Kosha gestured. Arianthe, still trembling, pulled Swan while trying to calm her fingertips. Swan, who was groping the floor, picked up the lamp.
“What on earth were you doing? Coming out like this in the middle of the night! Mayana, Veinti, and Bridgit! What in the world are they doing and where?”
Right at that moment, Mayana rushed in hastily. Cediloy was with her.
“Lady!”
“Mayana!”
Arianthe, almost choking back tears, nestled into Mayana’s arms. Following suit, Swan also rushed out of Jocelyn’s room and clung to Cediloy’s arms.
“What are you doing here? Why did you come here?”
“Where were you, you fool!”
Arianthe, her voice raised, struck Mayana’s shoulder with teary eyes wide open.
Cediloy said, “Kosha, go back and let everyone sleep. The children will go with me and Mayana.”
Kosha looked alternately at Mayana and Cediloy with a surprised expression. However, without saying a word, she turned around and chased away the gathered employees.
“What are you all doing? Go inside and sleep quickly! If anyone uses this as an excuse to be lazy tomorrow morning, I’ll spank them with a broom until dust comes out!”
The employees closed the door under Kosha’s stern gaze and retreated to their rooms. Mayana still clung to Arianthe, and Cediloy held Swan. The lamp held tightly in his hand occasionally made a clicking sound as it shook.
Arianthe, who had been sobbing, stopped when she returned to her room and stared at Mayana.
Then, after glancing at Cediloy, scowling at Swan, she finally lowered her gaze, protruding her lips.
Cediloy said, “Now, tell us. Arianthe, will you talk, or should Swan? Tell us what you two were doing alone until this late at night.”
It was a stern tone. Arianthe pursed her lips with a sullen expression.
Swan said, “Um… well, sir… um… Master Cediloy… you see… Arianthe was worried because Mayana was missing. She thought someone had taken Mayana.”
Mayana and Cediloy simultaneously frowned. Keeping silent as if unsure whether to laugh or scold, Cediloy glanced down at Arianthe.
“Arianthe, who do you think took Mayana?”
Then, with a stammer and a frightened expression, Arianthe, who had been tightly sealing her lips, said, “I thought Jocelyn took Mayana and locked her up.”
At that moment, a heavy silence fell like a stone, pinching Mayana and Cediloy on the soles of their feet. Arianthe, who had been clenching her lips tightly while trembling, spoke.
“I thought Mistress Jocelyn took Mayana and locked her up.”
Right then, Mayana, in the midst of stammering, grabbed Arianthe’s small hand.
“Lady, that can’t be true, right? Master Jocelyn would never take me.”
“He could. Jocelyn is a bad dragon.”
“A bad dragon?”
Arianthe, who had been muttering her lips, said, “I don’t know! Why weren’t you by my side! Nowhere in the room! Where were you!”
Arianthe kicked wildly as if throwing a tantrum. It wasn’t directed at Mayana, but her soft slipper flew off.
“I was talking with Lord, my lady. I’m sorry for startling you.”
“You could have done it during the day.”
Mayana chuckled, picking up the thrown slipper.
“That’s right. Lord Swan, you were quite surprised too, right?”
“I’m fine. I thought Mayana had been captured. So…”
At that moment, Cediloy spoke.
“Both of you, sit down. Swan, sit next to Arianthe. I have something important to tell you.”
Swan obediently sat next to Arianthe, as Cediloy seemed to have an important story to share. Arianthe, who had been grumbling, stopped and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
Cediloy kneeled on the floor, facing the two children, and said, “Jocelyn is no longer in this house.”
Swan widened his eyes, and Arianthe, with a more cantankerous expression, furrowed her brows.
“What do you mean she’s not here anymore, Father?”
“Exactly as I said, Arianthe. Jocelyn is not here anymore. She won’t come back again.”
“Where did she go?”
Swan asked, his voice expressing disbelief.
Cediloy gently brushed Swan’s cheek, overcome with inexplicable fear.
“She went very far away. She can never come back. So Jocelyn can’t take Mayana and won’t trouble you anymore. You can relax now.”
Arianthe’s breath became a bit ragged. Arianthe’s eyes, gazing at Cediloy, were shining distinctly, not childlike at all, as if she were trying to determine if his words were true or not. The fact that Jocelyn will never be seen in this house again and can no longer take Mayana was something Arianthe could hardly believe.
“Did Jocelyn go alone?”
Arianthe asked with a trembling voice.
“Or did Father kick her out?”
Cediloy said, “I kicked Jocelyn out. So she can never come back. Arianthe and Swan… I’m sorry that I couldn’t stop Jocelyn from bothering you earlier.”
Swan, who had been sitting quietly next to Arianthe, leaned in and asked carefully, “Did Jocelyn die, sir?”
Cediloy and Mayana exchanged glances for a moment.
Mayana said, “No, young master. She didn’t die. She is alive and will reflect on her mistakes. So don’t worry. You have nothing to worry about now.”
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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