Perhaps the atmosphere around Valentin had subtly changed since yesterday. It was hard to pinpoint, but now, there was a distinctly gentle warmth when she looked at him.
“Because of… the contract.”
Valentin responded, seemingly guessing her thoughts from her facial expressions.
“The contract?”
“Received Adel’s energy… and Adel got mine… so, became similar.”
“Similar?”
“I smell… of Adel.”
His cheeks flushed red as he brought his lips close to her plump ear, whispering shyly.
“And me… smell of Adel.”
“….”
“Happy…”
The warmth spreading in her ear, along with the overflowing joy in Valentin’s voice, left her dazed. She sometimes wondered what she meant to him. Why was he so desperately clinging to a mere human woman?
Thinking that ‘her husband’ before his death had liked her, and the dragon that possessed his body and soul was influenced… Adel shook her head sharply.
‘That’s utterly absurd.’
More plausible was his true nature as a monster, instinctively targeting her weaknesses. Was it a ploy to overwhelm her with affection and disorient her?
“….”
Adel glanced at Valentin, who looked a bit downcast. On the outside, he seemed harmless, even a favorite creature of the gods, but in reality, he was a formidable dragon.
Adel firmly held back any emerging sympathy.
“Yesterday, you said that until the contract with my husband is fulfilled, you’re virtually trapped in that body. The content of the contract is to elevate the name of the Duke of Anschar to a historic level.”
“Eh, yes…”
“What should I do from now on?”
She fidgeted, clasping her hands together as she asked.
Of course, she should have meticulously checked this before and after making the contract. But after signing it yesterday, she was so exhausted that she fell asleep immediately. She didn’t realize that making the contract would consume so much energy.
Valentin calmly answered, looking at Adel.
“The contract must… be fulfilled… no matter what.”
“You’ve already said that.”
“Then, what are you curious about?”
“I’m not sure how I can help you in the future.”
“Adel can help me or not, it’s okay. If it’s uncomfortable, I can erase your memory.”
The offer to erase her memory was tempting, but after some thought, Adel shook her head. If her memory was erased, she couldn’t persuade Padre.
Unless Padre gave up, if he continued to delve into this case alone, he would eventually reach the truth that ‘Valentin’ is the Bichlerleben dragon. Then, Valentin would try to kill Padre by any means necessary.
“If the contract made under his name isn’t fulfilled, he’ll lose all his power. The dragon would be desperate.”
Even if she persuaded Padre and then had her memory erased, she didn’t want to live like a fool, unaware of the contract she had made.
Adel clenched her fists and raised her head.
“There were two conditions for my contract yesterday. One is to spare the people of Anschar that were taken as a price, and the other is to return the body to my husband as much as possible when his contract ends.”
“……Right.”
“For that price, you, as the shadow…”
“Call me Valentin.”
“But.”
“If people find it suspicious but it doesn’t matter, I’m okay with it.”
His response was oddly cold. While Adel hesitated, he smirked coldly and spoke. His yellow eyes flashed cruelly.
“I’ll ask one thing too. Adel. You said when it’s over, return that man’s soul, right?”
“….”
“Is it because you love him?”
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.”
