“Only one room available?”
“It’s such a busy season right now, all the rooms are taken! This one just became available because some guests canceled!” the innkeeper said, as if advising them to consider themselves lucky. Lina wore a bewildered expression. It was, after all, the fifth inn they had visited.
At the previous four inns, they couldn’t even find a single empty room, let alone two.
‘How can there be no rooms available everywhere we go?’
Though people were gathering from all over the country for Denver’s lantern festival, she hadn’t realized it would be this difficult to find a room.
‘If I had known this, I would have secured accommodation as soon as we arrived in the village!’
Lina regretted her past decision, biting her lip.
“Then we will take that room.”
Duke Valige spoke up on behalf of Lina, who was hesitant to ask for the room.
“Du…Duke Valige. Perhaps we should check elsewhere first…”
“It’s too late for that. I doubt the situation will be any different elsewhere.”
He was right. If they missed out on this room, they would either end up sleeping on the streets or going back to the shack they had slept in the night before.
Other inns were likely facing a similar situation.
“You’re lucky. That room was originally reserved for a newlywed couple! The bed won’t be uncomfortable for two people.”
Uncomfortable? Just hearing the innkeeper’s words seemed to suffocate her.
Thinking back to the previous night and even in the mansion, she had shared a room with the Duke many times before.
Of course, that was before she knew the Duke’s feelings.
Lina sighed inwardly.
‘Well. As long as we don’t share the bed, it’s fine.’
Since they had already shared a room many times, she thought it wouldn’t be a problem. That was until she saw the condition of the room.
“…What is this?”
As soon as the door opened, red flower petals leading to the snowwhite bed caught her eye.
A pair of swans, neatly folded out of towels, were kissing on the bed, which seemed sufficient for two to sleep together.
[You’re lucky. That room was originally reserved for a newlywed couple.]‘Damn.’
The innkeeper’s earlier statement about being “lucky” undoubtedly referred to this horrific setup.
The swans and petals, which would have been a joy to the room’s original occupants, bestowed an unknown embarrassment upon them.
“…Duke, would you like to bathe first?”
Breaking the awkward silence, Lina spoke first. The Duke, who had been looking at her, nodded and headed into the bathroom.
Slam.
The sound of the bathroom door closing caused Lina to unconsciously let out a sigh.
“It’s already so awkward.”
She was already gasping, having to share a room with the Duke after just releasing lanterns and hearing talks about becoming a Duchess.
Now, a room clearly prepared for a wedding night?
It was like adding fuel to the awkward atmosphere between her and the Duke.
Lina started cleaning the room faster than ever while Valige was bathing.
With ferocious hands, she unraveled the neatly folded swan towels and stuffed them into a corner, throwing all the scattered rose petals into the trash.
“Phew. This should do.”
By the time she had turned the room back into an ordinary bedroom, the Duke emerged from the bathroom.
Water droplets dripped from his slightly opened shirt and wet hair.
Valige looked at Lina, drying his hair with a towel.
“Aren’t you bathing?”
“What? Oh, yes, yes, yes!”
Staring blankly at Valige, Lina was unexpectedly startled by his words, and her face flushed red again.
‘Are you not bathing?’
It was a simple question, but it sounded strangely suggestive to her, and she disliked it.
Embarrassed for no reason, Lina picked up what was once a swanshaped towel.
“Duke, if you’re tired, please rest on the bed first. I can sleep on the floor. So…”
“Duke, if you are tired, please go to bed first. I can sleep on the floor. Then…….”
No matter how the Duke felt about her, she was a maid, and that man was a Duke.
So, they could not sleep in the same bed. Thinking that it was right for her to sleep on the floor, she gave up the bed to Valige.
Just as she was about to head to the bathroom, Valige spoke softly.
“What are you doing? The bed is so wide.”
“……Yes?”
Lina alternately looked at the bed that Valige was gesturing at and the man’s face.
“You can’t mean, you want us to sleep together in the bed?”
“It’s not impossible.”
Not impossible? Lina’s face turned blank at his words. And before she could say anything else, Valige spoke first.
“Didn’t you want to become a Duchess?”
“That, that’s……!”
“If you become my wife, we will be sharing a bed quite often. Isn’t it a good idea to practice in advance?”
It seemed that the Duke had misunderstood something about what she had said at the festival.
“I just asked what you would do if I said I wanted to be a Duchess!”
“So, I told you, I will make you a Duchess.”
Flustered by the Duke’s brusque response, Lina averted her eyes, avoiding his gaze. A brief silence followed, and then the Duke’s voice came softly.
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.”
