It only took an instant to arrive at the room where Arianna was staying.
I wasn’t sure whether it was because the physical distance was really short, or because the trembling that had kept me from opening my mouth since we held hands made it seem that way.
One thing was clear: just as the relationship between us had changed from the beginning, so had our feelings about this familiar contact. What I had thought was unnecessary tension before, now felt like a clear flutter.
I glanced up at him beside me, absently stroking our interlocked fingers.
Unlike at first, Leoprick looked like he was thoroughly enjoying this situation.
Gone was the man who had been careful and considerate of my feelings at first.
I averted my gaze from him and gently squeezed his hand in mine.
Holding hands was not unusual.
It was natural for a married couple to hold hands at official events.
But now, in this wide corridor, it was just the two of us.
It wasn’t a place where it was expected, and there were no curious eyes observing us.
Yet we were still holding hands.
As if we didn’t want to let go, our fingers were interlocked.
Suddenly, I felt like I could sense an unusual warmth from our joined hands.
Even after arriving at Arianna’s door, we who had barely been able to say a word to each other couldn’t let go of each other’s hands for a while.
Like people experiencing romance for the first time, no, like us on that day when we were young.
Unable to speak up, we just looked at each other carefully, then met each other’s eyes and laughed.
“We seem really silly, don’t we?”
“Anyone in a similar situation would probably be the same.”
“I think that would be the case for me too.”
We exchanged silly words and laughed again, “Haha.”
“Shall we go in now? The young lady must be waiting.” “Yes. We should hurry and see her, then go to bed too, my wife.”
Leoprick brushed my hair aside with a subtle smile.
As he did so, he lightly grazed my earlobe as if caressing it.
Even though I knew the words he whispered while looking into my eyes didn’t mean that, it felt like he was flirting with me just like any other couple.
With that awkward movement, I lightly knocked on the door.
Then I heard a voice from inside telling us to come in.
“Pardon the intrusion.”
“We are honored to meet the Empire’s little sun and little moon.”
“Let’s skip the formalities. I have too much to say to receive greetings as well.”
When we carefully opened the door and entered, we saw Arianna sitting in a chair.
She was about to stand up from her seat to pay her respects as soon as she saw us, but sat back down at Leoprick’s words.
It was probably the smallest room she had ever stayed in in her life.
Leoprick and I went in, closing the door behind us, and sat in the seats she offered.
“It’s late, so I couldn’t prepare any tea. The palace staff need to rest too.”
Arianna smiled faintly, saying that just helping her would double their workload, and she didn’t want to add any other burdens.
I nodded at her.
“I understand, young lady. I’m grateful that you even agreed to meet like this.”
“It’s only natural, Your Highness. Honestly, it was you who reached out first.”
Arianna waved her hand, saying it was just a matter of repaying a favor and not to worry about it.
However, when I thought about what humiliation she had endured to meet me, I couldn’t simply smile at her.
“Still. You went through a lot, young lady.”
In a way, all of this happened because she tried to meet me.
Because she, the daughter of the Duke of Valois, dared to meet me, the Crown Princess who stood on the opposite side of them.
Because the place her hurried steps were headed when she left the manor, unable to withstand the threats, was not to others on her side, but to the Crown Princess.
I wished I had noticed sooner.
Of course, I couldn’t say this was entirely my fault, nor could I say it was entirely her fault.
It was just a needless sense of guilt.
Even though I knew, the feeling kept popping up and wouldn’t settle down easily. I was averting my gaze from her then.
“It’s not Your Highness’s fault. Your Highness didn’t instigate the kidnapping either.”
As if reading my mind, Arianna spoke first.
“It’s hard to believe the person who kidnapped me is related to Your Highness. You’ve conducted yourself so well all this time.”
“Conducted myself well, so the person has become unrelated to me?”
Arianna nodded at my words.
If it was someone who had become distant because I conducted myself well, there was only one person.
Lloyd Alois.
Leoprick and I had half expected it, but we were still surprised by the startling identity and our eyes widened.
“Are you certain it was him?”
“Of course. I even saw him throw his pocket watch in plain sight as he dragged me away.”
Arianna said he always carried that pocket watch, she knew what it looked like, and with just that, she could prove the kidnapper was Lloyd, not that knight.
If there was just one more witness who could prove it was Lloyd’s and knew what it looked like.
“They say legally, the more witnesses the better. Since evidence left at the scene often points to the culprit.”
“You’ve looked into it a lot, young lady.”
“Of course. Information is essential if I want to make him taste hell.”
Seeing Arianna’s determined expression, she seemed to have made up her mind.
Saying that as long as there was evidence, she could lock him up anytime.
She clenched her fist and said it would work out.
So there just needed to be one more witness.
But ever since I heard the story about that watch, I had a slightly uneasy feeling.
No, where would she get the witness from, and where did the confidence come from that the witness would testify?
I looked at her, who seemed somewhat naive, and forced a smile.
“But young lady. There isn’t a witness yet, is there?”
There was no one who didn’t know the news that she had been kidnapped, but people actually thought the kidnapper was someone other than Lloyd.
In that situation, even if someone came forward saying they knew the real culprit, would people believe it?
Unless it was an extremely clear situation.
When I asked, Arianna sighed with a dark expression.
“That’s the problem. At that time, there was really no one else except the viscount, the coachman, and the man the viscount called his aide. I can’t expect witnesses from such people.”
It was then, when she had said that much.
“Wait. Are you certain the aide was there at that moment?”
