Euphemina, returning to her room after meeting Dorothea, thought.
That with this, she could punish both Kardiel and Chersion.
“I think Mother might be misunderstanding something.”
The day Euphemina gathered her siblings once again.
She had no doubt that her brothers would unite to protect their mother this time as well.
So Euphemina told her siblings about what happened on the night of the snow storm.
What Joseph and Lieselotte were doing, what kind of mark was left on Lieselotte’s neck.
“It seems Mother really intends to marry Sir Joseph.”
However, the reactions of her siblings, whom she expected to share her anger, were different from her expectations.
Kardiel said,
“About that… it would be best to confirm when our stepmother returns to Daiern.”
Up to this point, it was still okay. Kardiel seemed to have grasped something, but Euphemina didn’t detect that far.
To begin with, she had never cared about other people’s feelings in her life.
What angered her was Chersion’s reaction.
“But, elder sister Euphi. I think Sir Joseph might be alright…”
“What do you mean, alright?”
“It would be nice if Mother didn’t marry, but since it’s Mother’s life, we can’t interfere… And if we must have a stepfather, I’d prefer Sir Joseph…”
What?
In an instant, Euphemina’s eyes turned fierce. It was a statement that made her doubt her ears.
Immediately, Euphemina’s voice turned cold as she clenched her fists tightly.
“Chelsi. What did you just say?”
“Hng, but elder sister…”
“Can you take responsibility for what you just said?”
“Both of you, be quiet.”
Fortunately, the explosive situation was immediately terminated by Kardiel.
But that didn’t improve Euphemina’s mood, which had started to run wild.
Aside from the sense of betrayal towards Chersion, she also disliked Kardiel’s indecisive attitude.
‘Indeed, I’m the one who loves Mother the most.’
Euphemina thought that neither Kardiel nor Chersion deserved to stay with Lieselotte.
So, this time, she would drive both of them out of the house.
‘I’ll have Mother all to myself!’
After all, Lieselotte would be happier with someone who truly loved her by her side.
Having reached that conclusion, Euphemina decided to formally ally with Dorothea.
Fortunately, all Dorothea wanted was connections, so it wasn’t difficult to pay the price.
‘She said to bring it when blue paper arrives in my room, right?’
Mulling over Dorothea’s last words, Euphemina passed through the underground passage and corridor.
It was when she arrived at the grand staircase to return to her room.
Boom! Crash!
Suddenly, as if lightning had struck nearby, an enormous sound shook the entire castle. Then, a strange “keeung” sound came from the corner of the stairs.
What came into view, eyes now accustomed to the darkness, was a white ball of fluff crouched in the corner.
“Kong Sam?”
The curious puppy reacted to Euphemina’s voice, wagging its tail and running out.
It seemed to have been out for a night walk and was hiding, startled by the thunder.
Panting and licking Euphemina’s clothes with its tongue, the puppy, however, cowered and trembled when the surroundings flashed again, yelping “kyeong!”
It’s just like Chersion, being afraid of thunder and lightning.
It was then that Euphemina’s hand, stroking Kong Sam, stopped.
Ah, that’s right.
“You belong to Chelsi, don’t you?”
Then…
If this puppy were to be broken, wouldn’t Chersion come to his senses a little?
A calm smile formed on the face of the seemingly innocent, dazed girl.
Her hand was gripping the thin neck of the trembling puppy. But then…
“Young lady.”
There was an intruder. Euphemina turned her head, slightly loosening her grip.
A large man with red hair was smiling gently with his golden eyes.
“That’s a very dangerous action right now.”
“…”
Prince Raphael lowered himself to meet Euphemina’s eye level.
Perhaps due to the lack of light, his usually kind eyes seemed utterly indifferent.
Glancing at Kong Sam struggling in its grip, Prince Raphael continued.
“The Regent will surely find out. Then he will be angry with you, young lady.”
Hmm…
While she didn’t care about other things, it would be troublesome to be hated by Lieselotte.
Only then did Euphemina withdraw her decision to break Kong Sam.
When she let go, the puppy barked “woof! woof!” loudly at Euphemina a couple of times, then ran up the stairs like a shot.
“By the way, isn’t this too late for a walk? It’s raining so heavily outside.”
As if to help her stand up, Prince Raphael extended his arm to her.
Reflexively frowning, Euphemina leaned her upper body back. Only then did Prince Raphael quickly withdraw his hand.
“Ah, I apologize. I heard you don’t like touching others…”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, there was no need to be wary of touching or getting hurt by someone anymore. This time, Euphemina extended her hand first.
“Please hold it.”
“Are you sure?”
“It doesn’t matter now.”
“If you say so, gladly.”
A thick, firm arm was extended to Euphemina. As she grabbed his arm and stood up, Euphemina suddenly felt strange.
It was the first time she had contact with another person like this.
“Your arm is incredibly thick.”
“Ah… I’m embarrassed. I’ve been on the larger side since I was young.”
“That’s nice. I was on the smaller side.”
“Is being big a good thing?”
“Isn’t it? You’re bigger than elder brother Kar and even Sir Joseph.”
“Usually, people find it scary when someone is this big.”
“That’s good too. I want to look a bit scary.”
“Hmm, come to think of it, it might be good. People with small and delicate beauty like you, young lady, tend to be seen as easy targets.”
It was a completely relatable statement. That’s probably why Kardiel and Chersion had no hesitation in betraying her.
She liked this unexpectedly understanding conversation partner.
Meanwhile, Euphemina suddenly felt the glove on her hand holding Prince Raphael’s arm getting damp. She tilted her head.
“By the way, Your Highness, were you outside until this hour? Come to think of it, I didn’t see you since this morning.”
Only now did she notice that the air around him was strangely humid.
He must have been in the rain until just now. Then, was he very wet?
But here a problem arose. Although her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, it wasn’t enough to properly see the other person’s appearance.
Only then did Euphemina realize that Prince Raphael also wasn’t holding a light source.
“I went hunting as the weather improved. The Count allowed it, saying there would be plenty of game in the deep forests around Daiern Castle.”
“Hunting?”
“Yes. Though I only managed to catch rabbits and birds. Since they’re hardly trophies, I just buried them and came back.”
“I see. That’s a shame.”
She wanted to see the game.
In any case, Euphemina was curious about something dying.
She felt this even more because she had just tried to strangle the white puppy.
What expression do animals make when their breath is cut off? Her father’s face was ruined, so she couldn’t see it properly…
“If you’re interested, young lady, how about learning to hunt?”
“Huh?”
“It’s not that difficult. These days, there are methods to train hunting dogs or use falcons, so you don’t necessarily need to learn archery. Ah, it would be good to learn horseback riding though.”
Suddenly, Prince Raphael made an unexpected suggestion.
As Euphemina blinked her innocent eyes, he smiled gently with his eyes.
“In my case, it was effective in suppressing the occasional surges of aggression.”
As he said this, Prince Raphael pointed to himself.
“After all, people like us need to be good at handling the mask that controls ourselves.”
Flash, lightning illuminated everywhere again. Then, Prince Raphael’s figure, buried in darkness, was clearly revealed for a moment.
His long red hair was plastered to his black coat.
That appearance sometimes looked as if he was covered in blood.
Especially the eerie glint in his golden eyes, which usually curved kindly, hinted that he was not actually an innocent lion cub, but a fierce beast.
At that moment, Euphemina’s heart began to melt like spring rain.
She mulled over Prince Raphael’s last words as if entranced.
The two of them were clearly of the same kind.
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.”
