‘…What if someone isn’t a villain?’
Eventually, the escort was changed to a knight with a face I had never seen before.
On the first day, unlike when Yan greeted me, he only glanced at me and silently followed behind me.
I was quick to notice. I knew right away that he was reluctantly doing something he disliked.
Perhaps he was dissatisfied with being assigned to escort a young girl like me, I thought.
‘Yan wasn’t like that.’
Suddenly, a pointless thought crossed my mind. I quickly shook my head.
‘No, it doesn’t matter to me. Let’s not care what others think.’
Playing alone in the garden with my toys, I noticed the sun setting and slowly got up from my spot.
‘I don’t want to run into the Duke.’
Two days had passed since the escort was changed. During that time, I diligently avoided the Duke.
There were two reasons.
One was because I had inadvertently yelled at the Duke while reprimanding Yan.
‘Yelling at the Duke!’
At first, I avoided him out of fear of the backlash.
But seeing the escort change the very next day, anger came before fear.
‘He does whatever he pleases!’
Assigning escorts as he pleases, changing them as he pleases.
‘Villain Duke, I can’t even stand the sight of him.’
That was the second reason for avoiding the Duke.
‘I was really fine.’
It was the Count who had arbitrarily touched my hair, not Yan’s fault.
Besides, the Duke usually had no interest in me.
I didn’t know why the Duke had acted so sensitively that day. I guessed that he needed something to vent his anger on.
‘Or maybe he’s on bad terms with the Count.’
It was Count Lifé, wasn’t it?
I made a mental note to remember that name. I’ll have to look out for him on the total recruitment day.
I deliberately walked around the garden and returned to the entrance.
I ascended the stairs with a light step, relieved that I had managed to avoid the Duke once again.
Fortunately, the Duke’s office was far from my room.
As long as I avoided him diligently, there was almost no chance of running into him inside the house.
However, when I returned to my room, I froze in place.
“You’ve finally arrived.”
The Duke lifted his head as if he had been waiting.
[This is a time separator.]A heavy silence followed.
I glanced up and shivered as I met his cold gaze.
If one could kill with a glance, I felt like I would have been choked on the spot.
‘Why is he looking for me?’
I never thought that the Duke would come to my room and wait for me.
‘Delma will bring cookies soon.’
Of all times, now was the time Delma was supposed to bring snacks.
But with the Duke in my room, she clearly wouldn’t be able to serve them right away.
I was annoyed at not being able to eat cookies, but on the other hand, I was also scared.
‘He didn’t come because I yelled at him that day, did he?’
From where I was sitting, I measured the distance to the window.
I considered jumping out if necessary.
It was a bit high, but better than being scolded by the Duke.
With that thought, I glanced at the window, and the Duke suddenly asked,
“What are you looking at like that?”
“Nothing…”
“You’re not thinking of running away again, are you?”
“…”
I was seen through in an instant. Embarrassed, I looked down at the floor in silence.
A heavy silence hung in the air again. Just then, Phyllin came into the room with some documents.
There probably had never been a time when I was so glad to see him.
“Phyllin!”
“Little miss, am I that welcome?”
His face brightened as I greeted him. As Phyllin approached me with a smile,
“The documents.”
The Duke extended one hand to him. His expression was even more serious than before.
“Yes, I have brought them.”
Sensing that something was amiss, the smile disappeared from Phyllin’s face as well.
‘Why is he so serious?’
I rolled my eyes this way and that, too. My toes were curled up with tension.
“You’ve been here for a month now.”
The Duke silently handed me the document.
‘Diane Meji Crustel?’
I read a name written in cursive.
I looked back and forth between the document and the Duke. It didn’t seem to me that the document had nothing to do with me, since he showed it to me.
That means…
“You must have heard from Sophia. I plan to introduce you to the nobles in three days. After that day, you will be officially recognized as a member of the Duke’s family.”
The day to introduce me to the nobles is in three days, and on that day, I will stand before the nobles and officially announce that I am the Duke’s real daughter.
The Duke pointed to the word “Diane” on the document in front of me.
“This is your name.”
Then Filren, who was next to me, spoke to the Duke as if whispering.
“My Lord. Normally, children at this age can’t read.”
“I know, now step back.”
“Yes.”
‘I can read.’
It wasn’t something I learned from Rebecca.
I had just remembered my previous life and taught myself to read to survive on my own.
I didn’t bother telling the Duke. Silently waiting, the Duke spoke to me clearly.
“Diane, this will be your name from now on.”
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.”
