Parnes murmured almost inaudibly.
Feeling as if her true feelings were exposed, Kasalyn stuttered and fumbled with the bandage, unable to articulate a response.
Her heart, which had been frozen until just moments ago, strangely began to thaw.
“Speak up. Why did you have that expression?”
She couldn’t honestly answer.
That she had been abandoned overnight by Shallen and had no choice but to become a maid to her younger sister, who became the queen in her place.
He would surely find it pitiful. She didn’t want his sympathy.
“It was just that I didn’t want to cause a scene in a foreign country. That’s all.”
It sounded like a plausible excuse to her own ears.
Her voice was steady, her expression calm.
But Parnes seemed to have a strange ability to see through people.
“Daring to lie in response to an emperor’s inquiry?”
His face, blurred at the edge of her narrowing vision, shimmered with a crimson hue.
He appeared like a greedy demon, a tyrant coming to claim her heart.
“Forgive me, but I fail to understand why you would make such an inquiry, Your Majesty. Whatever you may have read in my expression, it is not a matter of your concern.”
Kasalyn continued as politely as she could.
Depending on the listener, it might seem like she was building a strong wall, but that was enough for a relationship between an emperor and a maid from another country.
A relationship that began with accidentally finding her and wrapping a cloth around a wound, and extending a bit of kindness only because he couldn’t stand being in debt.
He remained silent for a long time.
His golden eyes, hidden behind long, slender eyelashes, coldly scanned her injured ankle.
“Fine. You can handle it yourself.”
Parnes responded indifferently, as if he no longer cared, or as if awakening himself from some sort of trance. He stood up, his long shadow cast over Kasalyn’s head as he turned his back to the lamp.
“Are you leaving?”
As Kasalyn struggled to stand up to see him off, he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“Don’t get up. It’s unnecessary.”
“Thank you.”
He paused, his hand on the doorknob.
“For bringing me here, for applying the medicine. I will surely repay this kindness someday.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to misunderstand? It wasn’t for you.”
“Even if it wasn’t for me, it was a lifeline for me. Please allow me to express my gratitude.”
His hand tightened on the doorknob, making a dull metallic sound.
After a long pause, he left the room without another word.
“I might be overly sensitive, but there’s something peculiar about those three,” Ludwig, the Duke, said in the dimly lit office lit only by a few old candles, the moon absent from the night sky.
Parnes sat silently, leaning back in his chair, eyes closed.
“King Shallen. Queen Rose. And Miss Kasalyn Loberphon. Their relationship doesn’t seem ordinary. Perhaps there’s an untold story not known to outsiders…”
“Why are you so interested in the affairs of people from the neighboring country?”
Parnes, irked, finally spoke up in a low voice.
“It’s none of our concern. She’s a woman of no consequence.”
“But why did you bother to carry her and treat her wounds?”
“Try mocking me one more time, and I’ll personally cut your throat.”
Ludwig, hidden in the shadows, chuckled to himself as he organized the remaining documents.
“Ludwig.”
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“We need to reschedule the banquet. Move the ball to next week and bring forward the reading session.”
Ludwig looked puzzled.
“Is there a specific reason?”
“…”
“Is it because you’re worried about Miss Kasalyn’s ankle?”
Ludwig’s laughter earned him a sharp look from Parnes.
“I just want to check something.”
“Check something?”
Parnes stood, holding a cup of hot coffee, and walked to the window.
In the distance, he could see the palace where Kasalyn would be sleeping.
“I’ve become curious about what exactly Rose and Shallen Liche are doing to that maid.”
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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