“When you become an adult, you’ll live different lives from your respective positions. So, live like a child now. And make an effort to obtain a position where you can be with the children in the future. Since you’re proficient in magic, becoming a Grand Mage would be good.”
“Ah……!”
“So don’t worry.”
At that moment, Rodelo, Shasha, and Haven gestured to Merkin. It was an invitation for him to come.
“Enjoy the present.”
Finally, Merkin nodded and rushed towards the children. Watching that, Lian came up to me. The party that had been chaotic had returned to its original state as if the previous events had never happened.
“Thank you for everything.”
“You did a lot too.”
“Well, I did feel like I did the most.”
Looking at him shrugging his shoulders, I chuckled. The confident Lian from just before now looked puzzled.
“That…… I guess.”
“It’s a joke. But…… it doesn’t seem like a joke anymore.”
One thing ended, and the next one was coming, just as it should. While I was forgetting, someone I had completely forgotten appeared.
“Hehe. The protagonist always appears at the right time, and it looks like I arrived right on cue.”
The appearance of Emperor Rahel, the protagonist. I approached him with a smile.
“Seems like you completely forgot about the invitation.”
“…Hehe.”
He looked at me with a very uncomfortable expression.
“So, did you prepare a big gift for your grandson’s birthday?”
“A gift?”
“Really. You forgot about the invitation, and you came to the Crown Prince’s birthday party empty-handed? I specifically asked for gifts on the invitation.”
As if finding it difficult to walk, he sat down on a chair as soon as he arrived.
“Gifts? What gifts?”
“Then why did you come? If you’re going to ignore the invitation as well.”
I looked at the maid behind Emperor Rahel. She stood with her head held high, as if she were something. She flinched her shoulders, seemingly oblivious.
“Why did you come, thinking you’ve done something remarkable?”
“Is that so? Then enjoy watching. It’s the birthday party of the Crown Prince, who will be the next emperor of the empire.”
After saying that, I turned away. After deliberately drawing attention from others, he quickly lost interest. Perhaps that’s why. Emperor Rahel looked truly pathetic. Although his actions did not seem so.
He wore a conquering cloak adorned with gold, appearing more like an emperor than Lian, and his white hair and beard were meticulously groomed to an excessive extent.
But that was all.
His appearance, which no one sought, was truly unremarkable.
I deliberately ignored them and mingled with the nobles. Perhaps because no one wanted to associate with them, the woman who had been by the emperor’s side came up to me belatedly. She was the woman who had confronted me the last time.
“Are you going to leave the Emperor like this?”
“Of course? Are you expecting me to congratulate you like the protagonist of the party? Or do you want me to take care of him like a child?”
“Are you joking right now?”
“It’s not a joke; it’s a sincere statement. The intention of someone who came to the Crown Prince’s birthday party without preparing a single gift is clear. I even asked you to bring a gift…… You don’t seem to have any intention of celebrating. Why should I do anything for such a person?”
“That is—”
“That is what? Are you saying that just because he’s the Emperor, I should make crazy remarks like that?”
The reason they were called here was to show them clearly. Since no one came to the palace, they were seen as fixating on narrow views.
In the end, the Emperor staggered, leaning on his staff, and approached us.
“How dare a woman called the Empress raise her voice in front of me!”
“I’ve already treated you as Emperor; isn’t that enough?”
“What do you want to hear! What an impudent woman; you don’t understand the meaning of a gift!”
“What should I understand?”
It seemed fitting to say that they were gathered in a corner and didn’t even know who was in front of them, trying to bite without knowing. I called them here to see this, but they were indeed humans who moved according to my will.
“Speak up. What do you want to hear? Do you want to hear that I’ll let you leave the Emperor as he is? Or do you want me to say something like I’ll raise the son you bore as the Crown Prince, so raise that child to me?”
For a moment, the nobles’ attention turned to us. After the incident earlier, the nobles who were trembling were now regaining their composure, and thanks to them, Rodelo and the three children’s gaze did not reach us.
However, the nobles, who were not waiting for incidents with their ears stretched out like rabbits, were not. They were pretending to gather and talk about something, but they were paying excessive attention to us.
“Well!”
“What’s that child saying? Why should I?”
“Huh… I… I’m just saying what I—”
“You are the son of the Emperor and the Crown Prince who will lead this country!”
“Ridiculous talk.”
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.”
