rudbeckia.
“Before you returned to this time, you forcibly married Yohan. The Count Freeche pressured the Viscount Harsen, and essentially bought Yohan with money and resources.”
Francia smiled faintly.
“Doesn’t that sound like a transactional marriage? If anything, I saved Yohan from being sold to you.”
“…”
A transactional marriage.
A union where personal will and emotions were disregarded.
Yohan and Rudbeckia’s marriage had been no different.
Of course, much like arranged marriages, transactional marriages were common in this era. But that didn’t make them justifiable. In the end, they were always built on sacrifice and oppression.
Yohan had no choice in the matter.
How could a viscount house with no lands resist the blatant pressure from a count’s family? Yohan must have accepted the marriage under the guise of an arrangement, with no way to refuse.
“I suggest you think deeply about this. Under the name of love, did you not suppress Yohan and force him to sacrifice himself?”
The white steam rising from the teacup carried a soothing aroma. Francia closed her eyes, focusing on the scent.
She appeared calm, as if she felt nothing. But in truth, she was not at peace. Her heart pounded wildly, tension stiffening her body.
How could she be calm when Yohan’s ex-wife—whom she never expected to see again—had appeared before her? Worse, like her, she had defied fate and traveled through time.
But Francia suppressed her emotions. She had to be strong.
Hadn’t she prepared for this moment when she decided to take another woman’s husband? Hadn’t she known that, one day, she would be seen as a villainess?
If she had to be the bad woman, then she would play the role to the end.
“I…”
Rudbeckia’s voice trembled as it escaped her lips. She clenched at the empty air, her whole body shaking. Malice surged through her. She was barely holding back the urge to kill Francia on the spot.
“…I loved Yohan.”
Unconsciously, Rudbeckia bit her lip. A scorching emotion surged within her. A sharp ache pierced deep inside her chest. Her throat tightened.
“Even if Yohan never loved me, I truly loved him. Even if, at first, I was drawn to his appearance, I later came to love his heart as well. I loved everything about him.”
Rudbeckia had loved Yohan.
That was an undeniable truth.
“That’s why I proposed to him. I begged my father to arrange a marriage with House Harsen.”
Her words were disjointed, like a lost traveler wandering without direction. Her emotions overwhelmed her, making reason falter before raw feeling.
“I didn’t want to be with Yohan like this either. But what else could I do? He never looked at me. And meanwhile, other noblewomen were coveting him…!”
Rudbeckia bit her lip for a moment, then exhaled deeply, forcing herself to speak calmly.
“But in the end, I was the one who married Yohan. And I was happy. Even if he didn’t love me, I didn’t mind. Just watching him made me happy. I didn’t know when it would happen, but I loved seeing him try to love me. And then…”
As she spoke, Rudbeckia’s eyes flared open as she glared at Francia. Her green eyes wavered, shimmering as if tears were about to fall, yet they burned with fury and murderous intent.
“But then, you destroyed everything.”
Her gaze locked onto Francia.
“I loved Yohan. Does that mean that just because he didn’t love me, you had the right to take him? Does that mean you could defy time itself to steal the man I loved? What gives you the right?!”
Her voice rose, trembling with rage. She could no longer contain her emotions. Her chest felt suffocated, her tongue stiff and clumsy, making it difficult to string words into sentences.
“You crazy bitch. You have absolutely no sense of morality. It wasn’t enough that you stole Yohan, who was supposed to be with me, and now you have the audacity to act so shamelessly?”
Bang!
Unable to contain her overflowing rage, Rudbeckia slammed the table once again.
“…I liked him too. What was I supposed to do?”
But Francia remained unfazed. Instead, her crimson eyes shone even more vividly.
“If Yohan had been satisfied with his marriage to you, if he had truly loved you, I would have given up. But your love was one-sided. It never reached him!”
Her blood-red eyes glared at Rudbeckia.
“Was I supposed to just stand by and watch as the man I love was forced into an unwanted marriage? To let Yohan be miserable just to preserve my conscience?”
Of course, Francia was aware of her own selfishness. But so what?
She loved Yohan. She was madly in love with him. She wanted to receive his love in return. That was all there was to it.
Trying to calmly reason with Rudbeckia and make her step back on her own-perhaps that was just a way to justify her own actions.
“You’re not the only one who loves Yohan! Just because you loved him first, does that mean I, who came later, have to give up? No. I don’t want to. And you’re the same, aren’t you? Don’t act like you’re the only noble one here.”
If loving Yohan meant becoming a villainess, then Francia was more than willing to take on that role.
