“They’ll be found soon anyway, right? Silas hyung might hide well alone, but Cici can’t play hide and seek at all. She probably hid anywhere because it was bothersome. Maybe behind those bushes over there.”
Ariante, running towards the bushes pointed out by Umbróz, found nothing.
“It seems like they hid in the forest! We’ll find them quickly, so you two wait here!”
Ariante, jumping up and down in place, shook her clenched fist. Crony looked at Ariante with a slightly worried expression, but he didn’t seem to have the courage to follow.
“The children are missing. What does that mean?”
Cedrois and Lady Marquise quickly went out to the garden following Jeremó. Maiana was already running towards the garden as if flying.
“Lady! Lady Ariante!”
Maiana’s shout echoed through the empty garden. However, what came back was only the sound of branches shaking and birds flapping their wings.
No, this can’t be. Maiana’s gaze moved urgently. She searched every nook and cranny of the garden and, not satisfied, even listened carefully to the faint sound coming from inside the mansion.
Cedrois’s call for the servants, Lady Marquise’s searching for the maids, mixed noisily. Then a novice chef in white clothes came from the kitchen with a trembling step.
“Um… Miss Ma, Maiana.”
Even if he were not a fifteen-year-old apprentice chef but Cedrois himself, Maiana would have looked at him with the same fierce eyes, but the chef couldn’t even imagine such a thing.
He was in a very frightened state.
“Why? If you have something to say, say it quickly.”
“Ah, um… Yes. There, my name is Heron, and I work in the kitchen…”
“I know that too! I can tell by looking at your clothes. Tell me why you called me, Heron. Quickly!”
Under Maiana’s urging, Heron’s shoulders shrank. He held his two hands tightly for a moment, then closed his eyes tightly.
“T-There! Lady… earlier… Lady came to the kitchen! And Lady’s friend… the young master with glasses also came.”
“What does that mean?”
With round eyes, Heron looked at her. Even if it were Cedrois, she would have stared at him with the same gaze, but the chef couldn’t even imagine that.
He was in a very frightened state.
“Wha, what do you mean? Lady came to the kitchen, and the young master with glasses, was it Luzian? He came too?”
“I don’t know your name! Anyway, they came to the kitchen… there, and they took food and a basket.”
Food and a basket?
“What did they take to eat? Who packed it for them?”
“Well, that… Um, no one…”
Maiana’s pupils turned a shade of blue at that.
“Heron, ‘no one’? What does that mean?”
“I-I didn’t do anything wrong! I was just peeling potatoes with the others…”
Heron almost stammered. Maiana also felt like crying, but now was not the time to lose her temper with him.
“Heron, pull yourself together. It’s not the time to be babbling. The sun will set soon. The weather is getting cloudy. We need to find Lady and her friends quickly. So please, focus and think carefully.”
Only then did Heron start explaining hesitantly. As Maiana listened to his story, her expression became increasingly grim.
“Silas! Cici!”
Ariante’s voice echoed through the forest. Ariante, looking up at the tangled branches above her head, rolled her feet and shouted again.
“Cici! Silas! Where are you?”
Their exact hiding places were not visible at all. Ariante, searching through the bushes and looking behind trees, gradually ventured deeper into the forest. Ariante, who had never seen this scenery before but felt like she had seen it several times, looked around with confused eyes.
I’ve lost my way. Ariante intuitively knew that fact. Not only could she not find Silas and Cici, but the path back to the open field with Luzian, Umbróz, and Crony was no longer visible.
“What should I do? I’ve come too deep.”
The only things visible were the ground covered with black and blue leaves, and above that, irregularly protruding tree roots and vines.
“Silas! Can you hear me? If you can, please answer!”
As Ariante shouted, her small body bent forward. She had stumbled over a protruding tree root.
“Ouch…”
Brushing off the dirt on her cheek and shoulder, Ariante, frowning, looked around while catching her breath. The forest was silent. Due to the suddenly gathering clouds, even the sunlight became faint.
That was when…
“Ariante! Over here!”
Somewhere, Silas’s voice was heard. Ariante, with wide-open eyes, stood up with all her might and shouted as loudly as she could.
“Silas! Where are you?”
“Here, here! Ariante! This way!”
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.”
