Inside the territory of Fermanence, on Halshut Street.
A woman wearing a robe pulled tightly around herself was secretly watching the checkpoint from behind a wall.
Where her eyes met, people were standing in line, receiving inspection from the security force, intending to leave the gate.
Though a movement restriction was in effect, those with special reasons were said to be able to leave the territory after being inspected.
Lina, watching all of this, scoffed at herself.
“I feel like a real criminal standing here like this.”
As time passed, the security force’s inspections were getting stricter. Due to this, she couldn’t be cooped up in the inn indefinitely.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but the innkeeper’s watchful eye seemed somehow off as well.
‘I really need to make a decision now.’
Time was relentlessly slipping by as she dawdled.
‘With them searching for me like that, how can I return to the mansion on my own?’
Lina, who had been biting her lip while standing behind the wall for a while, checked the money in her pocket.
Five copper coins.
If she paid the accommodation fee now, she would have only about five shillings left.
“Sigh. Let’s go back to the inn for now. Then…”
It was as she turned her body toward the inn to think about what to do next that she overheard a conversation from passing pedestrians.
“Did you hear? The Duke is furiously looking for the woman charged with a crime.”
“What? What’s the charge? What heinous crime could a young girl commit to have such a large bounty on her head?”
“She’s said to have stolen a very precious gem from the Duke’s mansion.”
At these words, Lina stopped in her tracks.
‘What? A gem? What’s that about…’
She almost made the mistake of grabbing them and asking directly.
‘She stole a gem!’
Clearly, a lot had happened at the Duke’s mansion while she was absent.
Being accused of stealing a gem she hadn’t taken. Lina bit her fingernail.
‘I knew there was a wanted poster, but…’
She had only thought the Duke was crazy, but there was apparently a reason.
‘It must be a pretty important item, considering he’s going to such lengths.’
Who the devil would do such a thing? A sigh escaped her lips.
If she went back like this, she would have to explain about a theft she didn’t commit.
Although she had luckily got away with the crystal ball Susan had stolen last time, there was no guarantee she would be lucky again.
But if she didn’t return to the mansion in this state, she would be branded a criminal.
The hassle of being a fugitive rather than leaving through the proper channels was inconvenient and something she wanted to avoid if possible. Plus.
‘I left the ring behind.’
Lina recalled the ring hidden under the bed, inside a cookie jar. It had been with her since she first woke up four hundred years ago.
She had cherished it, hoping it would be a small clue to her lost memory.
“I can’t leave that behind, no matter what.”
She couldn’t wear the ring while working, so she had left it in her room.
Having to leave in a hurry, and fully intending to return to the mansion, she had not had a chance to take it.
‘It should still be there…’
Thinking of the ring she left behind, Lina unknowingly headed down a dark alley, unaware that someone was following her.
And not long after, Lina suddenly lost consciousness from a sharp blow to the back of her neck.
[This is the time separator]“Why are you doing this?”
Alex, who was practically lying on the office sofa, picked up a grape and asked as he ate.
“What is it?”
“The woman you’re looking for. I heard the stolen item is nothing significant.”
Alex was right. The brooch was so insignificant that the Duke hadn’t even known it was in the mansion.
Therefore, there was no need to search for it with a bounty.
Certainly, here is the translation following the guidelines:
“Moreover, you swore never to hurt her?”
Alex spoke instead of the silent Duke Valige.
“Do you like that woman?”
The prince’s words coming out of nowhere made the moving pen tip pause.
“……”
Valige’s lips seemed stiff, hardened. Alex, watching the duke’s appearance, spoke again.
“I heard a rumor that you’ve taken a maid as a wife, so I came to see it. And here I find you, eyes ablaze, searching for a runaway maid. Well, this is fun in its own way.”
Alex, rising from the sofa, straightened his clothes and looked at Valige.
“See you later, Duke.”
As soon as Alex left, Valige set down the pen he had been holding as if throwing it away.
Was it because of the headache and nightmare starting again? Or because he couldn’t answer the teasing question Alex had asked? He frowned with irritation surging from deep within.
Valige, gazing into space for a moment, opened the drawer and took out a ring he had found under Lina’s bed while searching her room.
He rolled the ring around in his palm, examining it closely. A sunlike orange color. It was a ring made from a mineral he had never seen before.
Feeling inexplicably oppressed, the duke brushed his hair back.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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