Leoprick, who had been silent the whole time to let me and her talk, spoke up.
As if he had grasped some clue.
And Arianna must have noticed it too, as she blinked in surprise.
“Uh…, yes. He was there. That aide the viscount brought in not long ago, who came from another place.”
When she answered like that, Leoprick thought for a moment and then nodded.
“Perhaps we may be able to find a witness.”
He said.
[This is the timeline separator]Lloyd was in a very bad mood again today.
It was because that insolent Count Philipa had stirred him up again today.
Not only did he find fault with the most nonsensical things, he suddenly demanded documents that didn’t exist before.
On top of that, he went further and told him to present a budget plan that hadn’t even been finalized yet.
“A budget plan. What budget plan can there be for a project that only has its framework set up?”
He dismissed it as nonsense, but this tactless and rigid Philipa just shrugged his shoulders as if it didn’t matter at all.
“It’s only natural to prepare a budget plan when planning a project. Nothing can be done without money, after all.”
Lloyd wanted to kill him for the way he glared at him as if to say stop making excuses and hand it over quickly.
It’s not like a budget plan can be whipped up overnight, and he’s demanding it so recklessly like this.
He had forgotten that a budget plan was a necessary document to include when submitting a project plan, and only thought about Count Philipa’s attitude.
How he could make that arrogant and brazen behavior kneel under his feet.
On top of that, Arianna Valois had vanished into thin air, which was getting on his nerves.
He frowned, recalling her whom he had released not long ago.
‘Didn’t you say you had something you wanted to achieve? Then you should behave obediently and quietly.’
He had heard that she had made contact with Amelia.
When he heard that she had even made an appointment to meet that woman, he felt his anger gradually rising.
She had some skill, so he had kept her by his side all this time, but to think she would dare to betray him.
He was silently fuming after hearing the story from the viscount planted in the Valois family.
Then he got a call from the Duke of Valois.
Saying that Arianna had secretly left the house at dawn.
He didn’t know why she did it, but anyway, it was a good thing she had left the house, and he went out with his aide and coachman who were sleeping.
Fortunately, they caught her on the road leading to the Imperial Palace, and kept her for a few days before releasing her.
They said she didn’t struggle much or scheme while being confined, but anyway, those with the seed of betrayal should be cut off early.
So he didn’t bother to bring Arianna back or try to persuade her.
He just gave her appropriate threats and scared her, making her realize how foolish it was to stick with Amelia, or rather Leoprick.
After that, he let her go.
Of course, he couldn’t just release her, so he spread some appropriate rumors.
If she had any shame, she probably wouldn’t be able to set foot in high society again.
Her father, the Duke of Valois, also had something in mind, so she would probably be confined to the house all the time if she returned.
Then she would eventually be married off to some rich old man or someone who could bring them some political gain.
A marriage alliance.
What a wonderful phrase.
The Duke of Valois was disappointed that she couldn’t become Lloyd’s empress as initially promised, but he gave in to Lloyd’s insistence that they couldn’t leave a traitor like this.
After all, there was only one person who would be his empress, Amelia Vermerian.
The one who would become the mother of the empire needed to have that level of intelligence and brilliance.
Lloyd, who had intended to deal with Arianna as agreed with her from the beginning, rather thought it turned out well.
Because he didn’t have to explain in detail to the Duke of Valois why he wasn’t marrying Arianna.
Yeah. Things were good up to that point.
The problem was that Arianna Valois was practically his staff officer.
His aide was a bit too simple-minded to act as a staff officer, and while he wasn’t brainless either, he lacked experience.
He just didn’t know the ins and outs of high society well enough to pay attention to the little details.
When she betrayed him, he was furious, but now that she was gone, he felt regretful.
He had considered bringing Arianna back several times.
But his aide hinted that he had a pretty good card, which put him in a much better mood as he faced the morning.
However, not long after the morning began, Count Philipa stirred him up again.
Why did this keep happening?
His future should be smooth sailing, knowing all the past.
Was this really all because Amelia was gone?
“No. It’s all that bastard Leoprick’s fault.”
He muttered quietly, gritting his teeth.
The sound of his gnashing teeth rang out particularly loudly in the empty office.
Even the sound of the name Leoprick, the one he hated most.
It was clear that Leoprick had Amelia in his grasp.
Otherwise, there was no way everything could get so tangled up like this.
It was then, as he was nurturing his hatred toward Leoprick.
“Um, Viscount. Would it be alright if I went out for a bit today?”
His aide, who had become accustomed to living discreetly, quietly raised his hand, though Lloyd didn’t know when he had come in.
Male lead first thought she played hard to get, only to realize she
really disliked him
Short intro:
What she can’t stand the most is the streets full of effeminate men, especially that so-called top beauty whom she avoids at all costs.
Shen Yaoxing looks at Jiang Mingyue, who keeps approaching her with coy shyness.
Shen Yaoxing: Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up!
She fears nothing in heaven or earth, except for him getting close to her.
*
At first he thought she was just using the trick of feigning indifference to attract his attention. Later, he learned that she truly despised him.
This dealt a heavy blow to Jiang Mingyue, and he vowed to make her, like everyone else, fall at his feet in worship!
***
Synopsis:
Before transmigrating, Shen Yaoxing only wanted to find a reliable man to spend her life with. Who knew that after transmigrating, she would become a reliable woman herself…
A forced misandrist, highly skilled, and reliable female lead
vs.
An initially aloof and arrogant, later morbid, obsessed male lead
_____
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