If before, Clements was inevitably the villain; now, he was still a villain but with a chance of becoming good.
That’s when we ran into the Duke while walking with Clements.
‘You bought clothes?’
‘Yes.’
The Duke briefly asked, then coldly walked past us.
It would have been okay if I only saw that, but [dash]the Duke always has that expression[dash] I witnessed something after reaching my room.
‘The Duke has called Basil again.’
Phyllin urgently stopped Basil, who was about to board the carriage.
I saw from my room as Basil tremulously followed Phyllin.
After seeing that, I pondered why Basil was called again, all through the night.
And finally reached a conclusion this morning.
‘He said he would refund all the clothes I bought.’
Clements didn’t inform me of the cost of the clothes.
Even if I, who knew nothing, roughly calculated, the cost of one outfit could easily surpass one or two mansions.
‘The expenditure was too much.’
Clements did seem especially cheerful that day. Apparently, he has a habit of overspending when happy.
I felt guilty for not having stopped him when I was beside him.
‘But he won’t scold me much, right?’
Clements is the beloved son of the Duke, and I merely watched Clements make the purchase.
And also, the Duke must have refunded everything by calling Basil yesterday, so if all the expenditures are undone, it shouldn’t be a big problem.
‘They’ll probably retrieve those clothes today.’
I didn’t want to risk damaging clothes that were to be returned.
“Young master, are you in there?”
‘As expected!’
Speak of the devil, soon after, Phyllin came looking for my room.
I abruptly got up from the bed.
“Ah, you’re not sleeping!”
“No, I didn’t sleep!”
Hearing that, Delma exclaimed as if aggrieved. I rushed to the door and opened it.
“Ah, young master?”
“I knew you’d come!”
I was pleased to find that my suspicions were correct, but Phyllis seemed to interpret it differently.
“Ah, Your Grace, welcoming me like this…”
Phyllis was beaming. It was a complete misunderstanding, but I decided to let it be.
I saw several servants standing in line behind Phyllis.
‘Is it necessary to have so many people to retrieve one set of clothes?’
It was odd, but with a little thought, it was not entirely incomprehensible.
‘The price is astronomical.’
Pink diamonds; the other dresses would be expensive, but this dress would be the most expensive.
“Your Grace…”
“Ah, I haven’t tried it on. It’s a completely new dress.”
I spoke confidently. The thought of how I would feel if I had worn the dress earlier gave me chills.
But I had never worn that dress. I knew it would be taken back!
‘Thank goodness.’
“What dress? What are you talking about?”
“Yesterday Clements bought me a dress. I just came back, and I haven’t worn it. I didn’t even touch it or go near it.”
Phyllis tilted her head and then spoke as if she had realized something.
“Oh, you’re talking about the dress from Basil’s shop. Well, you don’t have to try it on. You can wear it whenever you wish.”
Phyllis casually signaled, and the servants behind her came into the room in line.
Each of them was carrying a box covered in black velvet.
I couldn’t help but feel tense at the sight. Each box looked luxurious.
Following Phyllis’ instruction, the servants lined up and placed the boxes on the table.
‘Necklaces, rings, bracelets… are these all accessories?’
A belated feeling of unease washed over me. These all looked familiar.
“What is all this?”
Sophia asked the question I wanted to but was too dumbfounded to form.
“These are your accessories, Your Grace. The Duke ordered them yesterday. The custommade ones will arrive in ten days.”
My jaw dropped even further at Phyllis’ response. Why? Why would the Duke?
I was about to ask for a reason when everyone else seemed to think differently.
“Oh, so the Duke wanted to gift these to Her Grace!”
“So these are accessories from Basil’s shop?”
“Yes, that’s correct. He ordered everything when he was there yesterday.”
Phyllis answered as if it was a given. I quickly raised my hands to stop her.
“Wait, wait! Why did he buy so many?”
“The Madam said you found all of them beautiful, so the Duke ordered all of them.”
I stared at Phyllis blankly. Then it hit me.
‘So the reason they called Basil yesterday wasn’t for a refund?’
Receiving such an astronomical gift was more confusing than joyous.
Moreover, there was another question.
‘When did I say everything was beautiful?’
Could it be that Basil was trying to scam us?
Then, a memory briefly crossed my mind.
‘All of this! It’s all so pretty! I had a hard time choosing because they’re all so pretty!’
‘Could it be because of that?’
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.
Link to read
