Meiana glanced at the wall clock. Sedilroy would have finished preparations and had the carriage waiting. There was no more time to persuade Ariante.
Ariante’s desperation to look good for Sedilroy was too pitiable. Filled with the single-minded resolve to endure any discomfort for his love, her tiny seven-year-old body looked like it could burst at any moment.
Meiana knew well what it was like for children to struggle for the love, attention, and affectionate gaze of their parents. Such children were precocious and perceptive. They learned to hide their sadness too early. And they accepted unreasonable endurance as a given…
“Meiana, hurry!”
Urged by the foot-stamping Ariante, Meiana could wait no longer. She prepared the dress and corset Ariante wanted to wear.
Though made to fit Ariante’s small frame, the corset was as solid and constricting as those for adults.
Meiana laced the corset as loosely as possible, but Ariante’s face already seemed a bit flushed.
“Your Highness, are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Really fine.”
While Meiana watched Ariante worriedly touch her waist and abdomen, she finally relented and skillfully dressed her.
If Ariante had been wearing corsets regularly, it would be one thing. But she hadn’t worn one for a while now, making it hard to imagine how stifled she must have felt.
After Ariante had finished dressing, Meiana hurriedly changed into her own outdoor clothes. She was in the midst of hastily tidying her disheveled hair after removing her headscarf.
“Meiana, you… where are you going?”
Meiana, holding a pin in her mouth, turned her head sharply. Her eyes subtly lowered to avoid meeting the gaze of the person speaking to her, Greta.
Without responding, Meiana finished fixing her hair, dusted off her clothes as if purposefully removing lint, and only then met Greta’s eyes with a slight smile.
“Mm, I’m planning to visit the village with the princess.”
“Is that so…? Um, but… outside, Count is preparing a carriage. It looked like he was going somewhere. I thought it might be better for you to leave after him… so I wanted to let you know.”
Greta cautiously smiled. Although her demeanor had once seemed amiable, it was far from that now. It was almost repugnant… Yet Meiana showed no reaction, simply nodding her head with indifference.
“There’s no need for that. The Count is also preparing to go with us.”
Greta’s petite frame twitched. The faint smile that had been lingering on her lips vanished, her face rigid, seemingly unaware of her own emotional shift.
“Count is going with you? To the village? With you and the princess?”
“That’s what I said. Why? Do you have something to convey to the princess? Or to the Count? Don’t worry, I’ll pass on the message. Do you need some time off?”
Meiana deliberately manipulated her tone, different from her usual manner of speaking. It was something she had learned from a maid a few years her senior when she was working in the Povec Manor. Rather, it was more accurate to say it had ingrained itself after much experience…
As expected, Greta’s face flushed as if she had been insulted. From her clenched hem to her trembling shoulders. How had she been so easily deceived by someone who could not hide her feelings so poorly?
“No, that’s not it. I was just… concerned for you. What if the Count scolds you…”
Meiana, grinning, put the nail in the coffin.
“Don’t worry about it. You know as well as I do how generous the Count is to me. And how much the princess is looking forward to this… Ah, I’m out of time. Sorry. I’ll catch up with you later.”
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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