“What are you talking about? Does that mean the flower originally had a different color?”
Anette asked sharply. She took pride in her gardening skills more than anyone else. So, to highlight her strengths, she had been working hard to beautify the gardens of Muege Castle.
Anette couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going wrong as she looked at the frustrated Caitlyn. Caitlyn, gazing at Anette with embarrassment, sighed deeply before answering.
“It’s golden.”
“What?”
“That brown peony is now sparkling golden inside Verdura Castle.”
“No way. Where is a flower of that color? I could understand if it were yellow.”
“I’m telling you the truth. The petals were twinkling so much that it seemed as if gold coins were stacked in the garden when viewed from a distance.”
“Ha!”
Not a different color but golden.
Anette thought Caitlyn was teasing her with a joke. However, even seeing Caitlyn smiling, Anette’s serious expression did not change.
In turn, the laughter vanished quickly from Anette’s lips. If Caitlyn’s words were true, the plans she had worked hard on all this time could turn out to be futile.
Doubtful, Anette, along with Caitlyn, went to the front of Verdura Castle. Seeing the golden peony sparkling in the middle of the garden, Anette froze in place.
“There’s no peony with such a color.”
The peony was one of Anette’s favorite flowers. There was no way she wouldn’t know if there was a golden peony among them.
Without further thought, Anette entered Verdura Castle early in the morning, just as Caitlyn had done. Her steps were decisive, as if she were approaching her own backyard.
Once inside, there was no one in the garden.
“Princess Anette, shall we go together?”
When Caitlyn, who followed behind, asked breathlessly, Anette had already pulled out a sample of the nightshade seedling.
It had only been a short while since she brought it from Muege Castle, but the roots were firmly embedded. As Anette gripped and pulled it up, a wooden sound echoed, and the fine roots were torn apart.
Moreover, the stem was quite sturdy, thicker and more robust than when she was at Muege Castle.
However, what irritated Anette the most was the flower petals that sparkled like real gold, just as Caitlyn had described. Under the sunlight, the petals shimmered even more brightly.
“Why don’t you bloom like this in my garden? Of all places, here.”
It was a voice full of resentment, as if blaming the flower for all the wrongs. No matter how she looked, the aging Verdura Castle was not a place suitable for such a splendid flower.
“Who’s there?”
As Anette stood with a nightshade seedling clenched in her hand, a man’s voice suddenly sounded from somewhere.
Turning her head irritably towards the source of the sound, Anette saw a gardener approaching, his clothes dirtied with soil. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be one of the gardeners at Verdura Castle.
Anette tossed the nightshade seedling she had been holding onto the floor, as if discarding trash. The fallen flower petals fluttered through the air like butterflies and gently landed on the ground.
“No! That precious flower!”
Du-dul noticed the fallen nightshade on the ground before Princess Anette. He was horrified, looking at the uprooted flower lying on the ground. It was when Du-dul hastily picked up the fallen nightshade at Anette’s feet.
Anette, who had been watching him with a disdainful gaze as if observing an insect, mercilessly stepped on Du-dul’s thick back with her sturdy boot without any hesitation.
“Ack!”
Caitlyn was taken aback by Du-dul’s scream, but Anette didn’t even blink.
“Who on earth are you not showing proper manners when looking at me? You wouldn’t dare claim to be royalty or nobility after handling that nightshade, right?”
Only then did Du-dul realize his mistake, but it was too late; Anette’s foot had already crushed his hand. Du-dul struggled, unsure of what to do, groaning in pain.
“Ugh! Forgive me, Your Highness. I didn’t mean… I’m truly sorry. Ugh.”
Du-dul, crouched over in pain, tried to withdraw his hand. However, the princess didn’t react at all. Du-dul worried that if he withdrew his hand and the princess tripped over it, he might face severe consequences.
Thanks to the lessons learned while frequenting the royal court, Du-dul concluded that he had to endure the pain in silence.
Unable to do anything but endure and groan, Anette’s foot was suddenly struck forcefully by an approaching white hand. Despite this, Du-dul confirmed that the princess hadn’t fallen over after stepping on his hand.
“Du-dul, are you okay?”
The one who came to Du-dul’s rescue was Princess Stella.
“I’m fine, Your Highness. Thank you.”
Du-dul, holding his painful hand, continuously bowed. His hand, which had been stepped on and crushed, was swollen and covered with scratches.
Stella wrapped his hand with a handkerchief and then sternly glared at Anette, who had caused the unexpected incident, shouting,
“What on earth are you doing!”
Anette, seemingly caught off guard by Stella scolding her, briefly looked bewildered but soon responded calmly,
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.”
