After courteously greeting, Ariante sat quietly on the chair. The countess gestured to the maid standing by the door to leave and alternately looked at Ariante and Sisi with a smiling face.
“Could you tell me what happened, Lady, whatever it is?”
As the countess asked, Ariante still hesitated to tell the truth. Even with her young heart, for some reason, she was reluctant to tell the story exactly as it happened.
The shocking words Sisi had blurted out were not only difficult to explain, but also Ariante had a premonition that telling the truth might put Sisi in trouble.
Sisi, who had stopped pretending to cry, was also freezing and only glancing at Ariante. Although the countess sensed that there was something serious—serious even from an adult’s perspective—she did not press and waited quietly.
“Well, um…”
The countess nodded at Ariante. She was no longer looking at Sisi and was focusing solely on Ariante.
Ariante glanced at Sisi beyond the countess’s shoulder. With her tiny and stubborn face, she looked pale with fear, as if she wanted to pinch that cheek when it was annoying.
“We were playing a game, and Sisi got angry, Countess.”
“Playing a game?”
The countess turned her head to look at Sisi. Her gaze seemed to ask, ‘Is that true?’
Sisi nodded, unable to gesture further, frozen in place. Although the countess’s gaze was gentle, it felt sharper for that reason.
At that moment, Ariante hastily added.
“I rolled the dice, and Sisi slapped my hand. So, I said that was cheating. Sisi said she didn’t cheat, and I kept saying it was cheating… and then we fought.”
The countess turned her head.
“Sisi, is Lady’s story true?”
Sisi’s large eyes widened. In that moment, Sisi saw Ariante vigorously nodding her head out of Countess Alt’s sight.
With tightly closed lips, Sisi, more than nodding, seemed almost trembling. Nevertheless, it was clear that Ariante was signaling something to Sisi.
“W-Well… it’s true.”
Sisi replied in a small voice, bowing her head deeply. As her gaze lowered, it seemed like tears might fall again. From eyelids to cheeks, forehead, and neck, everything heated up intensely, and an indescribable embarrassment tightly filled her small chest, pricking it.
Sisi thought Countess Alt might scold her for not lying immediately, but that did not happen. Instead, the countess, seeming relieved, chuckled softly.
“So, something like that happened. I was worried that it might be a big problem, Lady.”
“No, Countess Alt.”
Ariante, who answered quietly, quickly added, “I apologize for dispelling your concerns.”
For a moment, Countess Alt’s lips seemed to tighten. What went wrong? When Ariante, looking puzzled, tilted her head, Sisi’s small, whimpering voice was heard.
“What did you say?”
As Ariante asked, in response, Sisi’s hunched shoulders twitched. Still bowing her head, her lips protruding were evident enough that she couldn’t pretend not to notice.
“I said it’s not ‘dispelling’ but ‘causing trouble,’ and you don’t even know that.”
The lips, about to add ‘fool,’ stuck together. Ariante felt a flush rising at the realization that she hadn’t told Countess Alt the whole truth—not a complete lie, but still—and yet, Countess Alt, with a face full of worry, seemed to perceive nothing.
When Ariante confessed, Countess Alt gently inquired once again. The countess, now with a fully revealed expression, heard Sisi muttering as if growling.
“I didn’t mean ‘dispelling’; I meant ‘causing trouble,’ and she doesn’t even know that.”
Ariante’s embarrassment swelled as she thought that not telling the truth to Countess Alt—a not entirely false statement—was now revealed in her mind. But since Ariante couldn’t be found out for not saying, she was relieved, and her blushing cheeks puffed up plump and cute.
“It can be confusing. I’m seven years old.”
“I’m seven too! You not knowing that makes you a fool.”
“Sisi.”
Countess Alt warned with a gentle yet stern voice. However, the already agitated Sisi turned her attention back to Ariante.
“When is your birthday!”
“It’s in November.”
Then, a triumphant smile suddenly appeared on Sisi’s face.
“Mine’s in June! That means I’m your older sister!”
Ariante, with a bewildered expression, replied directly.
“Yeah, you’re my sister. Does that mean I’m the younger one? So, I can be confused, right?”
“What? That makes no sense…”
About to retort, Sisi, biting her lips, fell into deep thought with a serious expression. The notion that Ariante hadn’t told Countess Alt the whole truth—though not an outright lie—had suddenly come to mind. But Ariante, not being found out for not saying, made Sisi blush, and her cheeks swelled up with a cute and chubby flush.
“You can be confused, I guess. I’m only seven years old.”
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.”
