Julia covered her chest with a fan spread out in her left hand and grasped the hem of her dress with her right hand, bending her knees to bow politely.
“We’ve met before. At the Tane Academy graduation banquet.”
“Oh my. I’m honored that you remember me.”
“Of course I remember. You stood out like a crane among chickens, among the forest of female students. You were impressively elegant and dignified. Please, sit down.”
Pamila carefully observed Julia as she walked with a straight back, slightly bent her knees again, and sat down on the sofa.
Julia Leak, the young lady with skin as white as white satin, beautiful like a perfect porcelain doll without a single flaw.
However, Pamila smelled evil.
Julia received a box from her maid and said with a gentle smile,
“Mina, go wait outside.”
The maid was startled.
The maid’s name was Rosa, and Mina was the maid before she was selected. Lena’s younger sister who disappeared with Lena on the day of the royal wedding a few days ago. Julia was so selfishly focused on herself.
She would carelessly call the maid serving right beside her by the wrong name. Rosa bowed and backed out of the reception room.
Pamila, who was looking at Julia with the box on her lap, quickly grasped the situation and snatched the fan from her maid’s hand, instructing her to bring tea. As soon as the maid left, Julia respectfully handed over the box.
Pamila’s lips curved up as she opened the velvet box with a satin ribbon.
“Oh my. This is… so beautiful.”
The diamond necklace glittered white to the point of being blue against the dark navy velvet.
A main diamond of at least 10 carats was connected to three strands made of tiny sub-diamonds.
Pamila picked up the necklace and spread it out on the back of her hand. The cut edges touched by the chandelier light emitted a mysterious blue-green light.
“It’s a piece crafted by the master craftsman Lewin, who rose-cut the blue-green diamond raw stone mined from the Kaoshan ice wall. It’s the blue dawn light of Kaoshan.”
Giving such an invaluable gift meant demanding a matching deal. Sending the maid away meant maintaining such a secretive and weighty secret.
While the contents could only be known upon opening the lid, Pamila’s prediction based on the size and weight of the packaging that it would be a diamond necklace was correct.
Knowing that her animal instincts were excellent, as if she had guessed correctly, Pamila could roughly guess Julia’s intentions.
She was clearly of the same color as herself. Pamila quite liked this beautiful and elegant young lady.
“If my intuition is correct, it seems we’re dipping our hands in the same water.”
‘Now, let’s hear the youngster’s plan.’
“Julia, speak comfortably.”
Julia lifted her thick eyelashes to look at Pamila.
“By chance, I learned about the plan the Empress is plotting through Duke Parse.”
‘Oh ho, revealing eavesdropped information like a little mouse. It’s not blackmail, so it must be a proposal for a deal.’
Her voice was small and fragile compared to her eyes that glowed as if ready to devour anything weaker than herself.
‘She must naturally speak in a sharp voice and scratch like a metal piece in front of her subordinates.’
“Is that so? What kind of plan?”
[This is the timeline separator]The man in a black robe who entered the Etrangé guest room uninvited introduced himself as Billy, a Heun clan hunter.
“I’ll do what the boss refused.”
“How can I trust you?”
“In such deals, trust varies according to the amount of gold. I followed the young lady secretly right after you parted with the boss, my lady.”
“The boss, was it Bark? Did he send you?”
“Why would the boss change his mind after refusing once?”
The man lifted his robe hem and took something out, tossing it onto the table. It was a rag doll sewn with tattered cloth.
“Above all, I know what the lady wants.”
The man placed an arrowhead with a white bird feather attached next to the rag doll.
“Actually, the poison arrow can be a fatal poison or cause temporary paralysis depending on the target’s condition. That’s how the poison itself is. From past cases, only one in three or four dies from the poison.”
“What? So you mean death is rare…”
Julia was conflicted. So it’s a poison arrow, but it can’t kill people?
“Then why is the so-called boss being so picky?”
“Well, it’s because of the relationship with the Emperor of the Karsic Empire. Given that the current Emperor has accepted the Heun clan as imperial citizens and allowed private property and land ownership, he doesn’t want to create any unsavory incidents.”
“But why are you…”
“For me, I need this.”
The man made a circle with his thumb and index finger and turned the arrowhead towards her.
“I’ll leave this place after I finish the job. You don’t need to worry about my whereabouts. Now, try stabbing the desired part.”
Julia picked up the arrowhead placed next to the colorful floral cookies. She stabbed it into the heart position of the rag doll.
The tip went into the doll filled with flour.
Ooh.
Julia shuddered at the sensation of it sinking in. She felt an intense ecstasy, as if comforting her flushed state.
The man reconfirmed the information about Patricia. Her appearance and honeymoon schedule.
“I’ll have to track the Emperor’s party anyway.”
“They left quite a while ago, so you’ll need to hurry.”
“We’ll leave at dawn tomorrow in pairs. The gold is ten times what you brought today. Is that possible?”
“Yes.”
“Then, leave the promised gold here at dawn tomorrow. You can come yourself or send a trusted subordinate, but.”
