The indoor garden was remarkably spacious.
What was even more astonishing was that the majority of the vast garden was filled with flowering trees.
Taehui admired the brightly blooming flowers of various colors as she strolled around.
“I didn’t know Grandfather was interested in flowers. It’s really impressive; you have to put a lot of effort into growing them so well.”
Hyeseok knew that Heegu liked flowers and plants.
Because each plant had different care requirements, special care and time had to be devoted to them.
However, with an indoor garden of this scale, it was unimaginable how much dedication and time had been invested.
“Our master really liked flowers. He used to come here occasionally when there was an occasion, but I never paid much attention to this place.”
As Heegu turned slowly, he spoke as if muttering while looking up at the glass ceiling.
“Oddly, he didn’t like flowers. He found the sweet scent of flowers rather unpleasant.”
In Heegu’s eyes as he gazed at the clear blue sky, a yearning filled with longing could be seen.
Even though he disliked the scent of flowers, creating and meticulously maintaining an indoor garden of this scale meant that he loved his wife that much.
Could that feeling be sensed?
Heegu, who seemed constantly cynical, felt like a good person.
“Just by looking at this garden, one can tell how much Grandfather loved Grandmother.”
Heegu let out a bitter laugh.
“Old folks like me don’t know about things like love. We just marry the partner chosen by our parents and live together until we die.”
“He must have loved her a lot. That’s why he misses her, and even now, he holds her in his heart.”
In response to the sincere answer, Heegu finally turned his gaze.
“There was neither good nor bad between us. I’ve always been busy, and I’ve only done this because I didn’t do anything for her. But listening to what Taehui says, it seems like they loved each other. She lived so busily, and now that there isn’t much time left until she dies, she looks back on that person. But all the memories are good. She was truly gentle and beautiful. She was a woman too good for me.”
With a long exhale, Heegu’s eyes, full of reminiscences, seemed to be moistened with tears.
Heegu, sitting at a small makeshift table arranged on one side of the indoor garden, gestured to Taehui.
Walking slowly and sitting opposite Heegu, Taehui was asked something that Heegu had been curious about.
“Do you think those two will have a good conversation, according to your observation of them?”
Telling Taehui to learn a thing or two from a lover, she took Heegu outside.
In retrospect, it was a ludicrous strategy.
Leaving behind only her son and grandson, sending a wink to me, and going out.
“It’s the first time, so it might not go well this time. However, it will get better with a few repetitions. Although Sajun might not make an effort like this, I will keep trying, and I believe Father will do well too.”
Heegu found Taehui’s challenge to be strange yet admirable, even when she seemed to be giving up on herself.
“Can I ask where that trust comes from?”
“Well, Father seems like a good parent too. Good parents always strive for their children, regardless of the outcome.”
For Taehui, it wasn’t about trusting Yongjin but about trusting parents who had children.
Hyeseok felt the same way.
The results weren’t good, but they always made an effort to protect and raise their daughter.
If repeated continuously, that feeling might eventually reach them.
“And there’s also a promise to Grandfather. Regardless of the outcome, I wanted to do my best.”
When Taehui smiled, Heegu’s gaze became subtle.
“Do you dislike me?”
“I resented a bit, but I didn’t dislike you.”
“Why?”
Baseless hostility, condescending gazes, mockery, and disregard. Heegu couldn’t understand, but for Taehui, these had been natural things she had experienced since childhood.
“Neighbors, school friends, and even teachers. From the beginning, they were hostile to me and my mother. Just because my mother had the label of a mistress for no reason.”
While Sajun, the illegitimate child of Heegu, received fair treatment anywhere Yongjin went, Taehui was always a thorn in the side for no reason.
Even among illegitimate children, the treatment and class were different.
“It’s a lesson I learned when I was young. People don’t like you for no reason. If you want them to treat you well, you have to make an effort first and pay the price.”
As it became more sorrowful and challenging, as she received more wounds and pain, she gradually toughened and grew stronger.
She learned patience, endurance, understanding, and the art of survival.
Above all, capturing the hearts of adults was not a difficult task for Taehui.
“What Grandfather dislikes about me is natural, so I have to make him like me. That’s why I activated this unreasonable condition. Of course, I thought I wouldn’t leave for France, but that’s what I thought.”
Smiling Taehui leaned over the table and whispered to Heegu.
But now there’s a lump in my stomach, she said.
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.”
