Outside Lakrahan’s castle.
A little child was busily running through a dark and eerie forest filled with shadows.
It would typically be scary for a young child to be alone, but there was no hesitation in the child’s steps as they moved forward.
“Huff, huff.”
Upon arriving at the agreed place, the child found someone already waiting there and broke into a broad smile.
“Master!”
A woman stood alone in the darkness, and turned towards the child.
Only her bright red lips, drawing a curve, were highlighted in a face hidden by shadows.
Raising its chin, the child looked up at the woman’s face and discovered that smile, smiling back broadly in return.
Then, the child took a step back from the woman and let go of her hand.
For the orphan child, who lacked affection, the woman had only ever permitted a single hug.
The child seemed to catch its breath, swallowing saliva, and began to speak with sparkling eyes.
“I saw it clearly, the golden hair and golden eyes are definite.”
The child laughed innocently, giggling.
“The Duke went to see a guest just a moment ago, and now they have gone out together.”
“At this time of night?”
“Yes. I saw with my own eyes the Duke riding his horse into the forest.”
“The forest?”
“Yes, that forest over there.”
The child pointed to the eastern forest.
Looking across the night sky, a distant tower was seen, rising long and faintly from within a thin mist.
“Bercheria’s tower.”
The woman, after caressing the child’s head, took out two sparkling silver coins and showed them.
“Here, a gift. You’re such a clever child.”
“Wow!”
The child happily accepted the silver coins.
“Go to the castle and bring back more information. Then, I’ll give you more gifts.”
“Thank you!”
As the woman pushed the child’s back, the child, bowing, retraced the path with even more excitement than before.
Not long after the child disappeared, a splendid carriage stopped in front of the woman.
Climbing into the carriage as the coachman opened the door, the woman sat down and looked out.
The distant view of the tower was quite worth seeing.
The coachman, seated at the front, asked in a quiet voice.
“Where shall I take you?”
The woman answered with a smile.
“To Bercheria’s tower.”
The carriage kicked the forest and began to run towards its destination.
[Star Icon]“Just stay by my side. Until I regain all the abilities I’ve lost.”
Bercheria, having finished speaking, exhaled a tensionfilled breath.
The fact that someone other than her mother was here, where she had lived all her life, was something she was still getting used to.
“Being by your side will bring back your abilities?”
“Yes.”
Lakrahan was silently staring at her.
His gaze, casually looking at her, was deep and clear.
She had felt it before, but the man had quite unusual eyes.
Most people in the north had black irises, but it wasn’t every time their eyes met that she felt this way now.
This calm gaze made her feel strange.
It was a weird illusion, as if her thoughts were being drawn into that man.
A gaze that seemed to see through everything, at times, became lighter, twinkling as if filled with light.
Being with him, her appearance must have looked very peculiar.
The eyes of the two people were strikingly different, like darkness and light.
“Remember, if you hesitate, that you’re not helping me, but your own people.”
“……!”
Bercheria said so and walked to the end of the tower.
The round tower floor was so narrow that it only took a few steps to reach from one end to the other.
One thing she felt fortunate about living here was that she could see the entire outside scenery while sitting on this precarious railing.
Even her mother probably didn’t know this.
Humans would view the deity through their standards.
“Ah, there’s one more thing I haven’t told you.”
Bercheria stood at the railing and looked back at him.
The wind was shaking her hair in the air.
“What is it that you speak of?”
“About how to descend this tower.”
Lakrahan’s eyebrows twitched and quivered.
An ominous premonition enveloped him.
“Could it be…….?”
The sight of her, who had never easily yielded until now, made his breath stifling, as if something was stuck in his throat.
He cleared his voice and continued speaking.
“Could it be that I have to assure you I’ll help you here before I can go down?”
Bercheria narrowed her eyes slightly and smiled meaningfully.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Ha. ……So you had planned to do this from the beginning.”
From the beginning, there was no choice for Lakrahan.
He had simply been unaware of that fact until now.
Bercheria had planned everything from the moment she left the castle.
She would meet Muhar, who only appeared at the border between night and dawn, and with the strength regained thanks to Lakrahan, she would climb the tower.
And she absolutely needed Lakrahan to return.
That man could only stand here because of Bercheria’s needs.
“No one has played with me to this extent until now.”
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.”