The man put down a paper with a map drawn on it on the table in front of Julia and held up the rag doll with the arrowhead stuck in it close to Julia’s eyes.
“I’m working with my neck on the line for the boss and the Emperor’s knights. Remember that this is what will happen if you change your mind.”
“What if you fail? I care about your success, not the gold.”
“I like your desperation. I urgently need the gold too.”
Billy twisted out the arrowhead from the rag doll. He folded the doll in half with white powder flowing out from where the tip had been removed and put it in his robe pocket.
“Lady, I’ve been a hunter for over thirty years. Whether it’s a blue deer or a bear, not once has my arrow missed, and. If I succeed, I’ll come back for ten times the amount.”
“Alright, I’ll give it. So make sure you succeed.”
That night, Julia lured out a coachman. She told him to place a bag containing gold bars at the well outside the capital marked on the paper and watch who takes it.
The returned coachman handed her a piece of paper. It was a map drawn by the man called Billy showing where to place the gold bars in case of success.
One day, while frequenting the palace on trivial excuses, she heard through Carolina that the Empress had been hit by a poison arrow.
At that moment, Julia felt the knot in her chest loosen completely. But the next news was disappointing.
The Empress didn’t die, but she lost all her memories and became an idiot, they said. Moreover, the Emperor was staying in Pana Castle, canceling and postponing state affairs to devote himself to treating the Empress in such a state.
Julia felt ambivalent. It wasn’t the success she wanted, but the hunter had hit his target as he boasted.
Julia took the promised gold bars to the location Billy had given on the map for future business. However, the man did not come.
She later found out that one of the hunters swallowed poison hidden under his tongue and committed suicide when he was about to be caught by the Emperor’s knights. Julia assumed the dead man was Billy.
During lunch with Carolina, Julia expressed concern, in a roundabout way, about whether the idiot Empress could assist the Emperor and handle internal affairs.
Carolina, tired of Julia’s manner of speaking, gave only a cold, sarcastic reply.
“Julia, the idiot Empress doesn’t seem to be as much of an idiot as you think. Moreover, Harchen will take good care of her. Don’t worry too much.”
Carolina was more curious about why Patrick wasn’t returning to the palace with Patricia and what exactly he was doing in the border region.
When her plan to spread malicious rumors about the idiot Empress through Carolina failed, Julia spent three or four days catching her maids and servants like mice.
Meanwhile, Knight Henry brought news of Lena, Mina, and the Baeser sisters. He said the Baeser sisters were working at a restaurant for the workers at the Kaoshan gold mine.
He also provided information that they come to the market at the entrance of Oro Alley once a day to buy food ingredients.
“I guess I’ll have to take care of those faces myself.”
Julia was about to put it into action immediately but thought she should use them for a better plan and racked her brains. While drinking tea on the terrace flooded with sunlight, a brilliant idea came to her.
She went to find her mother in the grand garden where she was having a tea party with the noble ladies.
The Duchess of Leak examined her daughter’s complexion as she looked around nervously with an urgent expression. She was already keenly listening to the ominous news about the Empress spreading among the noble ladies of the capital.
The Duchess left the grand garden, using the excuse of setting up walnut tarts to show the noble ladies. She took Julia to the women’s powder room.
She spoke to Julia in the mirror while fixing her makeup in front of a large dressing table.
“Tell me, Julia, what has made you so hasty? You must maintain your dignity.”
“Mother, I need something for an important matter in my life, you must get it for me.”
Julia had her mother call the trusted subordinates she used when dealing with the Duke’s women to search for items in the black market.
Julia’s assumption that Lena would have put the valuables she stole from the Empress on the black market was spot on.
In the end, Julia got her hands on the Blue Dawn Light, a necklace made of blue-green diamonds that were said to have been mined in small quantities from the Kaoshan ice wall and then closed for the Emperor’s wedding jewelry.
She went to the Duse Palace where Pamila, the Empress of Tane, was. The only person who solely hated Patrick and Patricia.
Julia’s gift was indeed worth its price. Empress Pamila was suspicious like an old fox and hid her true feelings, but she didn’t ignore Julia’s desperate malice. Because she was of the same color as her.
“I see. Huh, I wonder what the idiot Empress looks like. But Julia.”
Pamila twirled a few strands of her red hair around her index finger, imitating an idiot, then burst out laughing. After taking a sip of tea, she put on a serious expression and said,
“No matter how idiotic, she must have only lost her memories. The fox-like Patrick would have already given her information about me, huh.”
Julia was captivated by Pamila’s beautiful face changing expressions as if acting, so easily. The gap between her suddenly shifting from an innocent smile to a cruel expression seemed cool. She wanted to be like her.
“Your Majesty the Empress, I’m not asking for much. Like Your Majesty, I just want to be by the Emperor’s side as Empress and bear an heir.”
Pamila stood up and sat next to Julia on the three-person sofa. There was a subtle fragrance. Her hand, gloved in soft silk, gently caressed Julia’s cheek.
“Julia, don’t worry. You will achieve your wish.”
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.”