“W-What’s all this?”
Alicia looked bewildered at the piles of lily of the valley flowers constantly arriving at Lancaster Manor.
The butler of Russell Estate stood proudly and spoke as if boasting.
“The Count sent them for the young lady. He said they were your favorite flowers.”
“Ah, I did mention that once.”
Alicia looked at the piles of flowers again.
“It’s too much.”
“He said to send a lot. Actually, the Count wanted to come himself, but he’s still very busy.”
Alicia stared blankly at the butler smiling and making excuses for Eric, then turned her head again.
‘What am I supposed to do with all this? Just how much is this? How much did he spend? Is there really no middle ground? No, more importantly, why send them so suddenly? It’s not my birthday or any special day.’
Wondering if she had missed something, Alicia cautiously asked the butler.
“Do you know why he sent them?”
“Well, you’ll have to ask him directly.”
Seeing the butler answer with a grin, Alicia gave up asking further, figuring she wouldn’t get an answer anyway.
[This is the timeline separator]Laila and Ryan, who knew nothing, and the Countess Lancaster who loved flowers, were delighted to see the flowers filling the house, but Edward and Emma found the vases placed everywhere annoying.
After things were somewhat organized, Alicia placed the last vase on her desk and sat in the chair.
Just then, Edward knocked and entered the room.
“Elder sister.”
“Yes?”
“The nanny says these are really expensive flowers.”
“Is that so?”
“Are you going to sell them?”
“Huh?”
“She says they must have bought up everything in the capital? Since these flowers wilt easily, if we sell them tomorrow we could get a good price?”
“Ah-”
It wasn’t that she wasn’t tempted. In the past, she might have agreed right away.
But.
Alicia looked at the lily of the valley on her desk for a moment.
“No, we’ll keep them all as they are.”
“Huh?”
Surprised by Alicia’s answer, Edward asked again.
“Why?”
“Just because.”
Edward looked suspiciously at Alicia, who was staring at the vase of lily of the valley.
‘What’s wrong with elder sister? Given her behavior so far, I thought she’d definitely turn them into cash. Then is it that after all?’
Edward had heard rumors about Eric and Alicia from his friends.
When he said it was unimaginable given how his sister had been so far, the girls in his class scolded him, saying he knew nothing about the adult world.
“Because brother-in-law gave them?”
“Have you finished your homework?”
“I did.”
“Then go to bed.”
“But I haven’t had dinner yet?”
“Then do some review at least.”
“Hmm. So it is that after all.”
Edward grinned.
“You’re in love, aren’t you? It’s definitely different from when you received gifts from other men.”
“Edward.”
“Yes, yes. Don’t mind me? I’m not that interested anyway. Besides, seeing you smirking while looking at those is unpleas- Eek!”
Edward barely dodged the pencil case Alicia threw at whatever she could grab. The pencil case smashed against the door.
“Wow, it’s smashed. Elder sister, if it wasn’t me, would anyone else have dodged that? Brother-in-law should have seen you like this.”
“Get out.”
“I’d leave even if you told me to stay? Keep smirking like that.”
Whoosh-!
Alicia threw whatever she could grab again.
“Ah! I’m telling you, it’d be a big deal if I actually got hit?”
“That’s why I threw it to miss.”
“Wow, brother-in-law really should have seen thi-, I’m going, I’m going.”
As Alicia picked up a paperweight this time, Edward quickly ran out of the room.
She muttered as she put down the paperweight she had grabbed.
‘Now that he’s grown a bit, he’s trying to tease his elder sister.’
Alicia picked up and tidied the things she had thrown, then sat back down at her desk.
She stared at the vase for a while, then laid her face on the desk.
She used to think flowers were just pretty trash that would wither anyway, but it seems there are flowers that might not be like that.
“They’re pretty.”
A smile unconsciously appeared on Alicia’s face.
[This is the timeline separator]“Ah, seriously.”
Edward, who had run out of the room avoiding Alicia, grumbled as he walked away and ran into Emma.
Emma, who was moving vases as Alicia had said with an annoyed expression, asked Edward curtly.
“Elder brother. What did elder sister say? Are we selling them tomorrow?”
“She said we’re not selling.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Right, you think it’s strange too? Even though there’s so many, she said we’re not selling. Even though they’re expensive flowers and we could get a good price, she said we’re not selling.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, I don’t understand either. How can a person change like that just because of brother-in-law?”
“How come you’re calling him brother-in-law so easily?”
“Why shouldn’t I? He gives good pocket money.”
To think he’d give up elder sister just for pocket money, as expected, little brothers are useless.
Emma looked at Edward with a look of disdain, and he frowned.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Nothing. You’re so simple-minded, it must be nice.”
“What’s that supposed to mean.”
Emma shook her head and looked at Alicia’s closed door with her arms crossed.
‘Is she really in love?’
It was unexpected, considering Alicia’s reactions to men until now.
Edward would often deliver things men asked him to give to Alicia without filtering, but Emma was different.
‘Brother-in-law must be rich no matter what. Elder sister shouldn’t have to lift a finger. He should be such an incredible rich man that she can sit elegantly and gracefully, reading all the books she likes.’
Until now, she thought it was pitiful that her sister worked as the head of this household instead of their father.
Alicia didn’t go to balls like others, didn’t have hobbies because they cost money, and only worked without any interest in men, let alone romance.
So she probably didn’t know much about men, and Emma was always worried she might pick up some trash from somewhere.
Then Alicia suddenly announced her engagement without warning.
