On one hand, Sasha, who had been chuckling, suddenly turned serious.
“You’ve gone to great lengths to say my family is not under suspicion. You could just tell me directly, Sasha.”
“A straightforward matter should be discussed openly, you mean?”
“Yes, exactly.”
I added that I was very observant, after all.
“Really? From my perspective, it doesn’t seem that way, Your Highness.”
At that, Sasha suddenly deflected, and I burst into anger.
“Don’t say things like that while smiling!”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Is this guy enjoying mocking me from behind the fence called friendship? My mood was gradually improving, but suddenly I felt uncomfortable again and turned my back on Sasha, arms still crossed.
“Look over there.”
“I’m not falling for it.”
“I’m not joking, Your Highness.”
I had been fooled twice; if it happened a third time, I’d have to be reborn or something.
“Something is shimmering near the tree in the maze garden.”
“Huh? Really?”
I had stubbornly resisted being fooled to the very end, but upon sneaking a peek, I realized Sasha was telling the truth.
“Go fetch whatever is shining near that tree.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
As it turns out, the direction Sasha was pointing to was the same place where I had encountered YongYong in squirrel form, and suddenly, an idea popped into my head.
Maybe YongYong left something like an heirloom behind without me knowing.
‘I can feel a faint energy from YongYong.’
And my guess was correct; soon enough, I was holding a hexagonal blue stone.
‘I used to get dizzy upon contact, but now I feel fine.’
Moreover, this stone eradicated the terrible feeling that had crept in when I bumped into the blonde maid.
I had planned to ask Jeff to summon someone from the temple, but that wasn’t needed anymore.
“Store it carefully in my chamber.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
This precious treasure cannot be treated carelessly. I earnestly instructed my maid to keep it safe.
“Your Grace, there’s an emergency!”
It was then.
“You must return to your estate immediately.”
“What for?”
A maid from the Vladimir household rushed over to Sasha, out of breath.
“I am currently attending to Her Highness. Unless there is a valid reason, I cannot leave.”
“Th-that is…”
The hesitating maid from the Vladimir household met my mocking eyes and quickly looked down to continue speaking.
“The Duchess has suddenly fainted.”
“!”
I couldn’t see Sasha’s expression since I was standing behind him, but I could tell he paused at the maid’s words. So, I assumed he was probably surprised or shocked.
Though he’s a mysterious fellow, he’s a regular person aside from his extraordinary brain, so he would naturally be sensitive to something happening to his family.
“In that case, there’s nothing to be done.”
Subsequently, Sasha turned around and made an extremely apologetic face.
“Your Highness, I regret that I can’t accompany you to the end.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. It’s not a problem.”
Looks like we won’t be able to go to the library after all. I decided to fill the void created by my abruptly-ended encounter with Sasha with sleep.
“I guess I’ll have to take a nap. Wake me up before dinner.”
By the way, could it be that the Duchess has not shown her face because she’s frail? I’ve met Duke Fleur several times, but the mistress of the Vladimir family hasn’t appeared in the royal court for the past three years.
“Then I’ll come back in an hour or two, Your Highness.”
It’s none of my business what’s going on in their household. Arriving promptly in my bedroom, I changed my clothes with the help of a maid and prepared to take a nap.
Thud—.
Perhaps it’s because I woke up early to tend to the potted plants, talked with Lilith, and moved around here and there, but my eyelids felt unusually heavy. As soon as the maid left, I drifted into the world of unconsciousness.
Throughout, there seemed to be intermittent flickers of something, but I dismissed them as part of the dream. I was too tired to open my eyes.
Swish, swish—!
“Quiet, Poppy…”
I felt Poppy circling around where I was lying and got annoyed. The creature then made a cooing sound and cried.
“Ugh…”
However, as mentioned before, I was deeply asleep, and the rational whisper that I should figure out why Poppy was doing this didn’t resonate at all.
And then, that evening.
“It’s been hard to see Mom’s face these days.”
After a long sleep, the maids prepared me again, and I immediately met Jeff.
“Mom is the general, maybe she’s busy because there’s going to be another war?”
“Absolutely not, Darjeeling!”
I was just saying, but Jeff jumped, surprising me.
“Mom has been having a hard time because of some bad friends recently!”
Judging by his expression, the odds were fifty-fifty.
‘Didn’t Sasha hear something about this?’
The campaign of the last three years was over, and it was suspicious for things to suddenly go this way.
I inwardly clicked my tongue and looked at Jeff.
“Darjeeling, Mom and Dad did their best to ensure nothing scary like another war happens. So, our daughter has nothing to worry about.”
He would have been half-convinced if he’d just stayed quiet.
“Really, really, really, no matter what anyone says, just ignore them.”
But the more he tried to openly hide it, the more conspicuous it became.
‘Sheesh, this guy’s the same as ever when flustered.’
“Okay.”
Though he would figure it out eventually, because he once ruled the country, I couldn’t help but worry. I sighed deeply.
‘Why doesn’t he just spill everything? It would be so much easier.’
Jeff was frustrating for taking the long way around the simplest solution.
‘No matter how nice people are to him, the fact that he doesn’t have anyone to confide in at times like this is frustrating.’
In my past life, whenever I felt this way, Elaila would pop out and make a fuss…
‘I miss those days when we could openly declare war.’
Suddenly, I felt a large obstacle between the past and the present, like a disconnect had emerged.
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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