“Are you that reluctant to take my hand and get up?”
“No. It’s not that… There’s a lot of blood on my hands right now. If I grab you with these hands, yours will get dirty, Duke.”
“Nonsense. Is my hand getting dirty so important right now? Enough, hurry and take my hand.”
The Duke urged me again, extending his hand. I hesitantly grabbed his hand. The Duke easily lifted me up. Then, grasping my bleeding arm, he carefully examined it and said,
“The skin is torn. Is this the doing of the Yusten Duke’s daughter?”
“… Well, yes.”
“The wound is quite deep. … Tsk, this won’t do. Let’s go out.”
The Duke clicked his tongue again in disapproval, then opened the balcony door leading to the garden while holding my hand. I followed the Duke who was leading me, with a dazed expression, and asked him,
“Where to?”
“I’ll explain later. For now, just follow me.”
Instead of a proper answer, the Duke just held my hand and moved forward. The place he took me was in front of the fountain in the back garden of the mansion. The Duke made me sit on the edge of the fountain where clear water was bubbling up. Then, looking down at my bewildered face, he said,
“Wait here for a moment. I’ll be right back.”
I just nodded with a blank expression.
Shortly after, the Duke returned to the fountain where I was sitting, holding a small box in his hand. Sitting down in front of me, he placed the box he was holding on his knee and said to me,
“Hold out your injured arm.”
At his words, I held out my arm in front of the Duke’s eyes as if enchanted.
The Duke examined my arm again where the blood had dried. Then, holding my arm with one hand, he took out a handkerchief from his chest, bit one end with his mouth, and tore it in half.
Then he wet the torn half of the handkerchief with clean water that had just sprung from the fountain and began to carefully clean the wound on my arm.
“… Ouch.”
“It will hurt, but bear with it. I need to check if there are any fragments embedded in the flesh while cleaning the wound.”
When I let out a low cry and tried to pull my arm away slightly, the Duke firmly but gently gripped my escaping arm with his hand.
Feeling an inexplicable embarrassment and shyness at the sight of him carefully cleaning my wound, I said,
“… There probably isn’t anything like that. It’s not that serious of a wound.”
“What if that not-so-serious wound might require your arm to be amputated?”
“… Pardon?”
“There are countless knights who lose their arms and legs to tetanus because they underestimate and don’t properly treat what they think is just a scratch from a sword tip or a slight puncture from a spear. It’s fortunate if they survive after having their limbs amputated, but there are too many knights who end up dying. So it’s better not to underestimate even a minor wound.”
“…”
I silently bit my lower lip at the Duke’s chilling words.
Meanwhile, having thoroughly cleaned my wound with the wet piece of handkerchief, the Duke opened the box on his knee. Inside was a sticky green ointment with a strong herbal scent.
The Duke scooped up some with his index finger and began to spread it thinly over my torn skin.
I quietly stared at the Duke’s fingertips moving over my arm, touching the wound gently. There was a moment of silence. Then, still focusing on my wound, the Duke suddenly spoke.
“Last time it was your cheek, and this time it’s your arm? It seems you get hurt like this every time you attend a party.”
“Pardon?”
Lost in thought for a moment, I asked back, not having fully heard his question. The Duke let out a low sigh and said,
“How did this happen this time? When the Viscount and I heard from outside, we only heard the sound of a heated argument, nothing else.”
“… When I pressed Danae to apologize, she threw her hairpin at me, telling me to stop. As I tried to block it from hitting my face, I got hurt on the arm instead.”
Hearing my answer, the Duke frowned and said,
“Throwing objects at someone just because they said something unpleasant to hear. It seems Duke Yusten is raising his daughter quite spoiled.”
“… She’s his beautiful and precious only daughter. Even when Danae makes considerable mistakes, he tends to easily forgive her when she acts cute.”
“That’s no excuse to let her run wild, unable to control her own emotions properly. Besides, wasn’t your fiancé, the young Duke Klein, also in there?”
“… Yes, he was.”
“Come to think of it, that man was blaming you.”
“He’s the type who wants to be seen as a good person by everyone around him. So he always tries to take a neutral stance and maintain a fair attitude.”
