“Wherever you go, whoever you meet. It doesn’t matter.”
The face of the woman concealed by a parasol was not visible. There was no emotion in the voice that just came through.
“But I can’t become a pitiful woman.”
The woman turned around.
The contours of the handbone were vivid on the lace gloves that gripped the parasol handle.
“Just promise me one thing.”
It meant that anything could be done as long as it didn’t catch the eyes of others.
The face, with lips tightly pressed, was determined, and the deep brown eyes that stared without avoiding were cold.
“I.”
Johan’s voice sank low.
“What did you do?”
The eyes, shaken by an unexpected answer, stared intently at Johan.
It was ridiculous and pathetic, the topic of harboring another man in front of her fiancé.
He hadn’t done anything yet. Absolutely nothing.
The sunlight was scorching. Irritation built up.
“…In the future. Be careful,” Irene said.
Irene spoke without averting her gaze. Sunlight fell onto her blond hair, reminiscent of Christian.
The tightly packed long eyelashes and the ash-colored irises within were inevitably reminiscent of Christian.
“If it was unpleasant, I’m sorry.”
Judging by his reaction, it seemed like he hadn’t visited that woman yesterday. Irene slowly turned away without averting her gaze.
If she couldn’t be with Christian, accepting the marriage to this man who resembled him wasn’t a bad idea.
But this man was too different from him.
“Is that all you have to say?”
The man asked, looking at the clock with a nonchalant tone.
“Yes.”
“In the future.”
As Irene tried to lift her foot, she stopped.
“Don’t create reasons to apologize.”
Her extremely intense gaze was oppressive.
No matter how much of a small country it was, how would a man who treated a princess of a country like this treat a lowly servant?
Irene had become somewhat pitiful.
⭐⭐⭐
Olivia was lost in thought, seemingly absent-minded. Then suddenly, she started shivering. Her neatly cut hair swayed at the nape of her neck.
“Miss?”
Ann called Olivia with concern. The young lady had been acting a bit strange since yesterday.
Although it couldn’t be pinpointed, something seemed off. The cheeks, which were slightly flushed, indicated that she might have a fever.
Perhaps it was because the Duke had come. Furthermore, it was only natural for the fiancée to be a little unwell when she came with the princess.
Like a love that burned itself away like a candle, would it disappear in an instant?
Ann felt sorrow seeing the young lady in such a state. However, this had to be conveyed.
“Miss?”
Bending her upper body and approaching, Ann raised her voice a little. Olivia, startled like a child caught doing something wrong, turned her flushed face.
“…Oh! Ann. Did you call me?”
Olivia’s heart thumped like a child caught misbehaving.
This was all because of that man.
Since yesterday, that man’s face kept appearing before my eyes. It was strange.
Even when I opened my eyes in the morning, the pupil, like snowflakes dancing in the sky, faintly lingered in the air.
Surprised, when I blinked my eyes, it became even clearer. Then blinked again.
Am I going crazy?
Thinking that, my face burned again. Afraid of being caught by Ann, I couldn’t even meet her gaze, and my uneasy fingers fidgeted.
“Why? What’s the matter?”
“The carriage seems to be going in a strange direction.”
“What?”
Startled, Olivia, who had dampened the curtain she had put up because of the reporters, glanced outside, confused.
Ann was right. The carriage, which had turned into the city, was heading towards the right instead of the left to Riverside.
Olivia opened the window to the coachman’s side and asked, “Where are we going now?”
“Hmm?”
Surprised by Olivia’s question, the puzzled MacDowell’s coachman instead retorted, “The Marquess asked for your presence. Didn’t you know, Miss?”
“….”
It was the first time she heard this story. Puzzled, Olivia asked again.
“Did Gerald come and go?”
“He said he was a Ranclot Company employee, and even though I didn’t know his name, he said it was the Marquess’s order and gave me this.”
With one hand shifting the reins, the coachman took out something from his pocket and thrust it through the window.
It was a letter. Receiving the clean white envelope with no decorations, Olivia looked down at it for a moment.
Yesterday’s unpleasant incident again made her chest feel suffocated.
Maybe avoiding it because yesterday was awkward.
Perhaps.
Olivia soon shook her head.
He must be busy. He’s a busy person.
Although she was sluggish in that aspect, her eyes couldn’t ignore the gaze. What he wanted was so clear.
To express emotions so clearly, how could she not know.
Olivia’s earlobes turned red.
Covering her face with her hands, she lifted the postcard-sized letter. Opening the envelope and taking out the contents.
The Ranclot Company’s golden logo on the top of the letter shone brilliantly as the sunlight leaked through the curtains.
“Will cordially come to pick you up.”
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
