After Nathaniel left like that, I took a moment to organize my thoughts in the room.
His words were right.
Trying to handle everything alone wasn’t the best approach.
If our roles were reversed, I would have definitely felt upset with Nathaniel.
“But locking me in the room is a bit much.”
I lightly turned the doorknob, but the door remained securely locked.
Sitting on the bed, waiting for Nathaniel, I dozed off for a moment.
After some time, I woke up to a rustling sound, and to my surprise, Nathaniel was back.
“Oh, you’re back?”
“Yeah.”
“What about Diana?”
“I locked her up in the basement.”
“What if the knights come looking for her?”
“That probably won’t happen.”
Nathaniel had a triumphant expression for some reason.
“Do you have some information?”
“I found out about the DS Knights.”
“How?”
I quickly got up from the bed and sat down. Nathaniel shrugged his shoulders.
“Diana was willingly sharing the information.”
With a cheerful smile, Nathaniel shared what he had discovered.
“The organization doesn’t seem to be that large. Aside from using dark magic, it doesn’t appear to be a particularly formidable group.”
“If it’s not that formidable, how are they freely manipulating the empire?”
For a small group using dark magic, they seemed to wield an unexpectedly strong power.
Their actions were eerie, as if they knew the future.
“I don’t exactly know the purpose. But I’ve found out how to obtain such powerful magic.”
As Nathaniel said that, his expression became unusually cold.
I held his hand tightly due to the tension.
“They are behind incidents where people disappear or turn into monsters on a village scale.”
“What?”
“Perhaps they used them as sacrifices to perform dark magic.”
“To go to such lengths, what could they gain…”
The uneasiness I had been feeling gradually began to reveal its true form.
I thought I had twisted the original work, but similar events happened occasionally at certain turning points, like Theresa being attacked, or temporarily parting ways but eventually Theresa and Maximilian getting engaged again.
“And then, in the state where the two were engaged, Mother planned to use Diana to seduce my brother.”
Moreover, just like in the original work, introducing Bianca to Maximilian through me was exactly the same.
“The DS Knights are aware of the original work.”
Perhaps, little by little, behind my back, they were aligning the story with its original framework.
A creepy feeling swept over me.
Nathaniel looked at me with a smirk.
“Is there a problem?”
“N-No, it’s nothing…”
You don’t need to worry.
While they don’t know about my existence, knowing about theirs is a significant advantage.
“More importantly, Lady Demeter is the issue now.”
“Mother?”
“Yeah. She claimed she couldn’t walk because she felt dizzy, then lay down and went into a fit of crying.”
“Sigh…”
I briefly took my eyes off her, and in that time, she couldn’t endure it and went into a fit again.
However, rejecting someone who claims to be unwell could easily lead to troublesome rumors.
It was best to give her a few days of rest and then send her away.
“I should give her the guest room on the first floor.”
“Why not just chase her away?”
“Well, she says she’s sick, so we have to give her some time. We should pretend to nurse her by bringing in a doctor and all.”
Cecilia had some unusual skills in this area.
She would surely devour anything edible within reach.
“We need to chase her away as soon as possible. Theresa will soon come to visit with my brother.”
“Is there a rift between the Duke and Lady Demeter?”
“Well, it’s a bit complicated.”
Their relationship wasn’t good.
After all, Mother had practically abandoned me and Maximilian.
But she stirred complex emotions in Maximilian.
Maximilian resented Cecilia, but at the same time, he wanted recognition from Mother.
“In the original work, it wasn’t well explained, but I described it as if Cecilia consistently abused Maximilian.”
So, it was best to avoid them meeting as much as possible.
Fortunately, there was still time until the date she said she would come.
“Miss Theresa.”
Theresa, who was reading a book, snapped to attention at the sound of knocking on the door.
“Come in.”
Lady Lee entered the room, slightly bending her knees as she greeted.
“The appointment time is almost here.”
“Oh!”
Theresa remembered that Maximilian had requested a tea time through her yesterday.
“I’ll get ready soon.”
She put a bookmark in the book she was reading, stood up, and headed to the inner dressing room.
Apparently, Lady Lee didn’t know Theresa’s taste in clothes very well, as she had prepared only a few outer garments and a simple indoor dress.
Lady Lee glanced through the dressing room once and, with an embarrassed expression, said, “If you need anything else, I’ll call someone right away.”
“Oh, no. This is more than enough.”
“What are you saying? Lady Theresa is going to be the mistress of the Winters family. What we have here is, in fact, insufficient.”
“Well, that’s…”
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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