Alejandro’s accusations seemed unfair to Klaus, who frowned and turned to where Roselia and Nadia had been. Or at least, he tried to.
“I was just annoyed by that woman…”
“A woman?”
Alejandro looked around, only seeing the beaten men.
“Where’s the woman?”
“She was definitely here with Roselia, another woman…”
“Roselia? That name sounds familiar… No! That’s not important right now!”
Alejandro, regaining his focus, grabbed Klaus’s arm and dragged him back to the carriage.
Roselia, watching from behind an alley with Nadia, let out a sigh of relief.
Nadia looked at her curiously.
“But why are we hiding?”
Hesitant, Roselia smiled awkwardly.
“Well… they seemed like high-ranking people… I thought it might complicate things.”
“Weren’t you acquainted with that nobleman?”
“Oh… he was a former employer of mine! Ha-ha! We should move from here in case those men come back.”
Quickly changing the subject, Nadia nodded, turning to leave.
“Follow me. This is also fate, I suppose. My place isn’t much, but I’ll take you there.”
Following Nadia, Roselia arrived at a ramshackle wooden house that seemed on the verge of collapse.
One side of the roof was caved in, indicating it couldn’t even properly shield from the rain.
The interior was in a similar state of disrepair.
Furniture worn and broken to the point of questioning its habitability, and trash strewn about…
Yet, amidst this decay, there were canvases set up like background paintings.
In the brightest spot of the gloomy house, where sunlight best reached, stood an old easel with a painting that seemed unfinished.
An abstract painting blended with stunning rays of light and rainbow-like colors, contrasting sharply with the damp and dark surroundings.
It was mesmerizing, almost drawing one’s mind into its depths.
Roselia, lost in the painting, was approached by Nadia, who wore a bitter smile.
“This is my last painting.”
Surprised by Nadia’s sudden confession, Roselia looked at her curiously.
Even in the original story, Nadia was destined to die from illness, but she wouldn’t know when that would be…
Observing Nadia’s forlorn expression, Roselia hesitantly spoke.
“Why is this your last painting?”
Tensing at Roselia’s question, Nadia smiled as if it was nothing.
“I’ve run out of paint. There’s no money left to buy more.”
Only then did Roselia notice the old wooden palette beside the easel, its paint wells scraped clean.
Nadia must have scrimped even on food to afford those paints.
Yet, why didn’t she sell her paintings when Roselia, as Antonio, had offered to buy them?
Unable to ask this as Antonio, Roselia gazed at Nadia with a complex expression. Nadia chuckled.
“Don’t look so sympathetic. I was planning to give up painting anyway.”
Roselia, struggling to find the words, finally asked.
“Have you ever thought about… selling your paintings?”
To Roselia’s serious question, Nadia leaned against the wall, chuckling.
“Painting was… my only escape. When I painted, I could forget this vile reality and feel free.”
With a wistful smile, Nadia continued.
“I might have sold my laughter and body, but I didn’t want to sell my freedom.”
Though smiling, Nadia seemed to be crying, causing an ache in Roselia’s heart.
One didn’t need to hear or see it; Nadia’s physical state and eyes told everything.
She likely worked in that tavern since she was very young, perhaps even earlier, doing whatever necessary to stave off starvation.
Selling her laughter, body, and lifetime, enduring all that life threw at her.
In the process, she lost love, health, and hope.
To her, painting was the one thing she didn’t want to sell or lose – her only remaining hope.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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