Bellige blinked at the 2nd Prince’s words.
“Regret?”
A heavy silence hung between them. Strange words that had been poking at him since earlier.
The moment Bellige opened his lips to ask Blitaeus, Philip’s voice, searching for him, was approaching. It seemed like he was coming to look for him as he hadn’t returned for a while, and there was a slight sense of urgency in his voice.
Blitaeus, glancing at Philip approaching to find Bellige, said, “Well, let’s meet again at the royal hunt, Duke Fermannes.”
A nonchalant tone, as if nothing had happened between them. Watching Blitaeus leave with such a demeanor, the Duke turned to look back.
“Isn’t he 2nd Prince? What happened between you two?”
Philip, who sensed the strange atmosphere between the two, asked subtly. However, instead of answering Philip’s question, the Duke issued one command to him.
“Philip, as soon as you leave this place, immediately find out about Blitaeus.”
“Yes? Are you talking about 2nd Prince?”
Philip asked with a puzzled look. What could be found by investigating someone who had been confined to the palace all day since birth?
“I’ve heard that 2nd Prince has never left the palace once since he was born. I wonder what’s going on…”
Philip’s inquiry ended vaguely as he tried to catch the Duke’s meaning.
“It seems strange.”
Philip was about to ask where exactly 2nd Prince seemed strange, but in the end, he swallowed his words.
Because the Duke’s expression was too serious.
Bellige also knew. That what he had Philip do might be a meaningless task.
In reality, despite being the heir to the throne due to his illness, 2nd Prince had not engaged in external activities.
Because of this, although not known to the Empress, there were rumors that 2nd Prince himself was not interested in the throne.
‘But.’
Bellige looked at the handkerchief given by Lina.
‘Surely there is something.’
His intuition was telling him. That there might be a secret hidden by Blitaeus that others didn’t know.
And that the secret might be related to Lina.
A ominous premonition that the secret was slowly emerging.
“Duke?”
How long had he just stood still? Watching the serious Duke, Philip cautiously called out, and he turned around with his footsteps, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling.
By the time Bellige and Philip returned to the base, many people had already returned. They boasted about their catches, predicting who would win.
“Of course, Duke Fermannes will win this time!”
Despite participating in the hunting competition for the first time this year due to being on the battlefield, everyone nodded as if they had expected it.
It was when everyone was admiring Bellige, who brought back so many prey that the carriage was almost full. Hearing the people’s excitement, Alex approached and clapped his hands.
“Bellige. It’s indeed you.”
The 1st Prince lightly tapped Bellige’s shoulder, glancing at the prey piled up in his carriage. The Duke, who eyed Alex as he approached, asked.
“Aren’t you participating in the hunting competition?”
“Hunting is not my preference, so I just went for a walk.”
Bellige, perhaps anticipating that Alex wouldn’t hunt, didn’t ask any further questions. Then, he looked around as if searching for someone.
“By any chance, where is the 2nd Prince?”
He thought 2nd Prince would have left the forest before him, but for some reason, his figure wasn’t visible.
“Blitaeus? Well, he might have returned to the palace. He wasn’t fond of such gatherings in the first place.”
Alex made a worried face as he mentioned the 2nd Prince. In fact, Alex disliked the Empress, who was 2nd Prince’s mother, but he had no ill feelings toward Blitaeus, his brother from another mother. It was just that they weren’t close due to his mother being the Empress. Alex even felt pity for his frail younger brother.
“But why did he suddenly…? Does he have something to say?”
“…No.”
“Well, then, stay in the center for now. People will gather soon.”
“Yes.”
When the hunting competition ended with a resounding sound, everyone measured the weight of the prey brought by all. The one with the heaviest total would be ranked and declared the winner of the competition.
At that moment, Bellige was on his way to measure the weight of the prey.
“Yah!”
Suddenly, a scream rang out, and everyone turned around. A man was walking, supported by others, seemingly with a significant injury.
“What on earth is happening?”
“Oh my, look at the blood…”
Blood was gushing from the man’s right arm, soaking the ground. Medical personnel, who were on standby, approached him to provide emergency treatment.
“How did you get hurt like this?”
After hastily stopping the bleeding, people started asking the man questions one by one.
“Ugh… There’s a bear in the woods.”
“A bear…?”
“Impossible! We already checked thoroughly before the hunting competition began! But a bear!”
“Really, it was a bear…! How aggressive it is, if I couldn’t avoid it, I would have been done for… Ugh.”
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.”
