After signing the contract with Elizabeth, Michael closed the door to the duke’s office and was immersed in strange emotions.
‘Was Elizabeth Keaton that kind of person?’
Throughout the walk to the heavenly room assigned to me, he stared intently at his right hand, which had been clasped with Elizabeth.
A lukewarm warmth remained in Michael’s hand, which had always been cold.
‘To hold hands with ‘that’ Elizabeth, something unimaginable just a few days ago.’
He wouldn’t have flinched at the Duke of Keaton even if that damned snakelike Pope hadn’t thrown Michael away…
‘Not bad.’
Michael now rather accepted this situation as quite alright.
The old Elizabeth Keaton was annoying and troublesome, also a symbol of evil who hated and tormented Sienna, the one he secretly loved.
There were more reasons why Michael hated Elizabeth.
He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, but a sense of discomfort like wearing a mask.
This feeling caused him to dislike Elizabeth even more.
To him, who valued honesty as the highest virtue, Elizabeth Keaton was an irritating human being.
But the impression he received from the Elizabeth he had just met was very different.
There was a glimpse of gentleness in her, even as she calmly finished counting, caring for his feelings as a conversation partner.
Also, every gesture and tone of her speech attracted the viewer’s eye with its ease and confidence.
‘Like a butterfly ready to take flight after molting.’
This appearance suited her better than the strangely mismatched malicious days when she seemed to be wearing a mask.
And he was so surprised at himself that he questioned.
‘What are you thinking?’
Michael raised both hands and slapped both cheeks hard, loud enough to make a sound.
His cheeks turned red from the numbness, but the newly opened flood of thoughts showed no signs of closing again.
‘…Let’s just work hard according to what’s written in the contract.’
He must not forget.
His main task was to save the Empire of Caladia, which had been brought down by zombies.
Upon entering the heavenly room where the blue and white colors harmonized, Michael thought of someone angelic.
“Sienna… that’s also about saving you, right?”
Only an empty echo lingered in the room left alone.
Michael had accepted the fact that he had been abandoned by the temple and the Pope.
But it was not easy to accept that Sienna had become a zombie.
‘It seems to be a sleepless night.’
But he thought so, yet Michael was able to sleep soundly for the first time in a long while.
It was a nap, the first since he heard the news of Sienna’s marriage.
(This is a time separator.)
Chirp. Chirp.
‘…It’s morning.’
A new day had dawned, whether I despair or not.
Tomorrow in this strange and cruel world has swiftly become today.
The shock from the quest’s recruitment conditions had kept me up all night…
Perhaps because zombies are lurking outside, my eyes popped open earlier than usual without anyone waking me up.
Just at the moment when my dedicated maid Rina tried to wake me up.
“Sc, screeeeeam!”
Meeting my slightly dilated purple pupils, Rina took about ten steps back in surprise.
“You, you startled me. Young ma… no, Your Grace!”
“Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
I was surprised to make eye contact with Rina’s brown pupils as soon as I woke up, but I apologized first.
After all, she had a selfdefense item in her hand that I had never seen before.
A shiny, welltrimmed wooden club.
Someone had made it very impressively.
‘This is no time to admire?’
But as I looked closely at the wooden club, I could see something with a pure white energy infused.
‘Huh?’
Maybe it’s because I became a saint, but something strongly told me in my head.
That’s holy power.
This wooden club was blessed with something holy.
I was momentarily amazed, but then I became curious.
Entering the employer’s bedroom with a wooden stick in hand?
“……Rina. Just in case, I’m asking, but what are you planning to do with that……?”
Could it be that she intended to hit me with that wooden stick?
With a suspicious look in my eyes, I stared at Rina, and my personal maid was shocked.
“It’s not like that! Absolutely not!”
“Then why are you carrying a wooden stick?”
When I crossed my arms and questioned her, Rina replied in a deflated voice.
“It’s something the knight who became Valterminster Duke’s guest as of yesterday made for us.”
“Huh? Sir Michael?”
“That blond upstart knight?”
Zero was also surprised and let out a sound.
Rina then told me exactly what had happened.
“That’s it, Duke. The handsome knight got up diligently from dawn to carve this wooden stick. Not just one, but enough for all the servants inside Valterminster’s residence to have one each!”
“What?”
This isn’t the work of a woodcarving master.
‘Why is he doing something no one asked for?’
I was flabbergasted since there was no such provision in the contract.
Seeing my disbelief, Rina, who had come close unnoticed, combed my disheveled hair with a comb and babbled on.
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.”
