“No matter how you look at it, won’t there be more to worry about than taking care of the lady? What’s so difficult when you only have to take care of your own body?”
“Veinti, would you like to try it once?”
“That’s not difficult at all.”
Veinti swayed the fringe of her skirt, pretending to walk gracefully. While Bridgit burst into laughter, Arianthe, whose face turned red from running, panted and jumped back into the room.
Then, upon seeing Meianna, she ran straight back outside, dragging Cedrois along.
“Look, Father! Swan too! Look at Meianna! She looks like a princess! Like a queen!”
With his sudden appearance, Veinti bowed his head and hurriedly left, and Bridgit also stepped back. Countess Alt covered her mouth with the fan’s end, but the chaotic commotion seemed too amusing to bear.
“Your Grace, have you come?”
Cedrois lightly greeted Countess Alt, but his gaze was fixed on Meianna. When the excited Arianthe rolled her feet, Countess Alt gestured to Rosana.
“Let’s vacate the place for a moment.”
Rosana and the employees rushed out like a tide. Veinti and Bridgit also went to the opposite side and closed the door.
Arianthe grabbed Swan’s hand and whispered something busily. While the children nodded at each other, Meianna, who had been moving her gaze around, spoke.
“Duke, what are you talking about…”
Then Cedrois’ lips, which seemed like they would never open, finally budged.
“I didn’t know it would be this beautiful.”
One of Meianna’s eyebrows twitched.
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t know it would be this beautiful.”
In his tone, which seemed so natural, Meianna’s face turned red. Cedrois’ attitude was like Arianthe’s. He approached her, as if trying to hold her hand, then suddenly withdrew his arm.
Meianna, who burst into laughter, leaned towards Cedrois and whispered softly.
“There’s no need for you to approach me so formally now, Duke, is there?”
At that, Cedrois’ face turned as red as Meianna’s. Pretending to look at Arianthe and Swan, he coughed and whispered back.
“If you said that to provoke me, it worked at least partially.”
“Well, that’s a vague expression…”
While the two were exchanging ambiguous words in a subtle voice, the two children, who had finished their whispering, simultaneously ran towards Meianna.
“Father, Swan says so. If Meianna wears this and goes to the ball, it would be cool! Can’t we have a ball? Like the tea party!”
Arianthe, holding Cedrois’ hand, spoke as she shook his arm. Cedrois looked at Meianna before holding the hands of the two children and lowering his gaze.
“In fact, we’ll be going to a ball. But not here. We’re soon heading to the capital.”
“The capital?”
Arianthe, with wide-open eyes, looked at Swan once and then spoke again.
“Where the king is?”
Cedrois nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Shall we all go, Father?”
“Sure. Swan will come along.”
At that moment, Swan, glancing at Cedrois, spoke.
“I don’t want to go, Master.”
Cedrois looked at Swan silently. Before he could say anything, Arianthe intervened.
“Why! Let’s go together! Swan should come too!”
“I don’t want to. I’ll just stay here, so you go alone.”
“No! We have to go together!”
Meianna approached and gently grasped Arianthe’s shoulders.
“Lady, you shouldn’t force Swan Master.”
“But still… Why not go together?”
Swan’s lips twitched slightly. He didn’t have fond memories of El Laoutica. In some ways, it was similar to Ash. For Swan, most of the days spent in the capital were filled with loneliness and fear.
Cedrois now understood that. Without saying a word, he swept Swan’s head.
“Alright, Swan. If you don’t want to go, it’s fine. Ash will be here. So don’t worry.”
Swan’s face turned slightly pink. It was a relieved expression.
Cedrois said, “Arianthe needs to go with her father. Start preparing from today. Meianna and Veinti will take care of your luggage.”
“Are we going on a journey, Father? Will we come back here? Swan will be here!”
“Yes, of course. We’ll come back. We have someone to meet in the capital. After meeting that person, we’ll return soon.”
Arianthe grinned.
“Will we meet His Majesty?”
“Probably. But besides His Majesty, there are others we need to meet. Arianthe, that person is important to you too.”
Watching Arianthe nod innocently without knowing anything, Meianna suddenly felt worried. The time to confess the truth to Lady Celin seemed imminent, and it made her heart race as if she had committed a crime.
At that moment, Cedrois lightly held Meianna’s hand and nodded quietly. In his own way, it was an attempt to comfort Meianna, realizing her anxiety. However, to Meianna, it carried a slightly different meaning.
I will share the responsibility with him, Meianna thought. Although it wasn’t Meianna who had hidden the truth from Lady Celin for a long time, her determination remained unwavering.
When Meianna eventually revealed the truth to Cedrois after a long time, he asked for the reason. She replied, “You heard my story back then. Since you believed those absurd words without a word of doubt, I felt that I must uphold that level of loyalty.”
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.”
