Didn't Plan to Become a Companion (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 13
At first, I was quite flustered, but eventually I just resigned myself to whatever would happen. Even at Count Fennel’s estate, I often took wrong turns. I’d simply thought it was because I was young, but that wasn’t the whole story.
I later realized I was seriously directionally challenged. I’d even get confused trying to find the same door I’d just entered through.
I absentmindedly kicked a stone that had tripped me and muttered under my breath once more.
“Yes, someday the path will become clear.”
The room assigned to me was right next to Ricardo’s.
Although there were only two bedrooms on the second floor, so they weren’t exactly adjacent, I still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling of being watched.
For the past three days, he’d been leaving the mansion early in the morning and returning late at night. I was frustrated not knowing how long I had to wait, yet I was too afraid to simply ask.
When Ricardo and I arrived at the Duke’s estate, many people came out to greet us, but we never saw the Duke and Duchess themselves.
“Could it be that he doesn’t get along well with his parents?”
Then again, it would’ve been strange if they did. Even though I understood intellectually that an oracle was the unchangeable, divine decree of the gods, comprehension alone wouldn’t erase resentment.
Ah, but without any memories, perhaps resentment held no meaning either.
The sun still hung high overhead, and my shadow circled closely around my feet. I glanced around and spotted a pretty bench, so I plopped down onto it. From there, the vast garden of the Duke’s estate unfolded before my eyes.
The sun dazzled my eyes so sharply that I squinted. I decided I’d try finding my way again once my shadow grew a bit longer.
“These are cyclamens too. They really do look like garments left behind by fairies.”
As I gazed up at the sky in peace, something rustled among the flowerbeds. Soon, like a bloom emerging from a bud, a woman slowly rose. If cyclamens were reincarnated as humans, would they look like this?
The woman, wearing white gloves and holding a trowel, stared at me intently.
I leapt to my feet at once. Even the maids here ranked higher in status than I did.
“Oh, hello.”
“Who are you?”
If flowers could speak, they’d surely sound just like this. Her radiant golden hair and crimson eyes were so exquisite they seemed to steal one’s soul away.
“Oh, I’m….”
Just how was I supposed to introduce myself? While I hesitated, the woman studied me for a moment, then gave a slight nod.
“Ah, Lady Fennel.”
Though I retained my noble status, my title had been stripped away, leaving me to live like a servant—so being addressed as ‘Lady’ felt awkward. Still, since she’d called me that, I lifted my skirt and performed the proper noblewoman’s curtsy.
She probably saw it as a clumsy gesture, but I did my best.
At my curtsy, she tilted her head slightly and gave me a warm, knowing smile. Her smile made it even harder to guess her age.
“But what brings you all the way out here? This isn’t the annex garden.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize this was a place I shouldn’t enter. Truthfully… I got lost.”
Embarrassment washed over me, and I gave an awkward smile.
“It’s not forbidden—just that nobody ever comes here.”
Wasn’t that practically the same thing?
Since she hadn’t revealed her identity first, it would’ve been rude to ask directly. Not knowing who she was, I bowed my head slightly as respectfully as I could.
A soft chuckle reached my ears. When I looked up, I saw the woman settling back down into the flowerbed.
“If you help me with my work, I’ll help you find your way.”
“Huh?”
“….”
“Oh, yes!”
As I approached, she handed me an extra pair of gloves and a trowel. The presence of a low stool suggested she’d been tending to these flowers for quite a while.
“Just thin out the ones growing too close together and replant them elsewhere.”
“That doesn’t sound too difficult.”
In fact, it felt like a stroke of luck—doing nothing would only make time drag on even slower.
“Do you take care of all these flowers by yourself?”
“Of course not. Only whenever I have time. Or rather… whenever I need to keep myself from having too much time on my hands. It’s my hobby.”
“I see….”
As she said, this garden was far too vast for someone as elegant as her to manage alone.
Though we were strangers, I took an instant liking to this noblewoman. After all, those who love plants and animals rarely turn out to be wicked.
“If I may be so bold, I’d like to come out often to help tend the flowers too—though I don’t know how long I’ll be staying here.”
At my words, she gave a small, gentle smile. I couldn’t help but be captivated by her grace.
“You’re truly… beautiful.”
The words slipped out as if I were spellbound. She looked at me with clear, innocent eyes—her crimson irises seeming to pierce right through my heart.
“Oh! The flower—I meant the flower!”
Just as I chuckled, thinking how much her smile resembled someone I knew, a long shadow fell over both of us.
“What are you doing here?”
I looked up at the low voice and saw Ricardo glaring down at me with a menacing expression. His irises remained their usual ashen gray, but his breathing was slightly uneven. He kept his lips tightly shut and tilted his jaw faintly to one side.
“Duchess.”
He addressed the woman beside me without ever taking his eyes off me. Duchess… So the woman who’d been gardening beside me was—
“Eep!”
I sprang to my feet. Who was Duchess Rochester, after all? She was famously even harder to meet than the Empress of the Dermayer Empire herself! And here she was, sitting on a low stool, tending to a flowerbed.
