I explained about the tea party invitation and the torn clothes in the shrine.
It seemed that Nikolai also knew about the self-flagellation event.
“Why didn’t you mention the fact that I’m not a real empress, but a Death Flower isolate?”
Suddenly, he asked.
A startled expression appeared. I hit the nail on the head. Exactly.
The round turquoise eyes swayed like a sailboat meeting a storm.
“Indeed, the answer is on-site. Did you understand when you went there?”
“Of course! You’re clever.”
“I thought Her Majesty was an irredeemable vagrant until now. I suffered for so long because of that… You should have told me sooner.”
Nikolai also averted his gaze as if admitting his mistake.
“…Sorry. I missed the moment to speak several times.”
His appearance, looking at the owner after making a mistake, was like a large dog, and laughter escaped involuntarily.
For now, I have to endure.
“Earlier, that may have been the case, but there was no reason to hide it anymore, right? You already knew about the Death Flowers and the wolves.”
“Since I ascended, Death Flowers began to be discovered. Fortunately, it wasn’t in a fully developed state, but I couldn’t be complacent. Someone with the seeds of the plague had appeared.”
“Her Majesty said that isolating them in places under her surveillance prevents an outbreak, right?”
Nikolai nodded heavily.
“Swift tracking and isolation are essential. For some unknown reason, only young women have the seeds.”
“Strange rumors will spread.”
“We had to use the rumors to our advantage. If it became known that signs of Death Flowers were appearing, everyone would panic.”
“It wasn’t a life as the Empress but a life in prison.”
Thinking of the places where they stayed, I narrowed my eyes.
Nikolai let out a deep sigh.
“Taking care of the family and managing the administration, but the discomfort is immeasurable. However, there was no other way except for isolation.”
“Can Death Flowers be cured or prevented?”
“…That’s right.”
Listening to the story made it more confusing.
There was no reason for Nikolai to continue hiding the fact that he was a fake womanizer.
“It seems there was a different real reason?”
As if wanting to say something, Nikolai’s lips, which had been fidgeting, tightly closed.
There were traces of deep concern in his eyes.
If it’s not regrettable, it might be a lie, but I couldn’t reveal everything either.
‘When will I be able to confess about the possession or the demon? Will that day ever come…’
While sorting out the bitter feelings, I took out two new miracles that didn’t leave my body.
“The white light that found the second miracle said this.”
I conveyed the voice I heard at the sixteenth shrine to Nikolai.
“If you don’t want to go back to nothingness, use three miracles to uproot the demonic horse.”
What if I blame him for hiding it? Although I looked at him with concern, Nikolai was merely genuinely surprised.
“Did you receive such a mission…!”
“Whether you like it or not, I also got the same fate as Her Majesty.”
“…Indeed, we shared the same fate.”
Nikolai’s face was unexpectedly tinged with red like a child who received an unexpected gift.
“Fate, huh?”
“I sensed it when I first met you. That I shouldn’t let go of this woman. You will become my only hope.”
It was the words spoken at the sixteenth shrine.
At that time, Nikolai’s words weighed heavily on me.
Because I felt that it wasn’t me but my usefulness that he desired.
“How cunning people are. Even though it’s the same words, once felt like hell, and this time, it feels like being in heaven.”
As if reading my mind, Nikolai placed his large hand on my shoulder.
“It’s unfortunate that you have to bear such a heavy responsibility, but if we gather our strength, we can overcome anything. Aren’t you the Saint?”
“I thought you didn’t like being called the Saint?”
“It’s not that I disliked it. I just didn’t want to see men, including Arkanso, fawning over you.”
Even thinking back, Nikolai answered with a tone of regret.
“There’s no husband who wouldn’t be jealous when his precious wife is chosen by God.”
His gaze looking at me became tender.
Now I also had to get used to it.
A wife, a husband, and us.
“I will protect Her Majesty. No demonic horse or anything will be able to surpass us.”
I didn’t want miracles or anything like that.
I didn’t even have the desire to accomplish an unwanted mission pushed by the white light.
But for Nikolai, I could endure the illusion of being a Saint.
I wanted to protect him and help his country.
My dream of living well by myself had changed.
I was no longer a villain.
Just as Nikolai wasn’t a tyrant.
“That sounds like something I should say…”
“How about we say it simultaneously? If we protect each other, that’s enough.”
I proudly patted Nikolai’s back.
Nikolai, who was looking at me with a slightly dazed expression, bit his lips.
“…I can’t stand it anymore.”
He said it as if spitting out the words and grabbed my cheeks with both hands.
His passionate eyes were soaked with longing.
Nikolai, impatiently trembling, shook his lips.
Closing his eyelids at the sweet fragrance that filled his mouth.
That’s how the kiss started.
Long and lingering.
I sent someone to the Canary Room to bring my clothes.
Nisa’s whereabouts remained elusive.
I contacted the Imperial Knights to find Nisa.
Contrary to worries, Nisa appeared soon.
“I think I collapsed because I was a bit tired.”
Nisa smiled as if nothing happened, and dry grass leaves were stuck in her hair.
Her lips were pale, and her bangs were wet with cold sweat.
“I didn’t know you were so tired. I need to check again. Wait a moment, Nisa.”
I took out Moracynsia’s eye.
It was also when Nisa’s face turned blue.
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.”
