“Fool! Are you going alone?” Ariante retorted sharply.
“You, who can’t even find your way, are the bigger fool,” she replied.
“This little thing is real! Hey, I’m one year older than you!”
“So what? What does it matter that I’m one year older!”
“I’m your older brother! But why do you keep acting so arrogantly!”
“Give me the basket. Fool.”
With a contorted face, Luzian boldly retorted, while Ariante, seemingly indifferent, opened the basket he was holding and systematically put everything into the bag. Walnuts and almonds were scattered on one side.
“Why did you bring walnuts?”
“They’re tasty.”
“They’ll get all crushed inside. Rolling around like that.”
“Then what? Hurry up. If we get caught by Meiana, we won’t be able to go for sure.”
Ariante tightly held Luzian’s han
From a distance, it seemed like there was a chuckling laughter, but he thought he must have misheard.
Jocelyn’s hand was cold and rigid. It gave Swan a feeling as if holding a frozen branch, and he kept recoiling from her hand with a frightened expression.
The moment he diverted his gaze, what he thought was a hand seemed to transform into rough and clinging vines…
“Master Swan.”
Startled, Swan, who had been closely examining her wrinkled fingers, flinched as if taken aback and hunched his shoulders.
“Uh, um… why?”
Instantly, Jocelyn turned her head to look down at him. Nevertheless, her steps, taken with a certain stride, never stopped… For young Swan, just following her was busy enough. It was natural that he had no presence of mind.
“You should lower your voice, Master Swan. How can the esteemed descendant of the Valtermindor house use such an honorific for a servant?”
“Ah… well, um… Jocelyn is, um, the housekeeper, and also… older than me, so, without realizing it…”
Jocelyn made a sound as if clicking her tongue.
“That shouldn’t be the case. There is a clear hierarchy among people, even if you don’t realize it. Nowadays, young people often forget that… So, it should not be.”
Swan’s face turned pale. He had never thought about the employees that way. Neither did his father, Lord Glordon. Maybe Huzzle or Madam Dupli, but…
“I, I… don’t think that way. We are all the same people…”
“Not really. There is a clear hierarchy among people. Youngsters these days often forget that… So, it should not be.”
The moment she said that, it sounded like muffled grumbling. Swan began to feel more and more frightened. It would have been better to ask Bridget to go with him to the room.
“Um, where are we going, Jocelyn?”
“We’re almost there. There’s something I really want to show you, Master Swan.”
Jocelyn navigated the complex corridor as if she could walk around with her eyes closed. Swan, entering the corridor for the first time, followed her deeper inside and stood in front of a firmly closed door.
“And this one is the 2nd Duke, and this portrait is the 2nd Duchess and their son… This son is the 3rd Valtermindor Duke.”
“I see… No, I understand.”
Swan nodded his head in confusion, following behind Jocelyn. He had no idea why she brought him here, why she was revealing the ancestors of the duke’s family.
“And this one.”
Jocelyn stopped in front of a portrait. Swan, looking up at the portrait, took a step back. It was a slightly larger frame than the others, making it a bit challenging to see all at once.
Jocelyn said, “Can you see it clearly? Can you see it? Now, Master Swan, take a closer look. His face… His appearance. He is the 5th Valtermindor Duke.”
“Uh, well…”
“He looks quite similar to you, doesn’t he?”
Swan made a small gasp, his eyes wide open, staring at Jocelyn as if asking what she meant.
However, Jocelyn, with an unusually bright smile, looked into the frame with an ecstatic expression, then glanced at Swan’s face.
Swan wanted to escape from this room immediately, but he felt that something more dreadful might be waiting for him if he did.
“Do you see the resemblance? Of course, you would. The Valtermindor Duke family and your family, the Glordon Marquis, have been connected through marriage for a very long time… Now, look at that tapestry over there. See who the 3rd Valtermindor Duke married.”
Swan, despite trembling with his lower jaw, approached the tapestry as instructed by Jocelyn. Like a puppet hanging on strings, the boy’s steps were unstable and awkward.
The tapestry depicting the genealogy of the Valtermindor Duke family was enormous and magnificent. Swan, buried among the wildly spreading branches like a giant tree, wore a confused expression. Then, Jocelyn pointed to the upper part of the tapestry with her fingertips.
“Ah!”
A small gasp finally escaped from Swan’s mouth. It was there. Truly there, the name of Lord Glordon was present…
Sinevesta of the Glordon family. She became the 3rd Valtermindor Duchess and proudly occupied a place within the grand tapestry.
“Indeed… I just found out.”
“Of course, that would be the case. It’s too old, and perhaps your father, even the current Duke, wouldn’t have known. But, Master Swan, look. The 3rd Valtermindor Duchess… She must have been the most outstanding, beautiful, and noble lady from the Glordon Marquis. Her blood flows through your body and also through the Duke’s body.”
Jocelyn, with her lips sealed, raised both corners of her mouth. It was a satisfied expression, but Swan thought her laughter resembled a beast with its prey before it.
Jocelyn’s upper body bent incredibly flexibly. Like a snake, she extended her head toward Swan.
“Listen very carefully to what I am about to say, Master Swan…”
“Squirrel!”
Walking along the forest path, Crony pointed to the tree with joyous delight. The children’s gazes instantly turned to Crony’s outstretched hand. The little squirrel with its tail curled into a ring, holding something that looked like a tree fruit, faced the children with a bewildered expression.
“Why isn’t it running away? That’s strange.”
“Must be a fearless squirrel. Can we catch it?”
As Silas attempted to approach the tree, Lucia stopped him.
“Don’t do that. What’s the point of catching it? It’s pitiful.”
Lucia’s lips protruded. However, she obediently stepped back.
Among the children, the oldest, Silas, played the role of an older brother even when exploring the Duke’s forest. Carrying the snack basket in his other hand, he said, “Ariante, just a little more?”
“Yes! We only need to go a bit further. Then we’ll reach the open field!”
Ariante was leading her friends to the place where they used to play in the past with Mayana. Back then, the weather was much hotter, but sitting in the shade of the trees made it bearably cool.
Now, sitting in the middle of a grassy field would probably be comfortable, and the thought excited Silas involuntarily.
“Whoa, what’s this? It’s mushrooms!”
Umberose crouched under a tree as if rolling down. As he was about to touch the mushrooms, this time Ariante shouted, “Don’t touch! They might be poisonous!”
“Eek!”
Umberose, who screamed, recoiled. Looking pale, he stared at Ariante.
“P-poisonous mushrooms?”
Ariante nodded with a serious expression, “Yeah, Mayana warned us to be careful in a forest like this. There might be mushrooms with toxins that make your eyes pop out if you eat them!”
“Ew, disgusting!”
“Umberose, don’t touch that! Come here quickly!”
Making a vomiting gesture, Sisi, and Chrony anxiously reached out to Umberose. Umberose, staggering, stood up and frantically wiped his hands on his pants and vest, his face turned pale.
Sisi started to grumble, “What is this! It’s not fun at all!”
Silas looked back at Sisi, “You shouldn’t go back alone, Sisi. It’s dangerous. We should all go together.”
“I don’t want to go! My dress got dirty. That’s why I didn’t want to come!”
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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