“Let’s eat.”
Meeting Louis for the first time and properly sitting down for a meal was a first for today. Carson was unusually tense. It was better to deal with the Emperor or Empress; he just couldn’t figure out how to handle a young girl.
Carson continued to push sweets toward the child, as there was little else he could do.
“I don’t really like sweets.”
Having sneaked a look at the food Carson was pushing, Louis spoke curtly. Momentarily flustered, Carson managed a placid smile. The slight tilt of the head and downcast eyes reminded him of his late mother.
He thought there was no longing in it, but for a moment, he was rendered speechless by the sudden resemblance in his sister’s face to that of his young mother.
“I see, I’m sorry.”
Louis put the food in front of her into her mouth and chewed thoroughly.
“I heard there’s a hunting festival.”
“Yes, starting tomorrow. Where did you hear that?”
Landhill had many mountains, so a hunting festival was held every time the seasons changed from summer to winter. The previous lord had been very infirm, so the hunting festival hadn’t been held in recent years. Now with a young lord, people seemed to have great expectations that the hunting festival could be resumed. At the banquet, the young nobles talked most about the hunting festival.
“From Emma.”
“I see.”
“Is that person coming too?”
Carson momentarily stopped the knife he was holding.
“Who?”
“Ines.”
Then Carson realized why his usually distant sister had wanted to meet him today. But why? Because she had saved him?
“Perhaps… she will come.”
“Can I attend too?”
“Of course.”
Louis’s mouth turned up slightly, as if to be careful that someone else might see her smile. She bowed her head toward her plate.
“If you want to meet Lady Swelden, I can call her today.”
At that, Louis quickly raised her head, but quickly averted her eyes as they met.
“I don’t want to bother her.”
“May I ask why you want to meet Lady Swelden?”
The child poked at a small piece of cooked potato with her fork.
“Just… it makes me feel safe.”
Safe, at that word, Carson realized what he wanted to give this child was precisely that.
He thought of Ines. No, he had been suppressing the thoughts of her that sporadically popped into his head. What exactly was the feeling he felt thinking about her?
It certainly wasn’t the feeling of safety that Louis felt. Then why did she make him feel so breathless?
Instead of pondering further, Carson raised his hand and called the head butler.
“Prepare Louis’s hunting festival clothes.”
“Understood.”
Reflecting and pondering weren’t in his nature. Since the substance was elusive, he would understand by continuing to meet.
Louis did not say anything afterward. And Carson, who slowly hoped that she would open her heart to him, didn’t talk to his sister either. Perhaps the child resented him.
Why had it taken him so long?
(This is a time divider.)
After the meal, Carson and Noah moved to the office. Noah had already placed the documents he wanted on his desk. Carson began to slowly examine everything about the Swelden family.
As Earl Graham said, careful scrutiny was needed to properly smell the money.
“There was nothing unusual.”
“It appears so.”
According to Noah, the Swelden family was ordinary in every way. The financial status wasn’t bad. But nothing seemed worth targeting, even with Earl Graham’s lowlevel conspiracy.
“There is one large farm that has been handed down through generations, and a lake that provides water for it. The waterway facilities are excellent, and the farm employs workers to cultivate it.”
Carson skimmed the papers on his desk again, listening to Noah’s explanation.
“As Your Lordship said, the reputation is good. The land that is not personally cultivated is leased, and the tenant farmers have no complaints either. The main income is the rent from leasing the land and the wool business conducted by the family.”
Noah was explaining all the contents in the order of the report she had prepared, easy to understand. There was no hesitation in her hand as she turned the papers.
“The scale of the wool business is quite large, and there is no fluctuation in income. It seems to be an old family business, and there is some unknown business knowhow.”
“You’re not trying to steal that knowhow, are you?”
“The only peculiar thing is that one mountain range that serves as a boundary because his mansion is adjacent to Lusonia is owned by the family.”
“Mountain range?”
At that moment, Carson, who was turning the paper, stopped his hand abruptly. Then he spread the caught part wide open.
“Found it.”
“What?”
What Graham loses if Swenden becomes part of Landhill.
Carson’s eyes, sensing the smell of money, began to sparkle like those of a beast.
(This is a time separator.)
Carson was already at the place where the hunt was held. Louis was with him. Louis had been glancing at the entrance for a while.
The reasonably sized table set up under the large shade was already full. The former lord’s wife was also there.
“Really, it’s a joyful day.”
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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