The man’s words were seductive.
It felt like I could get whatever I wanted just by holding his hand. So, I took the man’s outstretched hand.
However.
‘Was my choice really right?’
What happened after I held his hand.
At that moment when Lena was trying to recall, a sound calling her echoed in her ears like a piercing scream.
“……Me!”
‘This voice…’
Her body froze as if her thoughts had stopped, and at the same time, she felt like her closed eyes were being opened.
“Lena…!”
“…Duke?”
As if he had just come back to life, the duke’s urgent expression loosened.
“Why am I here…?”
Looking around, Lena, who was bewildered by the suddenly changed environment, asked.
“I collapsed in the annex, with Duke Dunamis……”
“Ah.”
It was only then that Lena realized she had been dreaming.
‘Was all of that just a dream?’
Lena raised her right hand and murmured.
“This feels so vivid…”
The sensation of the man’s hand that she had grabbed still felt strangely familiar. With a confused expression, Lena whispered, and the duke, finding it strange, asked.
“The doctor will be here soon. So endure a bit, even if it hurts.”
“A doctor?”
“Yeah, the resident physician of Duke Dunamis is coming here.”
‘I don’t really have any pain.’
But refusing treatment here would be the second time I collapsed. Thinking it would only increase Belige’s worries, she quietly nodded.
Belige, whose expression had finally relaxed, then handed Lena a small frame that had been on the bedside table.
“I was holding onto this.”
“This is…”
It was a portrait.
A woman with only black hair…
A woman who looked exactly like Lena now.
“Do you have a secret you can’t tell me?”
“Huh?”
Seeing Lena staring intently at the portrait, Belige hesitated for a moment and asked.
“Duke Dunamis said so. The woman in the portrait was the owner of the annex.”
“The owner of the annex…?”
“Yeah, that woman must have been a member of the Dunamis family in the past. So, by the way, do you have any connection with the Dunamis family?”
“Dunamis family and me…?”
Lena’s eyes widened at the duke’s question, implying that she might be carrying on the Dunamis bloodline.
Perhaps the duke didn’t even realize that thinking this way was natural.
Because they looked so much alike that it seemed impossible for them not to be related. And Lena’s thoughts were not much different from Belige’s.
‘Maybe that dream…’
Was it not her lost memories?
Before being cursed, it could have been her everyday life as a member of the Dunamis family.
Along with the sensations she felt upon arriving at the Dunamis territory and the dreams she had had so far, various thoughts passed through her mind like will-o’-the-wisps.
“The duke used to say that the Permanence family had divine power in the past……”
“Yes, because the Permanence family used to produce the most holy knights in the history of the empire.”
The Permanence family, which used to be renowned for its divine power in the past, had changed everything after receiving a curse.
Reflecting on the curse that had brought the Permanence family down in an instant, Lena, who had been silent for a moment, spoke.
“You mentioned that you don’t know why a divine curse was placed on the Permanence family, right?”
In response to Lena’s question, he nodded.
“Because we didn’t even know why the curse was cast, we couldn’t undo it. But why suddenly ask about that?”
Lena, who was suddenly asking about the curse on the family, seemed puzzled, and he chuckled as if he found it strange.
“That’s actually…”
It was the moment when Lena was about to confide in the duke about the dreams that had been tormenting her. Suddenly pausing, Lena closed her lips and lowered her head.
“…Never mind, I was just curious all of a sudden.”
Was it because Lena’s atmosphere had become somewhat darker? Belige changed the topic, dispelling the subdued atmosphere.
“Rather than that, how long do you plan to call me like that?”
“…Huh? What do you mean?”
“You’ve never called my name even once. We’re married now, you know.”
“Ah.”
Belige gently stroked Lena’s cheek.
Perhaps because the title of duke stuck, it felt awkward to call him by his name. However, now that they were married, she couldn’t keep calling him Duke forever.
“Got it, I’ll call you by your name from now on.”
But calling him by his name still felt awkward, and Belige’s name didn’t easily roll off her tongue.
‘Just saying his name…’
Why was it so difficult to say such a short word? Somehow feeling the intense gaze of the hot man, Lena pursed her lips.
“Duke… No, Belige.”
“Sounds good.”
Satisfied, the duke, as if to express that, kissed her forehead.
“Call me, keep calling.”
The affectionate gaze of the man looking at her and the voice that seemed to smell sweet fruits.
Everything she had longed for in her dreams had come true.
And at the moment she realized this, a creepy sensation ran down her spine.
When her body was stiffening due to the sudden uneasiness, Belige stood up from his seat.
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.”