“You crazy bitch…!”
Finally, unable to contain her fury, Rudbeckia shot up from her seat, kicking her chair back. Pointing a trembling finger at Francia, she shouted.
“Your whole way of thinking is messed up.
How does it make any sense to love a married man? And just because an opportunity came, you stole my husband?
You twisted bitch!”
Her voice filled the entire café. But no one stepped in to stop them.
Most of the customers had already left, sensing the intense atmosphere, and the owner and employees had no authority to intervene in a fight between two high-ranking noblewomen.
‘This is getting interesting.’
‘What’s this? A love triangle drama?’
In fact, the owner and employees were crouched behind the counter, holding their breath as they watched the argument unfold.
“Yeah, I am twisted! I am crazy! I have no conscience! But so what? Yohan is mine now. What can you do about it? Are you going to try to win him back now?”
Francia shouted.
“I was loved by Yohan. But what about you? You were married to him for five years and didn’t even have a child, did you? Doesn’t that already show who truly belongs with him?”
“You…!”
Rudbeckia ground her teeth. Her delicate brows furrowed, and her clenched fists trembled. She had struggled to maintain her composure, but she was at her limit.
“You crazy bitch!”
At last, she raised her hand.
Slap!
Francia’s head snapped to the side. Her once flawless, porcelain skin reddened.
“Did you just hit me?”
“Yeah, I did!”
Slap!
Francia retaliated, swinging her hand. Rudbeckia’s face turned in the opposite direction, her cheek burning red.
“You think you’re the only one who can slap? I can do it too!”
“You…!”
Just as Rudbeckia was about to lose her temper again, Francia swiftly cut in.
“You thought I would apologize and break up with Yohan just because you came back? If I were going to do that, I wouldn’t have gotten engaged to him in the first place!”
She hadn’t anticipated things to escalate this far, but the moment she spent her first night with him, she had already steeled herself for this outcome.
“Do you really have the right to condemn me? I may be selfish, but you were just as selfish when you forced Yohan into marriage, suppressing him and making him sacrifice himself. Am I wrong?”
Her crimson eyes bore into Rudbeckia’s emerald ones.
“Don’t act like his rightful wife when all you did was imprison him under the guise of love. It’s disgusting.”
“…”
Rudbeckia had no words. Everything Francia said was true. And yet, rage surged within her. How was she supposed to counter this? Her mind went blank.
So she raised her hand again. It was the only action she could take. Rudbeckia’s small, delicate hand struck Francia’s cheek.
Slap!
“Is hitting me all you can do? Fine, go ahead. Do it until you’re satisfied.”
Francia swung her hand once more.
***
The fight between the two only stopped when they were both exhausted and collapsed.
Francia and Rudbeckia’s cheeks were flushed red, and the intense physical struggle had turned the surroundings into a mess.
“Haa…”
Francia’s fingertips glowed with purification magic, soothing the swelling on her cheek. The bright red marks quickly faded away.
“Hic…!”
Covered in dust, Rudbeckia lay sprawled on the floor, covering her eyes with her arms. Transparent tears trickled down her cheeks.
“Hic… I just wanted to be happy with Yohan… Why did it turn out like this…? Hic… Yohan…”
Her voice trembled. Even if her love was unreciprocated, she would have been content just being by Yohan’s side. But why had things come to this?
“…Sigh.”
Francia let out a long sigh. She had resolved to be ruthless, but seeing Rudbeckia desperately call out Yohan’s name at the very end stirred her suppressed guilt.
Even so, she did not think she had done anything wrong by taking Yohan. According to her investigation, Yohan had essentially been sold off to House Freeche for marriage with Rudbeckia.
Still, that didn’t change the fact that Rudbeckia’s feelings were genuine. She truly loved Yohan, so much so that she had acted selfishly.
Francia hesitated.
Hadn’t she done the same?
Even if Yohan had agreed, hadn’t she also demanded responsibility from him?
After deep contemplation, Francia spoke quietly.
“…I have something to tell you.”
“…”
“It won’t hurt you to listen.”
Rudbeckia didn’t respond.
She didn’t want to let her trembling voice be heard.
Even without an answer, Francia assumed she was listening and continued speaking.
“Yohan…”
She paused for a moment.
Rudbeckia remained silent, her breaths still uneven.
“… practices polygamy.”
“…What?”
Rudbeckia’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at Francia. Her gaze wavered violently.
“So…”
Francia let out a deep sigh before calmly continuing.
“If you still want to, maybe… this isn’t over yet.”