Silver Palace of the Crown Princess. Officially known as Tiaze Palace, but everyone preferred the nickname because it sparkled as if painted by a cool moonlight.
From early morning, the Crown Princess’s Palace was turned upside down. It was because of Olivia Madelleine, the fiancée of the Crown Prince, who had silver hair just like the palace.
“The princess has come without notice and plans to stay for a few days. What’s going on?”
“She came to the royal palace in a carriage without any insignia from the crack of dawn?”
“They say her face looks bruised too.”
From the chamberlain and maidservants with hidden agendas to the washerwomen responsible for trivial tasks, when they gathered, they all talked about Princess Madelleine.
The story was the same on the balcony below. Olivia slowly sipped her tea, listening to the cackling gossip.
“Her back of the hand is also swollen and she received ointment for it?”
Fortunately, she had changed her dress alone, and it was a good thing. If they had seen the handprint on her shoulder, their delightful conversation would have become even more lively.
“Hmm, cough!”
The false coughing of Lady Sophron, who was sitting beside her, grew louder. With a face mixed with surprise and anger, Olivia smiled broadly.
“Is there a mark of a bruise on my face?”
“Excuse me?”
“Isn’t it Wednesday?”
It was the day she had an appointment with Leofold. Lady Sophron seemed to realize it too and brought a hand mirror. Olivia, looking into the mirror, brushed her eye.
“It looks more like you didn’t sleep well than a bruise. Will you prepare for my makeup?”
Lady Sophron nodded her head and went outside.
Thud. The door closed, and Olivia was left alone.
She exhaled the breath she had been holding, and her fingertips, strained with effort, trembled slightly.
It was a relief.
That Madelleine was not mixed in with the spreading rumors like wildfire.
It made me laugh that I, amidst all of this, was thinking about Madelleine’s honor. Olivia weakly raised the corners of her mouth.
Nobody followed me from the Duke’s house last night. No, do my family members even know that I left?
Ironically, I was even seen off this morning. A sneer at myself lingered at the edge of my lips.
I remembered Hanaga, who had been waving her hands vigorously since the crack of dawn, saying it would be nice to see me again. Even the Duke, who was standing by the secondfloor window.
The Duke’s figure, receding from the speeding carriage, lingered in my mind. The Duke said it would be fine no matter how late I was last night, but that was not possible.
Even today, if the carriage had the Duke’s emblem, the Duke would have been wrapped in scandal with me.
No matter how confused I was, I couldn’t trouble my benefactor.
Madelleine is clear about repayment…
Unconsciously, my thoughts led again to Madelleine. The family I had wished for so much. And Madelleine, where I felt I could no longer go.
“…I’m glad this place is here.”
Olivia whispered softly, looking outside. The high sun made Tiaze Palace glitter with silver.
I knew since I was engaged at the age of nine that this palace would be my palace.
It was a place where I thought I would formally enter someday. I came in first, as if driven.
Olivia habitually stroked her hair. Seeing the silver hair caught in her fingers, she continuously thought of Madelleine, and Essella, who was said to have fainted.
Essella, who spat harsh words but was startled by her own scolding.
Essella had been frail since she was a child. At such times, I always went to hold her hand, avoiding the eyes of my father and Conrad.
I should have said it properly yesterday. Then I wouldn’t have had to worry about whether I could hold her hand again.
…although I don’t know if she would have believed me even if I said it.
The moment the words rolled in her mouth, Olivia’s eyes widened as if she had realized something.
It was not disappointment.
This was resignation.
The sadness, the pain, and the desperate desire to be with her family, which I had felt every time I was turned away by my family, were gone.
The very motive that had made me strive so hard for fourteen long years had diminished.
At the late realization, Olivia swallowed her breath. Her green eyes trembled as if filled with fear.
[This is the time separator]The brilliant sun had turned red. In the outdoor garden of the Crown Princess’s Palace, Olivia, a female, gazed at the long shadow stretching out.
Wednesday’s appointment time had long passed, but Leopold, a male, had not come.
He might still be angry about the rejection of the first dance at the banquet. Olivia recalled Leopold being deliberately rough when dancing the second dance.
His back turned sharply as soon as the dance ended.
Olivia listlessly stared at her cold tea, then at the empty cup that she had not even drunk from. Her heart thumped.
She still wanted to hope for Leopold.
She wanted to pin her hopes, to receive love as much as she loved.
She wished he would come soon.
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.”
