After the Parasitic Vine Decides to Break Up

Next novel: The Unconquerable Prince Consort Took Me by Force

Everyone thought Xiya should be content.

The daughter of a minor noble family from a remote border town, she had become a duke's mistress despite her low birth, even after her family racked up a huge tax debt. Not only was the debt quietly forgotten, but the duke also gave her family his support.

Xiya had always known she was a pampered, dependent flower beloved by the duke. He gave her a life of luxury, jewels, and estates, but marriage was the one thing he could never give her.

Xiya knew her birth was too lowly for the duke to even consider marrying her. His marriage was meant to secure greater benefits, not to be wasted on her.

But tenderness always gives rise to hope.

At the knights' tournament, the duke won the laurel wreath. He passed over Xiya and gave it instead to the highest-ranking woman there, Princess Lilia of the royal family.

At last, Xiya worked up the courage to ask him one final time: “Will you marry me?”

The man replied calmly, “Xiya, don't be ridiculous.”

“If you have a child someday, I'll legitimize the bastard and make him my heir.”

Xiya finally understood, and stopped asking for more.

So, in her third year as the duke's mistress, she asked to end their relationship.

*

Cecil thought he'd brought himself a troublesome woman.

His life had always gone smoothly. He had never met with failure, and everyone respected and feared him.

The women by his side were supposed to be no different: they were to cherish him and make his wishes the foundation of everything.

Until Xiya came along.

Her status was so lowly,

her beauty impossible to ignore,

and beneath her obedient facade was a willful nature that refused to be tamed.

She was like a blazing fire, reducing him and the order he had built to chaos.

He couldn't believe Xiya had dared to ask for a breakup.

How dare she defy his authority? How dare she leave him?

*

Their drawn-out arguments finally ended with the duke giving in.

He didn't want to break up.

He held out the laurel wreath returned by the royal family to Xiya.

Xiya sneered and threw it out the window, where it fell into the mud and became covered in dust.

“Cecil, do you really think I still care about it after all this?”

Reader's Guide:

1. Both leads are virgins, happy ending, not a power fantasy centered on a strong female lead.

2. Includes feudal, patriarchal attitudes, hidden identities, coercive relationships, groveling after a breakup, a mild taboo, obsessive love, childbirth, and other melodramatic plotlines. There is angst and sweetness. Please don't read if that's not your thing. No need to tell me if you drop it.

3. If you read pirated copies, please don't comment. The extra chapters that don't count toward the subscription rate are there for the convenience of legitimate readers.

4. The setting is fictional and eclectic. Comments that make a political issue of the story, nitpick the research, insult, or spread rumors will be deleted.

5. Enjoy reading!

Theme: Pursuing a free life