The opportunity to confirm Jenny’s words came sooner than expected.
“Miss, Miss. We’re departing.”
Jenny, who had run over to me while I was reading a book, whispered in my ear. I got up. Jenny was holding her fists tightly, ready to rush out.
A tense face. However, somehow, she seemed a bit excited.
On one hand, I found it absurd, but on the other, it was amusing, and I sighed.
“Jenny, this isn’t a detective game.”
With a puzzled expression, Jenny’s face turned pale.
“I didn’t mean that! It’s just that the current situation is like ‘Miss’s Secret Meeting.'”
“Miss’s Secret Meeting?”
“Don’t you know?”
Jenny opened her eyes wide.
“It’s the most popular among us these days! It’s an incredibly famous romantic novel!”
Jenny’s face, talking about her favorite novel, looked innocent and bright, making even me feel good. However, remembering the time when Jenny followed Aris like she was a detective in a past life made it difficult to just laugh it off.
‘She might cause trouble.’
I closed my eyes and admonished myself.
“You have to see novels as novels. If you start chasing after someone or something, it’ll lead to big trouble.”
Just like in my past life.
“Huh? Of course! I also make that distinction! How do you see it?”
Seeing Jenny unjustly defending herself, I shook my head.
Later, we arrived at the temple.
“Coming to the temple this late at night is a first for me.”
While asking when she bravely left the mansion, Jenny’s shoulders, entering the dark temple, tensed up.
With so much fear, how did she manage to block Lady Emerance in the first place?
‘Kindness, I suppose.’
Thinking of that moment made me feel warm inside.
‘I should take good care of her.’
I held Jenny’s trembling hand.
“Be careful. Spirits come out at night here.”
“…Lies!”
Shouldering the lie, Jenny stepped onto the temple’s paving stones.
With each step, ripples spread through the surface of the stones enclosed by the temple. Jenny, who silently followed me from behind, asked as soon as we entered the temple’s wide hall.
“Is it true about the spirits?”
Finally realizing it was a lie, Jenny’s shoulders shivered. Nevertheless, I didn’t let go of her hand.
Though there was no blood connection, I strongly held her hand that felt like a sister.
This life, it was a life I had to protect.
I looked at the silent and dark temple, except for the light of the torches mounted on the walls.
My heart gradually calmed down.
Lately, Aris had been visiting the temple day and night.
People in Laurence believed that she had finally made up her mind, but could that be true?
‘Aris won’t quietly pray in this situation.’
Aris might be foolish, but when it comes to herself, her judgment becomes like that of a ghost.
It is not naive enough to believe that abilities will return when you pray.
“Where do you think Miss Aris is?”
“Did she come to pray?”
When I smirked, Jenny, who didn’t know why I was laughing, tilted her head and then opened her mouth in realization.
“The prayer room.”
On a dark night, in a quiet prayer room.
In an eerie atmosphere, Jenny froze stiff, gripping only my hand.
I glanced briefly at the prayer room where Giovanni and I had been, then shifted my gaze to another prayer room.
To ensure the secrecy of prayers, the rooms had no windows, making it impossible to know who was inside. However, by the color displayed on the door, one could confirm someone’s presence inside.
All the doors had white knobs, except for one prayer room where the knob had turned blue.
‘There it is.’
Jenny, who had pressed her ear to the prayer room door, immediately raised her head and nodded.
“I can’t hear anything.”
“If you could hear by doing that, no one would pray in the prayer room.”
Jenny playfully scratched the back of her head.
“Then, shall we go back to the carriage and wait for Miss Aris to return?”
Although it might be saying that staying here wouldn’t provide an answer, it seemed troublesome.
Aris, who carried her head around, wouldn’t engage in actions that could be witnessed by someone.
In the end, we had to inspect the inside of the prayer room.
‘Should I pretend to be crazy and open it once?’
It was the last resort of last resorts.
Unable to withdraw like this, I couldn’t leave my spot, and suddenly, Tyrian came to mind.
I spoke discreetly to Jenny.
“It won’t work. If we keep hanging around here, we might attract the attention of the temple officials first.”
“Today might be tough, huh?”
“How about going back to the carriage first? I’ll follow soon.”
“What are you going to do, Miss?”
“I just want to check if Miss Aris comes out from here.”
“I’ll stay with you!”
“No. There might be a situation where we get caught. I need to leave immediately, so have the carriage ready whenever you can leave.”
Jenny nodded her head at my serious expression.
After Jenny, who repeated the words urging me to come quickly several times, left.
“Tyrian.”
A large water snake appeared.
“Can you do it?”
“Why do I have to?”
I smiled at him as he scratched his ear with his tail.
“If you don’t help, I’ll absorb you.”
“……?”
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.”
