“Your Majesty! We only found out this dawn! Someone hypnotized Cecilia into believing she was the true princess! We too… We too have been deceived!”
The hall quickly descended into chaos.
‘Ah…’
I swallowed a sigh that felt like it would burst forth.
“That can’t be…”
The Emperor muttered.
Baron Lahert, who had been standing on the dais with Lucrella, also turned pale. I glared at him.
‘You’re the one who hypnotized her, and the hypnosis on Cecilia has been lifted. Snake’s tongue, what will you do now?’
“It can’t be!”
The enraged Emperor hurled the diamond box covering the holy sword.
He then grabbed Lucrella. The long silver blade glittered in the sunlight streaming into the hall.
“Aaaahhh!”
Cecilia screamed, thinking she was about to be killed.
“Just a little prick to know for sure. Give me your wrist!”
The Emperor shouted.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I am not a princess! Just an orphan seeking work in the capital! I have siblings waiting for me! Please spare my life!”
“Cecilia… Cecilia, give me your wrist! It won’t hurt, just a little prick to know! Lucrella might turn gold! Hurry!”
“Your Majesty!”
The Empress called out to the Emperor in distress.
The Emperor, holding the holy sword, looked almost insane.
“Another will die.”
“Can’t the Empress stop him?”
The nobles’ murmurs were audible.
Then it happened.
“Your Majesty, may I be of assistance?”
The Northern Duke spoke.
As he spoke, the chattering nobles fell silent. Even those who were still whispering closed their mouths at the Duke’s intense gaze.
The Emperor retorted sharply.
“Assist? What can you do?”
“Your Majesty. As your loyal subject, allow me to hold Lucrella for you.”
“Hold Lucrella?”
The Emperor’s face contorted.
The Empress spoke.
“Come up here, Duke.”
At her words, the Duke ascended the dais. Then, he knelt in front of the frantic Cecilia, meeting her eyes.
“I won’t hurt you. It will only take a moment.”
The Duke’s calm voice gradually soothed Cecilia’s cries. She looked at him fearfully, as if pleading.
The Duke, still kneeling, turned towards the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, may I, Bellaparte, draw my sword for a moment? I intend to make a small wound on this woman’s body.”
The Emperor seemed to finally understand the situation. He looked down at the Duke with a complex expression.
Arcadia muttered under his breath.
“He can’t refuse, not with such a respectful approach.”
“Granted, Duke Bellaparte.”
“Your magnanimity is profound, Your Majesty.”
The Duke drew his sword from its sheath.
Swoosh
The cold steel, like a messenger from the battlefield, revealed itself with a chilling sound. The Duke gently cut the inside of Cecilia’s elbow, where it bends. A trickle of red blood began to flow from her fair skin. The Duke then held her arm in front of the Emperor.
“It’s ready, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor, with trembling hands, touched the tip of Lucrella to the blood.
A hushed silence followed. Eventually, the Emperor set Lucrella down.
The holy sword remained silver, not turning gold no matter how much time passed.
A heavy silence pressed down on the hall.
Medea broke the silence.
“Your Majesty! I, Medea Laherte, cannot forgive this woman who deceived you! As you granted earlier, allow Laherte to punish this woman and the Schumael family!”
The Emperor remained silent, his face lost the will to live, his arm holding Lucrella drooping.
“Save us, Your Majesty! We were also victims… We were wrong, Your Majesty. Please forgive us. It’s unjust! I was under hypnosis…”
Cecilia’s voice, now hoarse from crying, whimpered.
Then Medea shouted.
“Can’t you shut your mouth! Your Majesty, command immediately! Behead them at once! How dare they insult the royal family, they cannot be spared!”
“That’s right… insulted me.”
The Emperor murmured.
“Your Majesty! It’s unjust! We were also deceived by the one who hypnotized Cecilia! Please, uncover the truth and find the person behind this woman!”
Baron Schumael cried out. Then Laherte shouted.
“Baron Schumael! How dare you commit such an act and still hope to save your life! Your Majesty! Remove them, so they no longer cloud your judgment!”
That’s when it happened.
“Silence, Duke!!”
The Empress exclaimed.
Despite not being loud, her voice, filled with dignity and authority, instantly dominated the entire hall.
A stunned Laherte looked at the Empress with wide eyes.
The Empress said.
“Are you, in your audacity, pressuring the Emperor to execute a citizen crying out their injustice, without even investigating such a grave matter of deceiving the royal family?”
The Empress’s low voice, like a winter lake, froze the air in the hall.
The Emperor, who had been blankly dropping his sword, turned his head towards the Empress.
“Empress, it’s not like that at all… It’s a plea to punish those who insulted the royal family.”
Laherte bowed his head, adding to the Empress’s words.
“Is that so. Then, Duke Laherte, have you no intention of uncovering and punishing those who truly insulted the royal family?”
“!”
“Do you suggest the Emperor should become a sun that doesn’t care for the grievances of his people?”
The Empress’s words pierced deep.
Laherte replied.
“Empress, I was shortsighted. I prioritized the Emperor’s pained heart over…”
His words were venomous.
The Empress said.
“The Emperor is the empire itself. Duke, do you presume to preempt the heart of the empire?”
“!”
At the Empress’s weighty words, Laherte knelt on one knee.
“Never, Your Highness! I merely failed to anticipate Your Majesty’s wisdom.”
“Then how about we ask the woman herself?”
Medea politely bowed her head toward the Empress on the dais before turning to question Cecilia.
“Cecilia, who is behind you? Who has been sponsoring 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.”
