Just then, the silver snake quickly hid under the bed. At the same time, someone violently knocked on the door from outside. It wasn’t a knocking sound made by hands but rather with feet.
It couldn’t be Sophiana Delma, and it was also unlikely to be the Duke or Clements.
In the end, the person who came to mind was just one.
“…Devan?”
“How did you know?”
Sure enough, standing at the door were Devan and Michael. Both had dirtcovered hands, and their clothes were still stained with dirt here and there.
‘They must have been tending the garden.’
I had heard about it already. The twins had been cleaning up the garden after a massive quarrel inside the house.
‘I guess they’re done.’
Looking out the window at the garden, I saw that the fallen trees had returned to their proper places, standing neatly in the ground.
‘Although it’s not perfectly organized as before.’
Considering the mess the garden was in just an hour ago, their tidying up was impressive.
“Is this your bedroom?”
Devan crossed his arms as he entered the room. He glanced around crookedly as if looking for something.
“What are you looking for?”
“Don’t you have another room? Where’s the library? The playroom?”
“I don’t have those rooms…”
“What about a wardrobe?”
“No.”
“Surely you have a study. Show me.”
When I shook my head, Devan frowned deeply.
“What do you mean you don’t have a study? Where do you even study?”
“I just do it in this room…?”
“How can you study in a bedroom? Where do you keep your books? There’s not even a place to keep stationery!”
Devan was scrutinizing every aspect. I looked around my spacious room and thought.
‘Can’t I do everything in this room?’
Even though it was called a bedroom, my room was enormously large.
It was incomparable to the house I lived in before, and besides having an attached bathroom, there was still plenty of space in the corner to roll around and play with a pile of toys.
I hadn’t studied much until now, but there was a table, so I had no problems writing or reading.
Devan shook his head as if he had heard something unbelievable.
“Anyone hearing this would think you’re really studious.”
Michael lightly taunted him, and Devan glared at him with a sharp look.
‘Uhoh, they shouldn’t fight in my room!’
I only had one room. I had heard that Clements and the twins had more rooms, but I hadn’t needed more until now.
I was worried that these twins would fight in my room, but the first to turn away was Michael.
“We came because we felt some strange energy in your room.”
“Strange energy?”
“Yeah, we sensed some unpleasant energy.”
“Could it be that he’s talking about the silver snake’s malevolent energy?”
Sure enough, the silver snake had suddenly swelled in front of me earlier. Even if it wasn’t its full form, it had transformed to look quite like it.
“So that’s why the twins noticed.”
“What’s the point in telling you.”
Dayban shrugged his shoulders and started looking around the room again. I followed him, concealing my impatience.
“I didn’t do anything! Could the two of you have mistaken something?”
“What do you take us for!”
Dayban was immediately infuriated at my casual question. This time he headed towards my bed.
“I definitely felt it—,”
“Da, Dayban!”
“?”
“By the way, were you hurt earlier?”
“Are you worrying about me now?”
Though Dayban complained, he spread his arms wide to show me.
“Look, I am totally fine because of that…”
Just then, the door burst open. The Duke who entered first narrowed his eyes. The Clements who followed him also didn’t look pleased.
I had a good idea what they were thinking. The twins’ expressions also looked surprised.
“Again, to your younger sibling,”
“Dayban!”
I quickly grabbed Dayban’s hand as the Duke began to speak.
“I’ll accept your apology! I’m fine!”
Then I rushed to Mikael and grabbed his hand as well.
“Mikael too! Don’t worry too much, I’m not hurt at all!”
“What do you mean? Did the twins come to apologize to you?”
The Duke asked for clarification.
“Yes, they apologized and played with me!”
Then I smiled at the twins.
“Right?”
“I wasn’t scolded.”
Back in the room, Dayban stared blankly at the ceiling. It was all thanks to Diane downplaying the situation.
“Unbelievable.”
Soon he rose, pulled out toys from a box filled with them, and flung them behind him.
“Arrogant.”
Going to apologize to Diane was not what he, nor his father and brother, had intended.
Apologize, what for. He had even thought about driving her out completely, leveraging the strange energy he felt in that room as an excuse. Whether she knew it or not, she downplayed the situation.
After clearing away the pile of toys, he noticed some blocks they had played with as kids.
“The young master likes block building games the most.”
Sophia had told him that. It wasn’t that he had asked out of curiosity; it was merely something he had asked in passing.
Dayban rummaged through the box and pulled out all the block toys. Holding them, he briskly walked out of the room.
Mikael narrowed his eyes at Dayban’s actions.
Why is he taking the stuff from his room, just as he’s leaving?
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to fix some habits once and for all.”
“Whose, exactly?”
“The youngest.”
Mikael watched Dayban’s retreating grey figure without turning back, thinking.
‘If you’re thankful, just say so.’
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
