Thump[dash].
Almost running, Lina slid into the room and collapsed on the floor as soon as she closed the door.
“It can’t be.”
Lina repeated the words she had just overheard from Lawrence through the crack in the door.
“It’s nonsense.”
Wherever Lawrence had heard such horrible words, she was even angered. But.
“Could it really be nonsense?”
A witch under the curse of immortality. Isn’t that clearly referring to herself?
“Ha.”
The throbbing heart and sweaty palms indicated that she hadn’t taken those words lightly.
“I’ve always been curious.”
Lina looked at her right hand.
“When I see the Duke, who doesn’t suffer when he touches me.”
She had faintly thought that her curse and Valige’s might be related somehow.
And that whatever it was, it wouldn’t be bad, she had thought.
“If, if the way to break the Duke’s curse is true, I…….”
Lina couldn’t finish the sentence. Would it feel like this if the sky were falling?
All the dreams she had were shattered, and the fragments seemed to pierce her entire body.
“I, I, what should I…….”
Happiness she had not even dared to hope for in hundreds of years.
She thought she had finally found it. Why.
[The Duke has to kill that witch.]Lawrence’s words were like a sharp blade, piercing her heart.
“Ha.”
Lina, who had been staring blankly into space for a while, let out a short sigh.
Though she had wished for death, finding immortality too lonely and painful, she was now afraid of it being so close.
How contradictory.
A bitter smile crossed Lina’s lips at her hypocritical attitude.
[You wanted death, didn’t you? Then die for the man you love.]It felt as if someone was whispering in her ear.
“Yes, that’s right. I’ve lived long enough. But…….”
Though she had wanted to die. She had been confident that she could do anything for that man.
“Why, why am I…….”
Why is she so afraid?
“Why.”
‘Why does this trial only come to me.’
She felt like going somewhere and screaming as loud as she could.
All she wanted was just.
To grow old naturally with the one she loved, like others.
Lina and Valige can’t live together.
If I don’t die, Valige dies.
If Valige is to live, I must die.
There was no happiness at the end of these two people. As if it was an illfated relationship that could never be connected.
Lina brought her knees together and buried her head in them, so angry at the warm afternoon sunlight streaming through the window.
Even the faintly shining light was annoying, so Lina went to the window and roughly closed the curtains, not letting a speck of light into the room.
Then she slumped onto the bed and looked at the corsage she was unknowingly clutching.
There were supposed to be two, but in her mad rush, she had dropped one somewhere, and only one remained in her hand.
“I meant to give one to the Duke…….”
After staring at the corsage for a while, Lina suddenly remembered the words of the 2nd Prince from a few days ago.
[Then this freshly picked flower is as good as saved. Now it will achieve death.]Was it an illusion that the lavender corsage looked like the red rose from that time? She didn’t want to be broken mercilessly like that rose.
She just wanted to wither slowly like a wildflower in a field.
How much time had passed? Before she knew it, the sun had set, and there was not a single light in the room.
But Lina didn’t even think of lighting a candle in such a room.
She just sat numbly, surrendering herself to the unceasing flow of time.
Knock[dash].
Suddenly, along with the sound of knocking on the door, Valige’s voice was heard.
“Lina.”
At the familiar voice, Lina hurriedly got up from her seat, straightened her clothes, and opened the door.
“Duke?”
“Is it okay if I come in for a moment? I have something I want to give you.”
She forced herself to raise her depressed voice and answered brightly.
“Of course, come in.”
It was fortunate. The sun had already set.
Thanks to the dark room, she could hide her expression.
“The room is too dark.”
“I fell asleep with the lights off. Is it urgent? I’m a bit tired right now…….”
Lina, who was stroking her left arm with her right hand, trailed off.
“It’ll only take a moment, I came to give you this.”
With that, Duke Valige reached out his hand to Lina.
“This is…….”
Despite the dark sight relying only on moonlight, what was placed on Duke Valige’s hand clearly caught her eye.
“That time, it’s your ring that I took.”
She had forgotten. That this ring was with Duke Valige.
“Are you returning it……?”
“Yes, because I trust you now.”
Thump.
The moment she heard Duke Valige’s words, Lina’s heart pounded downwards.
“……Trusts, what?”
“That you will not leave me.”
Ah.
A great wave of gratitude and disappointment crashed over her all at once.
And then.
Drip. Drip.
The tears she had been holding back began to fall down her cheeks, drop by drop.
Startled by her sudden tears, Duke Valige quickly approached and wiped her tears with his fingers.
“What’s the matter? Why all of a sudden…….”
The Duke seemed taken aback for the first time.
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.”
