Until then, Eric had been someone who merely asked Eugenie how she was doing, answered her questions briefly, and would have a cup of coffee before leaving if asked whether he needed anything.
However, upon hearing about his engagement, he spoke pleasantly about Alicia, unlike other times. Eugenie found this change in Eric both surprising and pleasant.
“So how did you get all the way here?”
“Ah—. Well.”
Unsure of how to respond, Alicia felt flustered. She couldn’t be honest, and no suitable excuse came to mind.
“So the truth is—”
“Were you curious about whom I was helping?”
“…Yes. Eric didn’t tell me.”
Alicia awkwardly responded, not fully understanding why Eric hadn’t told her.
“I see. That’s just like him.”
“But if he didn’t tell me, I thought there might be a reason for it.”
“My, you’re so considerate.”
“Not really.”
Alicia, who had come here since early morning suspecting that Eric might actually be hiding another woman, stammered in embarrassment.
However, Eugenie smiled as if she found Alicia’s attitude praiseworthy.
Eugenie had initially thought Alicia seemed cold at a glance, but as Eric had said, she appeared to be a warm person.
“My father served in the same knightly order as Count Russel. When the Count first joined, my father was assigned under him. The Count said he followed him well because he was skilled.”
“Ah, I see.”
Compared to nobles who usually become knights after graduating from a military academy, commoners join based on skill, so Eric, who was a novice knight at that time, would have been less skilled.
“So even after he died, the Count continued to help me. It’s really a thankful thing. Usually, people don’t go that far for a deceased subordinate, do they?”
“Indeed, that sounds like him.”
“You knew, didn’t you? The Count is very different from the rumors, isn’t he?”
“Yes.”
Alicia and Eugenie looked at each other and smiled.
(This is a time separator.)
“······.”
After staring at him for about 30 minutes, Eric finally looked up at Allen with an irritated expression.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you doing that?”
“Nothing.”
“What the hell does this kid want?”
Eric’s irritation surged but he suppressed it and asked quietly.
“I asked you, what is it?”
“Nothing. Just that our captain is, how should I put it—yes.”
“What?”
Confused, Eric scrunched up his face.
“How am I supposed to know when you leave out the beginning and the end?”
“Obviously, you wouldn’t. If you knew, you wouldn’t be acting so nonchalant.”
Annoyed, Allen looked at Eric, who finally put down the pen he was holding.
“Spit it out.”
“Nothing.”
“……Salary cut for 3 months.”
“What?”
“Three months in the guardhouse.”
“For what?”
“For insubordination and contempt of authority.”
“You’re really not human!”
“What now?”
“How, how could you do that? Hoo hoo hoo!”
Stunned by Allen’s howling, Eric was perplexed, and the subordinates around looked on with bewildered expressions.
“What’s going on? Have you lost your mind?”
“Yes, I’ve lost it. How could my respected senior be such a— this con artist!! No, a con artist!! Hoo hoo hoo.”
Whether he was really crying or not, Allen lowered his head and covered his eyes with his arms.
Eric was bewildered and just blinked at Allen.
“How could you do this! You’re engaged but you have a hidden woman and son? What about my sisterinlaw?”
“What?”
Caught off guard by Allen’s unexpected, yet unexplainable words, Eric could not respond.
However, hearing Allen’s words, the subordinates began to panic.
“A hidden woman for the captain? A hidden son?”
“Then what about the fiancée?”
Eric suddenly rose from his desk and forcefully grabbed Allen by the collar, jolted to awareness by the murmurs of his subordinates.
“Have you lost your mind? Where did you hear such baseless rumors?”
“I saw it, sir!”
“Saw what? What did you see?”
“A little kid calling the captain ‘Dad,’ going into the house with a woman, all loveydovey!”
“What? The captain?”
“Wait, he has a grown kid?”
“So, all the cringeinducing rumors up until now were what?”
“Wow, so it’s a fraudulent engagement? Never thought the captain would do that.”
“So, a divorce then?”
“Would you marry a person like that?”
“I said no! Everyone shut up! That’s an order!”
Visibly flustered, Eric yelled at his subordinates while still gripping Allen’s collar.
“Really, this is too much. Poor sisterinlaw. Sob, sob.”
At that moment, Eric had no idea how angry Alicia was.
Remembering Alicia, who was so angry she could snap even a thick branch, in reality a small shrub branch, with one hand, Allen choked back tears.
‘At this rate, will the captain be planning to snap his own legs too? Surely, right? It’s tough to break both by oneself, I should help with the other.’
Feeling pleased with himself, Allen spoke up.
“I was so shocked seeing that, I could barely walk straight. Sniff sniff. What about our sisterinlaw?”
“Listen to me! I said it’s not true! It’s Mark’s wife and his son!”
“……Really?”
Allen blinked.
“Who? Mark?”
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.
Link to read
