“I’m planning to marry, Mother.”

Catherine was astonished to hear these words from her first son, Luke, who was always so gruff and seemed unlikely to engage with women.

When Luke suddenly brought up marriage, Catherine was so surprised she nearly fainted.

She had heard rumors. Rumors that the Duke of Lysianthus, her eldest son, had fallen head over heels for a certain Countess’s daughter, becoming as soft as a marshmallow.

But she had never seen it with her own eyes. As Catherine was about to express her astonishment, Luke said sternly,

“Don’t even think about opposing it. Not that I expect you would, Mother.”

“Ah, and when she arrives, please be kind to her. I don’t care how you treat other noble ladies, but not her.”

Luke was always blunt. His eyes blazing, he warned that if Catherine ever troubled Eloide, he would consider living independently, which Catherine scoffed at.

“Hmph. As if she would even want to meet me. If she has heard about me in the social circles, she would certainly avoid me.”

Catherine had always had a notorious reputation in the social circles, ever since her youth when she was known for her rough manners.

Even now, as an older woman, she was still willing to be as aggressive. However, people knew of her temper and either didn’t invite her to parties or smartly stayed away if they encountered her.

Catherine didn’t care. What others thought of her was none of her concern. Or so she thought.

“At first, I was really worried, but the Lady is a truly good person.”

“I wonder how it would feel if Luke and I had a child.”

“Mother! The weather is so nice today, shall we take a walk together? Just the two of us, without Luke!”

Eloide was a charming person.

With her blooming pink hair and bright, round features, she was more like a girl than a woman when she became the Duchess of Lysianthus.

Eloide approached the grumpy Catherine like a little puppy. Having been loved and pampered from a young age, she was undeterred by Catherine’s coldness.

“She’s like a flower in a greenhouse.”

“Aren’t you afraid of me? Don’t you know I could dislike you?”

“Eh?”

When Catherine asked this one day, Eloide seemed genuinely puzzled.

“Why would someone dislike me?”

Her confidence was remarkable.

But it was true. Everyone in the Duke’s household adored her. She was kind, listened to everyone, and despite being the youngest daughter of the wealthiest family and the mistress of the Duke’s house, she never abused her power and approached everyone with a smile.

“There’s truth in the saying ‘You can’t spit in a smiling face.'”

Catherine gradually fell for Eloide. She even came to cherish her more than her son, Luke. It didn’t take her more than half a year to reach this point.

It was a love discovered late in life.

So when that love was taken away, the sense of loss was indescribable. The stillbirth of the long-awaited granddaughter and the death of her beloved daughter-in-law drove Catherine away from the Duke’s house.

And now, Eloide’s daughter had appeared.

…Could it be true?

Catherine remembered the aftermath of Eloide’s delivery. She didn’t witness the birth, but the newborn was lifeless, clearly dead.

And afterwards, Eloide never became pregnant again. She passed away before even a year after the stillbirth.
“But it’s impossible for my son, Luke, to have had a child with any woman other than Eloide. If the child is Luke’s, it must undoubtedly be Eloide’s daughter. Even just by appearance, she unmistakably resembles her daughter.”

“How could this be?”

Catherine fiddled with the hem of her skirt, sensing the unusual atmosphere. Dominic, the cleric, forced an awkward smile.

“Haha… Congratulations. Then, Your Grace, may we take our leave now?”

“Go ahead. Oh, and I’d like it if the temple publicly declared Bonita as my child, in the name of the temple.”

“Certainly, we will do that.”

“Good. You may leave now.”

Following Luke’s dismissal, the two clerics hurried out of the room. Stepping outside, they sighed in relief. Leo, with his red hair disheveled, grumbled.

“I thought we were going to die.”

Dominic, also looking exhausted, nodded in agreement.

“Really. Next time, we need to draw straws better.”

After the clerics left, Catherine staggered to her feet.

Her purple eyes turned to the little girl sitting between Luke and Aria.

The girl who resembled Eloide, small and female.

Bonita Lysianthus.

She really did resemble her.

“Lady?”

Bonita, noticing Catherine’s stare, asked awkwardly. Despite knowing she is the Duke’s biological daughter, she still seemed unable to believe it.

Catherine suddenly realized.

Bonita might closely resemble Eloide and undoubtedly be her daughter, but they were very different.

Eloide wouldn’t have been so cautious in this situation. She acted as if nothing in the world could scare her.

The beloved youngest daughter of a wealthy count’s family, even a niece of the reigning queen.

And Bonita?

She was raised by a woman named Aria Hilton.

When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem

This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Synopsis:

“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”

Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.

Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.

While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the  Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…

Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.

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