“I saw his angry face for the first time. He always ignored me. Empress, you know too, right? The arrogant gaze that seemed to look down on me. The guy who always focused on my lower parts first showed anger towards me for the first time, haha! When that bastard, who always pretended to be fine even when he heard the unworthy inheritance from his parents, showed that side, I was truly thrilled.”
Watching Cedric rant excitedly, Cloe swallowed dryly.
He was clearly not in his right mind. If a man with such thoughts existed, he would undoubtedly carry out his plan to burn Cloe to death as planned.
With that foreboding, she suddenly seemed to fear the future.
“He ended up becoming the Emperor of Friede, so I was thinking of aiming for Sahir. Since the Sahir royal family still lacks a prince, it’s appropriate for me, with mixed blood, to inherit the throne. But that bastard messed up everything…!”
With a sigh filled with frustration, the man shifted his gaze towards Cloe.
“So, I should ruin that guy’s future too, right? Don’t you think so, Cloe Friede?”
“…It’s unfair for him to complain about paying the price when he takes on everything himself.”
“Shut up! He should have been mine from the beginning. He snatched away what rightfully belonged to me. He even ruined my happiness for the sake of that scoundrel!”
After a vehement yell, silence followed.
At that moment, across the room, the bell rang again, indicating the hour.
Cedric, who had been excitedly boasting, stood up and leaned towards her.
“So, let’s go to hell together, Empress.”
“….”
“His end will soon be your end too!”
After the hourly chime, Cedric, who was still boastful, lifted the rope he had prepared onto the chair he had been sitting on. With one hand holding a log to assist ignition and the other holding the rope, he tied himself up.
“He has less than an hour until his birth, Empress. Hope you celebrate his birth while dying. We will be a memorable gift for you, so be grateful to me in advance.”
Tap, tap, inside the deep recesses of the fireplace, the crackling fire hinted at the near future of the two.
“Ah, it’ll be satisfying to see that scoundrel’s face lamenting over your corpse in the future. Once I’m dead too, he won’t have a place for revenge, so it will be empty.”
Cedric, who had already lost everything, still seemed relaxed about his impending end.
“It was truly a beautiful life. Isn’t that right, Empress? He must have been happy to pick up the ruined life. To have the one standing at the top of the world sweetly whispering love, he must have thought the world belonged to the Empress.”
“…”
“Happiness is always a fleeting moment.”
Dang!
The majestic sound of the bell announced the start of a new day.
Cedric extended the only untied hand toward the bonfire.
Quickly displaying it in front of Cloe, he threw it onto the floor.
“…No, it can’t be!”
The fire that fell to the ground ignited in an instant. It didn’t take long for the small cabin to be engulfed by the fire.
Due to the intense heat, it was difficult to open the eyes properly. The smell of burning wood rising like smoke further stimulated the senses.
Unable to suppress the instinctive cough that came out, she unintentionally inhaled.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
The toxic gas was more painful than the heat itself.
It felt like suffocating in a harsh gas. Cloe’s gaze gradually blurred due to the intense heat.
‘Kun…’
To lose to a man who would perish here.
‘Your safe return is fortunate. It’s lucky that I can stay by your side.’
It should not bestow a nightmare instead of celebrating the birth of a loved one.
‘I love you, Cloe Friede.’
Tears that had been held back in defense of pride finally burst forth.
If only you had known this would happen, you should not have acknowledged love. If both of them were such weak beings that the happiest moment for them would vanish without a trace, it would have been better to deny emotions and push him away until the end.
No. How could I not love him? I should have loved him more in the remaining time. I should have confessed my feelings, which would be insufficient even if whispered all day.
No.
No, just…
“Cloe!”
In the face of death, everything passes like a mirage.
Thinking of Kun, his voice naturally came to mind.
Yet, why now, at this moment when I desperately miss him, does his voice cruelly pierce through my ears?
“Cloe Friede!”
Again, again. His beautiful voice echoes continuously.
Cloe, who had unconsciously opened her eyes, surveyed her surroundings. If it was an illusion brought about by the dying wish, similarly, she wanted to see his face before dying.
“Answer me, Cloe Friede.”
However, in reality, the familiar figure of Inyeong began to appear from afar.
“I’m alive now!”
It was too vivid to be called a hallucination…
Cloe, in need of the man she desired most at the moment, Kun Friede, was running towards me.
Defying the intense flames that seemed to engulf her.
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.”
