Cardin’s gaze deepened, urging an answer.
Reluctantly, Annette opened her mouth.
“Is it because I upset His Highness…?”
“Ha.”
When she finished her hesitant response with a questioning tone, a disbelieving laugh came back.
Annette’s eyes lowered.
After taking a moment to calm his breath, Cardin explained, “I’m upset because it seems like you’re not thinking about your own well-being.”
“…….”
But Annette looked completely bewildered.
Feeling the path ahead was long, Cardin patiently elaborated further.
“It was good that you asked for something to protect yourself. But you rashly used it on your own palm.”
“…….”
“And then, you rushed into a perilous situation with a sword in that hand.”
“…….”
“You didn’t even realize you were bleeding. This is why I’m so upset.”
Annette was momentarily stunned by the detailed explanation, understanding why he was displeased.
But what to say or how to react, she had no idea.
“If you really feel sorry, please take better care of yourself in the future. For now, I don’t expect you to say it hurts right away.”
Annette almost instinctively nodded, moved by the earnestness in Cardin’s voice.
Having poured out his thoughts, Cardin lowered his gaze again.
Gently, as if handling something precious, he started unwrapping the blood-soaked bandage, causing Annette to flinch.
The wound wasn’t deep, and she hadn’t even felt the bleeding, but where Cardin’s fingers touched, it felt as hot as a burn.
When Annette reflexively tried to clench her fist again, Cardin asked, “Does it hurt?”
“No… just a little.”
About to deny it habitually, Annette remembered Cardin’s earlier words and admitted softly.
Cardin felt a surge of emotion, as if witnessing a baby’s first steps.
“Well done. You’re so good.”
Hearing the unexpected praise, Annette shrank back.
‘This is strange.’
It was her hand that was injured, but now her ears were burning. Not only that, her heart throbbed uncontrollably.
‘Why am I reacting like this…’
“Cough, cough!”
Suddenly, a noise startled Annette back to reality.
Quickly turning around, she saw Lucius coughing with his head half-turned, and Charlotte smiling awkwardly while covering her son’s eyes.
Mikhail, flailing his hands and saying, “Mommy! Daddy?” looked confused.
Annette was shocked, having completely forgotten for a moment that the Emperor, Empress, and the Prince were there.
It was unbelievable how she could have forgotten.
Realizing they must have heard her entire conversation with Cardin, she felt extremely embarrassed.
Her face, starting from her ears, turned bright red.
Lucius, ceasing his fake cough, asked, “Is everything you had to say now done?”
“For now.”
Without looking at Lucius’s face, Cardin coolly responded as he carefully adjusted Annette’s bandage, speaking sweetly, “We should probably have a physician look at this again.”
“….Yes.”
Lucius’s jaw dropped at the sudden change in voice. Despite the overt change in demeanor, Annette seemed lost in her own embarrassment, not noticing it.
Lucius, touching his forehead with a headache, finally realized that the burning sensation on his face wasn’t just a feeling. His face was actually hot with embarrassment.
In truth, Cardin hadn’t exactly whispered words of love to Annette.
Yet, the atmosphere was unmistakably sweet—his gaze dripping with honey, his voice as smooth as melted chocolate, and the conversation overtly revealing his affection. Plus, the unusual vibe was quite……
Yes. Probably because of that odd atmosphere, even the parents who were initially shocked and confused ended up hurriedly turning their heads or covering their son’s eyes.
……Of course, in hindsight, they should have covered their ears instead of their eyes.
Nevertheless, Cardin’s interaction with the princess was anticipated to be incredibly amusing, but it turned out to be more awkward and uncomfortable than expected.
No matter how much he thought about it, it seemed like Cardin should have been the one feeling embarrassed, yet why did the onlookers feel more uncomfortable?
Lucius realized anew just how shameless his brother could be.
And sadly, his assumption that Cardin would act shyly in front of a girl he liked was a complete misconception.
If Lucius were to ask Cardin if he wasn’t embarrassed to behave like that in front of others, his brother would probably respond with something exasperating like, “What’s there to be embarrassed about?”
Lucius shook his head in disbelief as he let out a hollow laugh.
“Now, Mikhail. Shall we continue the conversation you were having earlier?”
Charlotte, having just removed her hand from Mikhail’s eyes, asked her son, who was still looking dazedly at Cardin and Annette.
Realizing his situation once again, Mikhail’s face hardened.
“Mom… I did something wrong….”
“No. Repeat what you said earlier.”
“Huh?”
“You told the Duchess’ daughter that you’d give up your family, the position of the Crown Prince, and become her family’s son-in-law. Didn’t you?”
“…….”
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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