And with a man she had only met twice.
‘How could she know what kind of person he is? Even if he reformed after meeting elder sister, he’s still the subject of such rumors.’
Emma frowned as she started to carefully consider Eric.
‘Looks? Well, he was handsome. Tall too. I’ll admit that. Ability? He’s the Knight Commander, so he must be capable? I saw it in the newspaper too, so it’s not a scam. I’ll admit that too. Family? They say he’s the heir to a ducal family and he has a count title himself, so I’ll admit that. Wealth? Hmm. I have a lot to say about this part.’
Emma recalled a conversation she had with Alicia before.
“Elder sister, what’s this? What’s with this ring?”
“Why? Is it strange?”
“No, is this the Dark Ages from 500 years ago? When people were grateful to have any gold jewelry, whether it was a gold ring or whatever, and got married with purification water?”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
“A gold ring, you say? A gold ring without even a speck of gemstone, what nonsense is this?”
“Ah, that. I chose it myself. It’s convenient to wear, isn’t it?”
“You chose it yourself? This? Are you crazy?”
“I thought it would be convenient for Eric too.”
‘Aren’t they from a ducal family? Doesn’t he have a count title? Is it just a good family with no money? Is that it?’
Emma was really at a loss for words seeing Alicia’s face, which seemed completely unaware of what was wrong.
‘My subtly naive and book-smart elder sister. That’s why I can’t help but worry.’
Emma looked at the lily of the valley placed here and there, standing with one leg crossed.
‘Well, seeing how he sent this many expensive lily of the valley flowers, he probably has a lot of money? Tsk. If he has money to spend on this, he could have at least put some gems on the ring.’
After going through each point about Eric like that, Emma suddenly had a thought.
‘…Why would someone like that want to marry elder sister? Does he have some flaw he can’t talk about? Or is there another reason?’
[This is the timeline separator]“The young lady has arrived.”
“On a weekend?”
Eric, who was leisurely reading a book in the study, looked up at the butler who was now familiarly smiling.
“I sent lily of the valley to Lancaster Estate yesterday.”
“Ah.”
“How nice it would have been if you had gone yourself. Weren’t you curious? How much the young lady would have liked them?”
“I had to work overtime yesterday too, so it couldn’t be helped.”
“Then you should have gone quickly this morning. You’re usually fast, but you’re so slow at times like this.”
“……”
“Besides, didn’t you say you’d be busy again from next week?”
While Eric was ignoring the butler’s nagging, thinking it was starting again, fortunately there was a knock.
“Come in.”
Soon Alicia opened the door and entered.
The butler, who had wanted to quickly inform Eric and go fetch Alicia, hurriedly made an excuse out of embarrassment.
“Young lady. I was about to go down with the Count.”
“It’s fine, I’m not a guest.”
“That’s right, of course you’re not a guest, young lady.”
The butler grinned again.
Just before he had been grumbling and nagging so much, but now what was he so happy about? Eric looked at the butler again, closing the book he had been reading, finding it absurd.
And now this was the expression he saw most often, so he was too tired to even wonder or say anything about it.
Alicia approached the desk where Eric was sitting.
“What were you doing?”
“This.”
Eric showed Alicia the book he had been reading.
“Did you buy this?”
“I thought it might be interesting. I found it okay, do you not like it?”
“No, it’s interesting. So far at least.”
“I’m glad.”
Then Alicia fidgeted with her hands and smiled awkwardly.
She had just dropped by to say thank you, but she felt nervous for no reason.
[This is the timeline separator]Actually, Alicia had many worries before coming to Russell Estate.
She came to say thank you out of gratitude for receiving so many flowers, which was excessive, but she wondered if it was okay to just say it verbally.
Of course, Eric probably didn’t send them expecting anything in return.
But even if she wanted to, she had no idea what kind of return gift to give this man or how to do it.
“What’s going on? I was surprised when you suddenly asked to meet.”
Jena sat down in front of Alicia with a puzzled face.
“I need advice.”
“Advice?”
“Well.”
Alicia hesitated before opening her mouth.
“What would be a good gift for a man?”
“Well. Something he likes usually?”
“Hmm.”
As Alicia closed her mouth with a troubled face, Jena asked.
“Why? Is it the Count’s birthday?”
“No, that’s not it. I need to give a return gift, but I don’t know how.”
“Return gift? What kind of return gift?”
“He suddenly sent flowers. A lot of them. Enough to fill the house.”
“What, did you call me to brag?”
“No-. I really need advice. I’ve never done this before.”
When Alicia spoke as if she was really troubled, Jena grinned.
“Okay. I’m joking, joking. Let’s think. What does the Count usually like?”
“Books?”
“That’s not quite it, dear.”
“I thought so too. Then maybe a sword or something?”
“A sword? Not bad, but someone at the level of Knight Commander probably doesn’t use standard issue swords and has custom ones?”
“Hmm. Then how about being a training partner? Like sparring?”
“Are you joking too?”
Jena waved her hand at Alicia’s serious answer, then suddenly grinned.
“Ah, by sparring, you mean hand-to-hand combat, right? There are other kinds of hand-to-hand combat too.”
“Other kinds?”
When Alicia asked with wide eyes, Jena grinned.
“I’m kidding. You first.”
__________
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Synopsis:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
He even had his eyes on another woman.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
Su Mu expressed her disdain.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
She also wanted to embrace Xie Yi, who had silently stayed by her side in her previous life and committed suicide by taking poison after her death.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
—–
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.