Whenever something involved Walter, Odette’s body instinctively tensed up due to Rezina’s constant meddling.
‘I thought she wouldn’t stay still, but.’
I didn’t expect to run into her so quickly.
Would she yell and slap me like last time?
No, there are many people coming and going here in the palace corridor; she won’t go that far.
Several scenarios rushed through Odette’s head.
However, Rezina acted contrary to expectations.
“What are you so surprised about? As if you’ve seen someone you shouldn’t have.”
She seemed much calmer and more composed than expected.
The condescension was still there, though.
This was quite good, so Odette blinked her eyes with a slight surprise.
“……I thought you’d be angry.”
“Oh, really? Do you have a conscience? Feeling guilty about snatching someone else’s man?”
“……”
Odette slightly revised her assessment of Rezina’s state.
She wasn’t as calm as she seemed.
“It looks like you’re coming from meeting the Emperor, so marriage shouldn’t be too difficult now. Congrats on your upcoming wedding?”
“……Thank you.”
As Odette bowed her head, Rezina smirked.
“Like mother, like daughter, right? Snatching other people’s men and getting married, be it you or your mother who seduced the Emperor…”
Rezina mockingly brought up Odette’s mother and let out a lowered laugh.
“But you know, Odette. Marriage isn’t everything. Do you know how many husbands cheat while treating their wives well?”
“……!”
“Even if you were lucky enough to snag him, you should look at the bigger picture. Nobody knows what the future holds, right?”
The reason Rezina was saying this was obvious.
To kill Odette’s spirit and make her live in anxiety.
But what Rezina didn’t know was,
‘We have a contract.’
Odette and Walter were not in an ordinary marital relationship but bound by a contract that tightly tied them together.
A relationship where the adulterer’s neck would be in jeopardy the moment infidelity occurs.
So, there was no way Rezina’s attempt to create anxiety in Odette would take effect.
And then.
‘If I just let it go like usual, everything would end without a fuss…’
The day she went to Duke Ertman’s place for the contract, Walter had advised her.
[Dash]Now that the contract is over, you will be treated as the mistress in Ertman. So, I beg you. [Dash]……? [Dash]Don’t get slapped around. [Dash]……What? [Dash]Neither endurance nor getting slapped is acceptable. It’s important, so keep it in mind. You have Ertman.Though Walter’s words were somewhat incoherent, Odette understood immediately.
‘After all, it wouldn’t be dignified for a duchess to get slapped in public.’
From now on, her dignity mattered, not just her own but Walter’s as well.
She didn’t want to cause any harm to Walter.
That was the least she could do as Duchess of Ertman.
‘So, there’s no need to endure anymore.’
Odette gave a faint smile and nodded.
“Your words are right. Life should be seen in the long run. Who could have imagined I would become the Duchess of Ertman?”
“What, what?”
Rezina’s face distorted at the unexpected counterattack.
But once Odette’s mouth opened, it did not close.
“And thank you for worrying about my married life. ‘From you,’ it sounds like a very reasonable concern. However, it’s a worry I don’t really need. I’ve never had a man stolen from me.”
In other words.
‘Your bitterness at having your man stolen is apparent. Worry about your own future. I’ll be getting married and living well.’
That was the gist.
And Lise Marsen, familiar with social etiquette, couldn’t have failed to understand the implication.
The moment her face flushed with shame, Odette twisted the knife.
“A daughter takes after her mother, so you should be careful, too.”
There was no need for further explanation.
It had always been Lise Marsen who used such words to disparage Odette’s unknown mother.
‘She should have thought twice before saying that.’
If one were to think in reverse, it would imply that Queen Katarina might have lost her man to Odette’s mother. Did she not realize that?
No, she realized it but thought it didn’t matter.
From Lise Marsen’s point of view, Odette was nothing more than a worm, incapable of even writhing when stepped on.
‘One thing she said was true.’
The future is uncertain.
‘Did Lise Marsen ever think… that she’d hear such words from a worm?’
Somehow, she felt both relieved and amused.
With this mood, she felt she could even take a slap with grace.
As expected, Lise Marsen raised her hand.
“How dare you—”
But that hand never landed on Odette’s cheek.
“Lise Marsen! What are you doing?!”
“Mother? Uncle…”
From across the hall, Katarina and Duke Rodel were approaching.
Had it been any other situation, Lise Marsen wouldn’t have been phased, but she was standing in the middle of the hall, making her raised hand all too visible.
“Are you out of your mind? Trying to strike your sister in a public space?”
“But Mother, she insulted me and you!”
“…What?”
Next to her, Duke Rodel frowned, prompting Odette to bow her head.
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.”
