The eyes of the maids who stood still widened all at once.
“To Her Highness’s bedroom?”
Merc raised an eyebrow.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing!”
The maids hurriedly bowed their heads.
“All right. Your Highness.”
“Understood. Your Highness.”
Turning his gaze away from them, Merc looked at the small woman standing with clenched dirty fists.
Since her hair and face were tangled with mud from the beginning, he hadn’t seen her properly yet.
Perhaps that’s why.
Merc could usually make a guess about a person by looking at them, but this woman was utterly unpredictable.
The body he had held was too small and thin, and that was all that had surprised him.
The fragility that seemed about to break made him constantly uneasy, turning back to look.
‘I’ll find out after she washes up.’
As he was about to turn his gaze away,
A small voice that seemed to creep up from behind was heard.
“…Um.”
Merc’s cold eyes turned back to the woman again, like a flowing stream.
Between wet hair, it could be seen that her eyelashes blinked slowly, causing a sense of frustration.
Even that couldn’t be seen properly due to the dirty mud.
When the woman didn’t say anything, Merc felt tired.
The thick books left in the study and the now-dried black tea were more interesting.
“If you don’t have anything to say, listen after you bathe. I’m not such a free person.”
Fortunately, the desperate voice, which seemed to go out soon, could be heard.
“T-Thank you for saving me.”
The woman spoke as if she had used up all her remaining strength, panting for breath.
“I-I wanted to say that.”
“…….?”
“That’s… it.”
Verche bowed deeply.
It’s not that she didn’t want to say more. She was really exhausted.
Trapped in a narrow space, her strength, which had already been exhausted, had long since run out.
When she had her head bowed, breathing heavily with what little strength she had left,
“Words of thanks, I feel like I haven’t heard them in a long time.”
Verche raised her surprised face.
Dark and deep black eyes, like the night sky she had seen sometime, were silently looking down at her.
“Well, it wasn’t bad to hear.”
Leaving behind a brief remark, the man turned and went into the bathroom.
As she stared blankly at the closed door, her head tilted with a creak.
For some reason, there was a strange feeling as if someone was tickling her skin underneath, and someone was plucking the ends of her hair.
“Hey!”
With a sudden voice, Verche jumped up like a startled rabbit.
She quickly blinked her eyes as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have.
“Ah, it’s frustrating! Do you want to die?”
At the sudden shout, Verche’s body stiffened reflexively.
The voice of her mother, who always made a fuss and got angry, rang in her head as if waiting.
Verche! Verche! Vercheria[Dash]!
She closed her tightly shut eyes and clenched her fists.
This isn’t home.
And the one in front of me is not my mother.
“S-Stop shouting.”
“……What?”
As Verche, who was retreating, gathered her two feet together in an orderly manner.
Swoosh.
Suddenly, heavy rain poured down outside the window.
At the sound, the maids surrounding Verche simultaneously exclaimed.
“Oh my. It’s raining again!”
“The furniture will be a mess. Close the windows. Quickly!”
The gaze that had been entirely focused on Verche disappeared in an instant, and the surroundings became noisy.
“Sigh.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, brushing away the dirt on her soaked eyelids with the back of her hand.
Her sparkling pupils were revealed for a moment, disappearing within the shadow created by her hair.
“I-I might be experiencing various things now, but n-not that.”
In the meantime, the maids who had tidied up the surroundings were coming back.
There were maids with completely wet hair, and others who walked while wringing out water from their clothes.
“Maybe it’s gone crazy. Why is it suddenly raining like this? It’s not like there’s a flood coming.”
“Don’t say such things, dear. Sir Merc is here; surely nothing like that will happen?”
“Oh dear. Dear. Even if our lord is magnificent, he can’t prevent a flood. Are you a fool?”
One of the maids, looking at her gossiping colleagues with a pathetic look, walked towards Verche, who stood like a statue.
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.”