“… What nonsense. He lets the person he loves get hurt just for the sake of such a reputation? Whose neutrality is it for?”
“I know, right? When I had no relationship with him, that aspect seemed really admirable, but now that I’ve become the closest person to him, I realize it’s not a good trait at all. I was such a fool.”
I answered with a bitter smile.
The Duke pretended not to hear my words and focused on treating my arm. He took the dry half of the handkerchief he had torn earlier and wrapped it around my arm. Then he tied it tightly so that the cloth wouldn’t easily come loose, skillfully finishing the treatment with a knot.
I gently ran my fingertips over my treated arm and said to him,
“Thank you, Duke. I’m indebted to you again, following the last time. I’ll buy you a new handkerchief.”
“It’s fine. It’s not expensive anyway.”
“Still, I can’t just receive your kindness without giving something in return. I’ll find the most expensive handkerchief in this empire and give it to you, so look forward to it.”
I said that with a bright smile towards the Duke. The Duke seemed momentarily at a loss for how to react to my words. Then he soon let out a short laugh.
At that moment, a cool breeze gently brushed past me and him. I felt a little flutter in my heart at the fresh scent of grass tickling my nose, the Duke’s slightly disheveled black hair, and his faintly smiling face.
‘You’re crazy.’
But I quickly composed myself. This was just because the Duke in front of me was exceptionally handsome and uncharacteristically kind, which surprised me a little.
Having convinced myself thus, I slightly averted my gaze from him and said,
“By the way, how did Viscount Miles react? He must have been quite upset hearing the insults hurled at his beloved daughter.”
The Duke nodded curtly and replied,
“That’s right. As you predicted. His expression changed drastically from the moment the Yusten Duke’s daughter mentioned stealing his daughter’s dress. And when she insulted his daughter’s birth, he couldn’t bear it anymore and left.”
“… I expected Danae would never apologize for stealing the dress, but I didn’t think she would spew such harsh words. I should have stopped her from talking about the Viscount’s daughter’s birth at all costs, it was my oversight. I feel sorry towards the Viscount…”
I said with a heavy sigh. The Duke snorted and said,
“Why are you apologizing? It was the Yusten Duke’s daughter who spewed the insults.”
“Because I’m the one who led the Viscount to overhear Danae’s insults.”
“So, are you going to stop this plan here because you feel sorry for the Viscount?”
The Duke asked me with a slightly mocking tone. I shook my head and replied,
“Of course not. If anything, I’m more determined to succeed this time to make things difficult for my uncle and Danae, especially because I feel sorry for Viscount Miles and his daughter.”
The Duke let out a deflating sound as he laughed, then said,
“Good, then as per your plan, I’ll now incite Viscount Miles to give me the real information about the Rugle and Yalta tribes’ invasion route, and urge him to pass false information to Duke Yusten.”
“Yes. Viscount Miles will gladly take the hand you extend, Duke. However, you’ll need to assure him that you’ll definitely protect his family from the Yusten Duke’s retaliation.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m not someone who forgets favors like some people.”
“Thank you. I too will do my best to make this plan succeed and protect the Viscount. I owe him a debt, and he’s essential to our plan anyway.”
I said that as if making a pledge to myself. At that moment, the bell tolling midnight rang out. Hearing that sound, I stood up. It was getting late, and I needed to return to the mansion soon.
I said to the Duke, who was also getting up,
“Then I’ll take my leave now. Take care, Duke.”
“How do you plan to return to the mansion? The carriage you came in has already returned to the mansion with the Yusten Duke’s daughter.”
“I’m thinking of having Annie call a cargo carriage. Knowing Danae’s personality, she probably took only her maid in the carriage, so Annie should still be here.”
“… She’s quite a ruthless woman in many ways.”
The Duke clicked his tongue briefly, frowning slightly at my words.
I was used to this kind of situation, so I just gave a bitter smile without saying anything. He stared at me for a moment, seeming to contemplate something. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he turned to me and said,
“It’s dangerous to call a cargo carriage from here at this hour. I’ll have you ride in my carriage, take that.”
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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