“I heard a strange noise.”

The child replied with a blank stare.

The attitude seemed truly without an ounce of falsehood, refusing to avert their gaze.

At that sight, Crustel Duke’s eyes widened. The child, undeterred by the suspicious glance, continued to speak.

“So I came out, and a suspicious person went to the Duke’s room. But there was nobody around, so……”

Tears welled in the child’s large eyes as if they would burst into tears at any moment.

“Didn’t you think you might be in danger? You daringly went without fear.”

“I was scared too! But the Duke was in danger too, so……”

In the end, the child sobbed, tears dropping like chicken droppings, and the person next to them, Phyllene, looked at them with pity.

“Our baby, how frightened you must have been……”

Not stopping there, they even pulled out a handkerchief from their bosom and handed it to the child.

“Sniff, thank you, Phyllene.”

“Thank you, indeed.”

Crustel Duke narrowed his eyes and examined the child.

‘Another lie.’

Crustel Duke easily detected the child’s lie. It was exactly the same as the other morning when the child had offered him a cookie.

The child was lying to hide something.

Crustel Duke rolled his eyes.

After all, if he kept probing, that wicked child would continue to dodge the questions in that manner.

Moreover, while he hadn’t minded when the child cried upon seeing him for the first time, for some reason, the child’s crying was now getting on his nerves.

Crustel Duke sent the crying child back to their room and thought.

‘There’s certainly something they’re hiding.’

A clue that seemed easily caught wouldn’t come to mind. Then, Phyllene muttered beside him.

“My Lord, we should strengthen the mansion’s security. Even if we let those people do as they please, if our baby sees such a thing again, it would be a big problem.”

“……Again?”

“Yes, didn’t they try poisoning last time? It was fortunate that our baby was in the room then.”

A memory that had been briefly overlooked surfaced.

“Ah.”

A clue was caught. Crustel Duke let out a hollow laugh.

It was a peaceful morning as usual. Having stayed up for several nights and failed to escape, I opened my eyes with difficulty.

‘It’s too rash to try to run away now.’

Due to the assassin who had invaded in the middle of the night, knights were stationed all over the mansion, and the Duke’s house’s security was further strengthened. It was unreasonable for me to leave the house without anyone knowing in this situation.

In the end, I decided not to attempt to run away for the time being.

‘I might get into bigger trouble if I get caught trying to run away for no reason.’

The Duke had already called me aside to interrogate me about it.

Fortunately, I was pretty good at lying, so I was able to get past yesterday’s events safely.

From Phyllene’s reaction next to me, it seemed that I had acted convincingly.

Unlike Phyllene, the Duke had not blinked an eye, though.

That point was a bit worrying, but since the Duke rarely showed any facial expressions, I decided to just let it be.

I rustled under the covers, thinking about what I would do today.

‘Save more emergency funds, eat snacks diligently, eat well.’

Since I had decided to stay longer, I was planning to spend my time very fruitfully.

However, separate from the plans I made in my mind, sleepiness poured down heavily.

‘This is all because I saw that scene last night.’

It wasn’t just because I had been up all night worrying.

I couldn’t close my eyes easily because I had seen the assassin come in last night. The landscape of that day kept flashing before my eyes.

“Yawn……”

“Baby, you have to get up now.”

Just then, Sophia came in. Seeing Delma follow her, I went back under the covers and grumbled.

“Are you very sleepy? Still, you shouldn’t get up too late.”

“Uhhuh.”

I reluctantly got up. As I yawned widely, Sophia chuckled beside me.

“It looks like my eyes are swollen.”

I couldn’t sleep at all, and today, my eyes were especially puffy.

I stumbled to my feet and tried to follow Sophia to the bathroom when a large silhouette suddenly appeared behind her.

“Who’s that?”

I thought it was Delma, but it wasn’t. Delma’s not that tall.

“Sophia.”

“Yes?”

“Who’s that over there?”

“It’s the knight who will be guarding the young lady for a while.”

Guard?

“His Grace was quite concerned about yesterday’s incident. He said he’d provide a guard until the entire recruitment day is over.”

The Duke worried about me? It was a highly dubious statement. Plus, a guard?

‘I’m just staying at home?’

It was a silhouette that somehow felt familiar.

The moment I yawned and raised my head, my body stiffened.

The knight who caught my eye approached and greeted me.

“Good morning. My name is Yan Beyholt, and I will be your guard starting today.”

“…”

“It’s an honor to be your guard, Miss.”

Yan smiled softly at me. Sophia, who was next to me, spoke with a smile.

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.

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