“Your Grace, I’ve been terribly impolite. Please forgive me.”
The moment her son appeared, her expression changed entirely from what it had been just moments ago. The Duchess rose slowly and flawlessly from her seat. As she carefully removed her soil-stained gloves, finger by finger, and lifted her chin slightly, all traces of the gentle woman who’d just laughed softly vanished without a trace.
“You’re here, Ricardo.”
“Your Grace, are you assigning tasks to my guest?”
Wasn’t this place supposed to be warm year-round? The chill between them made me shiver.
“She said she was lost, so I asked for a little help in exchange for showing her the way.”
“As far as I recall, I never gave you permission to approach my guest.”
Ah, that rudeness again. Back then, he wouldn’t let me near him, saying I was practically a slave. Now he was acting this way even toward the Duchess?
“Hahaha! I got lost. Isn’t that funny? Getting lost inside the house!”
“Speak accurately—you didn’t approach me. My lost guest came to me.”
“That’s right! I approached Your Grace first. I even said I’d like to help with your work from now on.”
“Then you should’ve just avoided me.”
Excuse me, I’m right here! Am I really invisible despite my height?
“I’ve never avoided anyone in my life.”
“That—!”
Worried he’d say something even more disrespectful, my hand moved on its own. When I lightly grasped his sleeve, he flinched, opened his mouth as if to speak, then abruptly closed it again. I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“My lord, could you please show me around the Duke’s estate? So I won’t get lost again.”
Ricardo glanced down at me. The sunlight from above cast deep shadows across his face. Oppressive as his presence was, he was so breathtakingly handsome that my gaze instinctively wandered.
“If you have the time, of course. Hahaha.”
How foolish. Even knowing full well how foolish I sounded, I couldn’t help myself—it was the pitiful sentiment of the weakest party.
I gently tugged the hand I was holding. He gave the Duchess a slight bow, then turned on his heel and walked away. As I smoothed my chest and removed my gloves, he suddenly spun around after just a few steps.
Huh? What now?
“Aren’t you coming?”
“Oh, yes!”
I quickly curtsied to the Duchess and hurried after Ricardo. When I glanced back, her expression gave nothing away.
Was it really alright for my first meeting with the Duchess to end like this?
While diligently following him, I couldn’t help but reflect on the old saying: shrimp shells break in the squabble of whales.
“Don’t go out without permission.”
“Yes, yes—do you think you’re my master or something?”
Even as I pondered the shrimp’s plight, my rebellious mouth answered back of its own accord.
He stopped abruptly in his tracks. At that moment, a breeze blew from afar, tousling his black hair. The scent it carried—Ricardo’s scent—instinctively drew my gaze.
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“What?”
“The way you phrased it—‘don’t go out without permission.’ That’s the sort of thing I tell my chickens back home. Come to think of it, I wonder how my chickens are doing.”
“Chickens….”
He exhaled softly, his lips pressing into a firm line, jaw stiffening. Realizing my blunder, I glanced around—and saw his entourage frozen in place like statues.
Were they tense because of me?
Just as I was about to retort, the oldest-looking man among them widened his eyes and gave a slight shake of his head. Ah—so it really was because of me.
Seeing how everyone trembled before Ricardo finally made it sink in: the man I was dealing with was the empire’s supreme authority.
“I never meant to treat you… like a chicken. I just meant, tell me where you’re going before you leave.”
Male lead is a clingy little husband
One-line summary: The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
Introduction:
One day, Lu Yuner’s soul transmigrates into a female-dominant world. She enters the Imperial Academy and takes up the position of a doctoral instructor, teaching classes and grading schoolwork.
One day, she encounters the young prince Su Qingwan secretly skipping class from the male academy.
As a result, Su Qingwan is punished.
From then on, Su Qingwan sees Lu Yuner as a “thorn in his side”.
But before long, this “thorn” becomes the person he cherishes most, and he goes to great lengths to win Lu Yuner’s affection.
Mini scene 1:
One day, the sun is high in the sky but Su Qingwan still hasn’t gotten up for class.
Servant Xiaoyuan: “Young prince, it’s time for class. You’ll be late otherwise.”
Su Qingwan says arrogantly: “I’m not going. I am the esteemed prince, my status is so noble, why should I suffer this hardship? Besides, isn’t learning all this just to please women? Hmph, they’re not worthy!”
Mini scene 2:
After Su Qingwan falls for someone, he completely changes. He no longer skips class and diligently learns how to be a good husband and father. But he discovers that Sister Yuner is always surrounded by admirers.
Drunk and overcome with jealousy one day, he clings to Lu Yuner, crying beautifully like a pear blossom in the rain.
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan likes Sister Yuner.”
Lu Yuner: “Young prince, you’re drunk.”
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan isn’t drunk. Qingwan likes Sister Yuner, likes you so much, likes you to bits…” Before he can finish, Lu Yuner’s eyes flash with emotion and she leans in closer.
[Reading Guide]
1. The female lead is gentle, gracious, humble and polite but not weak. The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
2. 1v1, a bit torturous in the beginning but definitely sweet later on.
_____
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