Seeing the icy glint in the lord’s eyes and hearing his sharp voice, breaking each syllable, it was clear that he would be thrashed into dust right there, in the presence of the young lady, if he tried to endure any longer.
‘Help… help me, young lady.’
‘Save me, young lady.’
‘You enjoyed our company, didn’t you, young lady.’
He sent one last pleading glance towards Evelia, but the small lady, tilting her head slightly, had an innocent expression as if to say, ‘I don’t know. I don’t know anything.’
“Why are you looking at me like that? Do you all want this madeleine?”
‘No, that’s not it, please have mercy……’
“No. No madeleine. Go away.”
The knight’s last hope was totally clueless.
[Star Icon][Star Icon][Star Icon]The training ground was filled with sounds more akin to fists thumping than swords clashing.
When the faint noise wafted over the night air, Evelia nodded her head.
‘Impressive. Both my dad and the knights are impressive.’
They didn’t slack off in their training, even this late at night.
‘I should follow their example. I am an Artina too.’
Evelia, who thought that the knights had gone off to train and were thus getting beaten up, sat curled up on the parlor sofa, waiting for her father and the knights.
“Here. Cocoa for the young lady.”
“Here. Cookies for the young lady.”
Arkan and Cedric came each carrying cocoa and cookies in both hands, gave them to Evelia, then cleared their throats as they exchanged glances.
Then, both brothers quietly pushed what they were holding in their other hand in front of Enril. Their cheeks were slightly flushed.
“Dragon. You eat too. This is yours.”
“Try this too. It’s my favorite cookie.”
“Me……?”
“Uh. Uh. I think we only mentioned our young lady earlier. Dragon, we are… we are happy to see you back!”
Cedric finished hastily, his cheeks turning bright red.
“Hmph. That… that’s nothing. I am a great dragon.”
Enril turned his head away coolly, as if it was nothing. But his mouth was chewing the cookie, his ears were perked up, his tail was wagging fast, and his wings were fluttering cheerfully.
Arkan chuckled at his two younger siblings and asked,
“Young lady. How was Harbenta? No one bothered you, right?”
“Yes, nothing happened. I had a lot of fun with Eishat and Adniel! We even caught a snake in His Majesty the Emperor’s garden!”
Evelia knew nothing about the night when the crescent moon was out, and the assassins attacked.
Agaress handled it all quietly, and even though Enril detected all the skirmishes on the rooftop with his keen senses, he chose not to alert her.
On the other hand, Hugo used this incident, incited by those among the Harbenta empire’s nobility who advocated isolation, as a fairly advantageous card in negotiations.
In exchange for not publicizing this issue between empires, he demanded a significant reduction in tariffs and the opening of sea routes near Harbenta.
And one more thing. If someday Evelia wished to seek asylum in the Harbenta empire, he asked for their approval. All the requests were granted.
Anyway, since Evelia was completely oblivious to the darker side of the journey, she was able to smile and say that nothing had happened.
“How was the party?”
“A Copiri with a big nose came out. It was monstrously big. He eats with his nose.”
“Not a Copiri, an elephant. Did the food suit your taste?”
“Yes. I ate fish and skewered rice cakes too! Enril ate meat.”
“Our young lady seems to have had quite an eventful time. Eating well, having fun.”
Her two elder brothers had broad smiles at the sight of their adorable little sister, who was energetically answering their questions with her short legs dangling.
As Cedric made a chin gesture to Arkan behind Evelia’s back, Arkan slipped a marshmallow into Evelia’s mouth and asked her casually.
In fact, all the previous questions were merely a prelude to this one.
“Did the Prince say anything to our young lady, like you’re cute, or pretty, or anything like that?”
Being interested in the political situation of other empires is a basic duty for highranking nobles.
Naturally, both Arkan and Cedric knew that the princess and prince of Harventa were the same age as Evelia.
“Uh, I didn’t say anything like that.”
‘Hmm. That’s a relief.’
‘I’m relieved that he has no interest in the prince.’
Arkan and Cedric exchanged a relieved look.
Although they knew their father would outright refuse any marriage proposals from the Harventa Empire, they would still feel uncomfortable if a weakling came onto their youngest.
Suddenly, Evelia, who was tightly gripping her cocoa in both hands, sucked it all up and opened her mouth as if she had just remembered something.
“He asked me to be his wife.”
“……”
“……”
The two brothers, who usually responded promptly to whatever she said, were silent. Feeling strange, Evelia looked back and forth between them.
A beat late, Arkan and Cedric abruptly stood up from their seats and shouted.
“What?!”
“This guy?!”
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.”
