“Are you coming down for breakfast already, and it’s only seven?”
Aria, surprised that Catherine, who loved to sleep in, was up at this hour, tilted her head. Catherine frowned and said,
“I didn’t come down because I wanted to see her or anything, I just happened to wake up early today! Don’t get the wrong idea.”
But I didn’t say anything…
Aria swallowed the retort that almost slipped out. Bonita, standing beside her, greeted Catherine in a clear, bright voice,
“Good morning, Lady. Have a good morning.”
“It’s not particularly a good morning.”
“Ah…”
Bonita sighed.
“I was actually going to say it’s a very good morning.”
Catherine quickly added,
“There’s a difference between ‘very good’ and just ‘good’, remember that. Anyway, stop dawdling and hurry up to the dining room! Both of you!”
“Wait, Lady!”
Aria exclaimed softly as Catherine hastily pushed them along.
The two almost ran into the dining room, with Bonita scurrying behind, startled.
In the dining room, Luke, who had arrived earlier, dropped his morning newspaper in surprise.
“Bonita! No, Mother!”
“Choose one to call. Anyway, what a scatterbrain.”
“Bonita!”
“Hmph.”
Catherine snorted and sat across from Bonita.
“Bonita, sit next to me.”
“What are you saying? Kid, if you sit next to such a gloomy man, you’ll choke on your food. Go sit on the opposite side.”
“Mother!”
“What. Did I say something wrong?”
“Haa.”
Caught between the arguing adults, Bonita’s head spun.
Bonita was torn between sitting next to the intimidating Duke as he suggested, or opposite him as the stern elderly lady, whom Aria called ‘Grandmother,’ had directed.
“Bonita, let’s sit here together.”
Noticing her dilemma, Aria stepped in and they sat down two seats away from Luke.
“What would you like for breakfast today?”
“Um, I’d like a soup full of meat. And soft white bread.”
The assertiveness of her statement left the fierce Lady Lysianthus speechless, especially as Bonita looked so happy she couldn’t say anything in return.
“Mother. You should sit with me.”
“Hmph. Why should I sit with you?”
Catherine sat across from Bonita.
Luke, left alone, wore a dumbfounded expression and quietly took a seat diagonally across from Bonita, next to Catherine and opposite Aria.
Aria and Luke exchanged glances. Aria smiled with her eyes.
“What’s that?”
“What’s what?”
“That smile.”
Luke grumbled, frowning.
“It’s annoying.”
“……That’s hurtful.”
“Too bad. But I’m not one for lies, so Aria Yang will just have to understand.”
“As expected of you.”
Sparks flew between them.
The tension was broken by a servant bringing aperitifs.
“Lady, the chef personally squeezed this grape juice just for you.”
“Wow.”
Amazed at receiving grape juice instead of an aperitif, Bonita gasped.
Aria, smiling at this, paused when she noticed the grape wine in front of her.
‘This is…….’
A familiar scent.
Zephyr Mountain wine.
Aria suddenly remembered a conversation from early in her marriage with Luke.
“Luke, what’s this? It has a really unique aroma.”
“Zephyr Mountain wine. It’s from the southern part of the Crocus Empire. Don’t like it? I’ll call the chef to change it to something else…”
“No! I really like it!”
“Really?”
“Yes. But if it’s imported from the Empire, we can’t have it often, can we?”
The kingdom of Aleph, where the Lysianthus Ducal House was located, had little exchange with the Crocus Empire.
“If we’re to nitpick, the only common interaction between the kingdom’s nobility and the empire is when young nobles go to study at the empire’s academy. Other than that, there’s hardly any reason to visit. Even trade is quite stringent.”
Aware of these circumstances, Elodie spoke with a hint of regret, which caught Luke’s attention.
He said, “No. If you want, I’ll make sure you can drink this every day.”
“Really? Is that possible?”
“Of course.”
After that, indeed, Luke and Elodie began a routine of sharing half a glass of Zephyr Mountain wine every morning.
Elodie, who tended to obsess over a single food item until she grew tired of it, surprisingly never tired of this for the two and a half years leading up to her death.
Aria turned to look at Luke.
“……Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Your Grace.”
“What?”
“Do you drink this every morning? The Zephyr Mountain wine?”
At her question, Luke replied nonchalantly.
“Yes.”
“That… really?”
“You recognized it quite well. It’s not a drink easily accessible to the common folk of the kingdom.”
“……I like it.”
Luke hesitated at her response.
However, he didn’t say anything further, merely frowning slightly and ending the conversation.
“Woah.”
Instead, his attention turned to Bonita.
Bonita was eagerly spreading red, appetizing jam on a piece of white bread she had received with her grape juice, and then took a bite.
Seeing this, Luke’s expression softened.
“Do you like it?”
“Huh? Oh… Yes!”
Bonita, slightly startled by the sudden conversation with the Duke, soon nodded. After the events of yesterday and the day before, she had considerably lessened her wariness towards Luke.
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.”
