The yellow ginkgo leaves falling from the red cherry tree forest began to form a path in front of Arabell’s small feet. Falling as if scattered from the sky, the leaves diverged from the gravel path of the dense forest to create a new trail.
As a path of leaves she had never seen before unfolded, Arabell momentarily stopped and looked up at the sky.
Her round, light brown eyes widened, and she murmured almost inaudibly,
“Master…?”
Overwhelmed, Arabell started running along the yellow path. The only person who could have dropped these yellow leaves in a forest without a single ginkgo tree was her master.
Following the path without knowing where it led, Arabell ran like a squirrel, pursued by someone in a hurry.
But soon…
“Hah, hah, she’s faster than she looks.”
Millie, who had lost sight of Arabell, caught her breath and looked around. The forest, designed like a maze to keep the annex hidden, made it difficult to find someone once lost.
‘Why did she suddenly start running? She knows I’m following her.’
Millie furrowed her brows, but the scattered yellow ginkgo leaves, once Arabell’s footsteps, didn’t seem significant to her.
Arabell soon found herself in front of a tall, green vine that towered over her. Unable to go further, she tilted her head in curiosity upon discovering a yellow leaf fallen right in front of the vine.
“Master, are you there?”
She whispered softly and looked around before spotting a ginkgo leaf stuck in the middle of the vine. As her hand reached for the leaf, her eyes widened in shock.
Firstly, because ‘the vine wasn’t a real vine but an artificial forest’, and secondly, the vine rotated 180 degrees as she touched it, carrying Arabell to the other side.
Calming her racing heart, Arabell murmured,
“Master, are you here?”
Behind the vine was a dark, sunless indoor corridor. Her eyes, still adjusting to the dark, blinked rapidly as she stepped forward, feeling the uneven walls with her hands.
Then,
Fzzzt, a thin smoke rose from the ceiling, and a white light appeared, illuminating the corridor.
The sudden light made her squint, but soon the lamp and the shadow of a person holding it came into view.
“Waiting for your master, I presume? I’m terribly sorry to disappoint you.”
A cold, eerie voice pierced Arabell’s ears.
Arabell’s Candidate 11 Annex.
“Where have you been?”
“Oh, just… Needed some air.”
“How’s your injured wrist?”
“It still hurts a bit, but it’s not too bad.”
Rosa, who had suddenly disappeared and returned, evasively answered Dina’s probing gaze.
“That’s what you get for fighting with royal staff… It’s no good for us or the lady. We don’t have any allies here.”
Rosa and Dina, part of the trio of maids, had been best friends since their early days in service.
Unaware of today’s etiquette lesson, the maids had confronted the royal committee’s schedule planner, only to be met with absurd lies.
‘What are you talking about? I clearly told you yesterday. Yes, you, the redhead. I told you there would be a lesson right after breakfast!’
Struggling to contain her anger, Dina faced the sneering maid of similar age.
The story illustrates the challenges and intrigues surrounding Arabell in the palace, as she navigates her way through the complexities of court life.
‘How can you blame others for your own lack of memory? You should be angry at your own deficient brain. It’s always the same, following the lady around like a maid… Tsk.’
Trying not to cause a scene, Rosa and Dina turned away with clenched fists as the other maids began to jeer.
Now they blatantly mocked Arabell, imitating the ladies’ condescending tone.
‘And do you think you can keep up with just one lesson? It’s better to relax in the annex with snacks than to sit around cluelessly. It’s probably food she’s never even tasted before. Shouldn’t she be grateful?’
‘She shouldn’t be so stubbornly trying to follow everything. If the lady lacks sense, at least her maids should be sharp.’
‘Look, just as I thought, what’s going to happen?’
Rosa, the most hot-tempered of the trio, lunged into the group of maids. The outdoor classroom soon turned into chaos.
“Don’t act rashly. If we get hurt, it’s our loss. This healthy body is all we have.”
Back at the annex, Dina sighed at the silent Rosa.
“It seems like the dream of becoming the Empress has flown away. His Majesty seems to have completely forgotten. Being disliked by these people here does us no good. After the competition, we just need to find a way to live with our salaries.”
“About that…”
Rosa hesitated to speak to Dina, but as the bedroom door opened, she quickly shut her mouth.
“Are the lady’s dresses organized? If so, come out and help clean the rugs in the sitting room. Let’s dust off the stress.”
Following their supervisor Vera’s order, the two maids nodded and left.
“What were you going to say?”
“Nothing… Just…”
Rosa trailed off in response to Dina’s question.
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
