“Tomorrow will be the day for harvesting.”
Ark carefully examined the orange roots peeking through the brown soil and stood up, shaking off the dirt from his hands. His tone was full of confidence. Although he seemed clumsy when munching on carrots, now he appeared very careful and smart.
“Don’t we need to cover them with soil anymore?”
Stella asked with trust.
“They’ve almost fully grown. Blessed by the hand of Terra, the pure soil turned by the hoe, and the breath of the soil fairies, the carrots have grown much faster and larger than expected. They’ll be ready to harvest tomorrow.”
“Not today?”
“Just one more day.”
Ark reassured Stella, who was sparkling with anticipation.
Stella glanced over the carrot field that was ready for harvest. When she first took the hoe and dug into the earth to plant seeds, she thought it was absurd. But not anymore. The cursed hoe felt perfectly fit in her hand, and the soft soil brought peace to her mind each time she touched it.
For someone taken as a hostage in an enemy country, she often felt guilty for this luxurious sentiment of happiness.
Swoosh!
A breeze from the entrance of the castle swept across, neatly combing through the green leaves.
The carrot field was at the end of Stella’s garden, starting at the entrance.
“Huh? What’s this?”
She spotted a sprout next to the carrots that she hadn’t seen before. Normally, she wouldn’t have paid attention, but these days, anything green attracted her interest, especially if it had sprouted from the ground.
Stella crouched down to get a closer look at the small sprout. Ark and Esta, who were inspecting another carrot nearby, curiously scurried over to see what was happening.
“Is this Verduira Castle?”
“Yes. It’s where the princess from Amalun lives.”
Stella paused her actions, listening to the voices coming from beyond the fence.
“Hmm, it looks so old and shabby.”
“But she’s still a princess, right? Having even such a castle is better than shivering in fear every week like us.”
A maid recalled her weekly reports to Anne, shivering at the memory of Anne’s deep-set eyes. No matter how well-prepared, her words always got jumbled and cut off in Anne’s presence.
She never seemed to bring back enough information to meet expectations. By this rate, gathering the targeted amount of money by the end of the year seemed unlikely.
“Poor Mila. She finally returned, only to be assigned here.”
“But have you seen her? Still thinks she’s better than everyone else.”
“What can she do? Did you see her last outfit? So shabby that she couldn’t even afford a single piece of jewelry for her maid.”
Stella realized she was the one considered insignificant here.
“Right. Did you hear about the gift sent from Amalun?”
Laughter erupted at the question.
“A set of teacups, they say. And for ladies.”
“But it’s made of gold, isn’t it?”
“Like our Emperor lacks gold!”
“It’s strange. Usually, when sending off a daughter, they’d try to send something impressive, even if it strains them. I never thought anyone would bring a worse gift than Princess Liann.”
“It’s like they’re discarding her.”
One maid whispered in a low voice.
“What? Even though she’s their daughter?”
“Not all daughters are equal, right? If it’s the eldest daughter they’re sending away, it’s obvious. How undesirable must she have been for them to send her this far?”
Stella listened to the voices fading away, her expression drained of energy.
Stella briefly considered standing up and reprimanding those disrespectful maids, but strangely, she found no desire to do so. Their words, though harsh, contained no falsehoods.
“Stella, why are you like this?”
Ark looked worriedly at Stella, whose expression had suddenly darkened. Esta, too, was busy observing Stella’s face.
The soil fairies didn’t pay attention to others’ words, so they were clueless about Stella’s sudden disheartenment. Moreover, the maids who had just passed by Verduira Castle never mentioned Stella by name.
It was natural for the fairies to be oblivious. To them, speaking ill of others was as heinous as theft or murder.
“It’s nothing. Just thinking about the harvest tomorrow makes me happy.”
“Really? The first harvest is always exciting. Oh, that looks like a weed, you should pull it out. If you leave it, it’ll quickly overrun the place.”
“Alright.”
Stella plucked out the long, thin-leaved weed that had grown about two fingers tall. The root was deeper than she had expected.
After observing the root longer than the exposed leaf, Stella stood up. It was time for her lesson.
During Stella’s dressing session, Mila stood by, meticulously overseeing the process. She made sure Stella’s look was neither too extravagant nor too giddy, and that her hairstyle was neat without appearing shabby, occasionally intervening with instructions.
The finished Stella looked almost unrecognizable from the person who had been crouching in the field just moments before. But despite the transformation in the mirror, Stella didn’t seem happy at all.
Mila, whose primary job was to attend to Stella, couldn’t miss her subdued mood.
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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