maybe, maybe not
remember in the first lifetime, zero/jeroh took control of everything so after they buried her husband, the brother got hold of the will and she had no idea of what was happening. probably the same for the ml, every time he tries to get hold of her the brother in law probably intervenes.
in this 2nd life, she got out before everything gets worse. i dont think he came back early, she mentioned that in her 1st life, she was busy mourning the death of her family that she didnt noticed there was a festival.
I think he couldn't find her early in the first life. He came back around the same time, but in this life, she happened to be in the city to where he returned and they could reunite early.
Also he was under the assumption that she had gotten married, so maybe decided not to reach out to her
Maybe not .. because here despite knowing that he still came for her and even confronted her about the letter ..I think he would do the same in the first life
But then again the brother was hiding her and probably messed around with stuff and not letting them meet (︶︿︶)＝凸
Yeeaaah he is a creep
Wait...in her 1st life the ml appeared late right? He only appeared when the fl was being sentenced to death..but in this timeline he come back early. Does that mean he could have gone to her early & could have probably help her in any way but just decided not to?