Irene felt a sharp pain near her heart the moment she grabbed Carlos’s hand.

Soon after, the strength drained from her body, and it became difficult for her to stand on two legs. As Irene leaned on the table with her other hand, the pushed dishes fell under the table.

Crash[Dash].

The loud noise rang throughout the dining room, but nobody paid any attention. No one entered through the dining room door.

Irene stared blankly at her reflection in the purple eyes. She wanted to avoid it, but couldn’t. She felt like a weak herbivore caught in a dense trap.

Fear that she would be devoured by him welled up to her throat when the purple eyes that had been holding her gaze fell.

Carlos let go of Irene’s hand and stepped back.

“This is really bad.”

He mumbled to himself, covering his twisted face with that hand.

Only then did Irene, coming to her senses, try to stand up straight without leaning on the table but staggered back to lean on it again.

“Sit down.”

Carlos lightly pressed Irene’s shoulder and seated her. Then he started picking up the fallen dishes.

“I, I’ll do it.”

“It’s fine. What can you do if you can’t even stand up straight?”

…Isn’t this happening to me because of you?

A word she couldn’t dare say rolled around in her mouth. To ask such a thing, Irene was still afraid of Carlos.

Carlos laid the pickedup dishes on one side of the table.

“I’ll have to ask for new ones.”

“No, you don’t have to.”

They were things that were not being used anyway. The fork and knife she had been using were neatly placed on the steak plate.

Carlos looked at them and slightly narrowed his eyes as if puzzled.

“That’s a fish knife.”

In other words, she had used the wrong utensil. Irene slightly reddened her ears, placing the knife quietly beside the plate.

“You are using the salad fork, too.”

“……”

“You even cut the steak wrong.”

With repeated criticism, Irene’s face turned as red as a wellcooked tomato. She bowed her head and stammered an excuse.

“I, I never learned anything about dining etiquette… so I just used anything.”

“Do you want to learn?”

When the returning question met Irene, she lifted her head again. Emotionless, indifferent eyes were staring at her.

Strangely, looking into those eyes, a small space opened in her chest that had been tightly filled with fear.

“…If I say I want to learn, will you teach me?”

When Irene, who had gained the courage to ask thanks to that, questioned, Carlos nodded his head.

“If you want.”

Irene’s life so far had been filled with coercion.

Including her violent father, and even her kind mother, they only forced her to do things, never giving her a choice.

The same went for Carlos. Whether it was saving her from being killed as a witch or bringing her to the Esper estate, it was all his coercion. He never asked what she wanted.

Of course, she was grateful for being saved from neardeath.

But that feeling was buried by forcibly being brought to the Esper estate. Now, all that was in Irene’s head were doubts, anxiety, and the desire to escape.

“Do you want to learn?”

“……. ”

Anyway, Irene was confused that a choice was suddenly given to her. It was also trembling.

It felt as if even the choice was being forced.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Carlos said, as if reading Irene’s mind.

The calm voice slightly settled Irene’s wavering anxiety, and she rolled her eyes to look at the utensils. Carlos’s criticism floated back to her mind.

Her consideration was not long.

“Yes. I want to learn.”

Then she wouldn’t be ignored by Carlos, let alone others.

“Okay. I’ll tell Duey.”
Hearing the name Dewey, Irene recalled the man she had seen during the day near the knight’s quarters. Dewey’s twin brother, whose name she had not yet heard.

“Do you want to do anything else?”

I want to run away. Irene quickly folded up the thought that popped into her mind. Saying such things was no different from touching a sleeping lion’s whiskers.

What should I say I want to do then?

Should I say I want to tour the estate?

No. I haven’t even finished touring the castle yet, so if I suddenly say I want to go to the estate, it will be considered strange.

And there was no chance of escaping even if I left the castle right away. More preparation time was needed.

“Can I tell you later? I don’t really want to do anything right now…….”

“Do that.”

I thought it would be a no, thankfully. Irene deeply relieved that Carlos had readily accepted her opinion.

“Then I’ll go now, keep eating.”

Carlos left abruptly, just as he had appeared.

Left alone in the spacious dining room, Irene put the steak she had stopped eating into her mouth.

“It’s hard.”

The cold steak was as hard as a rock to chew, but Irene did not mind and ate it all.

Hoping fervently that she could overcome the problems that lay ahead, just like now.

“Find an etiquette teacher.”

At the sudden command, Dewey, who was picking up the clothes Carlos had taken off, asked.

“An etiquette teacher?”

“Yes. She’s going to learn.”

“You mean Miss Irene?”

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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