His taste was too frugal for a prince. Ariadne smiled faintly. Then, she spotted a rice pudding on the corner of the table.
“Aren’t you going to eat that?”
Alfonso glanced at it and replied.
“I don’t really like desserts. And pudding feels too squishy, so I don’t like it.”
Ariadne paused for a moment. Alfonso had definitely eaten the sanguinaccio dolce she had offered without showing any signs of disliking it.
She asked indirectly.
“I’ve never seen you leave a dessert on the formal dinner table.”
Alfonso laughed bitterly.
“That’s because if I leave food on the plate at a formal dinner or at the palace, it will be considered a complaint against the kitchen.”
Queen Marguerite was particularly attentive to the prince eating well, and Alfonso’s nanny, who wanted to please Queen Marguerite, would protest vehemently to the kitchen every time Alfonso left food, questioning why the prince was not finishing his food, what the chef had done, and why the prince couldn’t finish the given meal.
The prince’s nanny had much more say than the palace chef. Alfonso had seen the chef get fired, the servants get fired, and the maids get beaten every time he left food.
“I have to bear with it and eat even if I don’t like it.”
Ariadne felt a pang in her heart. Had he eaten the sanguinaccio dolce I offered cleanly because he was afraid I might get dragged off to Cesare and suffer?
Ariadne unknowingly caressed Alfonso’s cheek. He probably wouldn’t know if she asked him now. Some things are forever left unknown. But it felt like she already knew without needing confirmation.
Alfonso seemed to be in a good mood at Ariadne’s first move. He had a gentle smile on his lips, and he spoke to Ariadne.
“Eat well, sleep well, take care of your health. I think it’s time for me to get up.”
Ariadne, noting the changed tone of Alfonso from the past, cut off her earlier thoughts and laughed briefly.
“Your Highness. Suddenly, you’re overflowing with dignity?”
As he met Ariadne’s gaze, Alfonso laughed.
“Dealing with a friend and dealing with my woman should be different.”
For a moment, Ariadne’s face turned red. Not wanting to show her embarrassment, she rather retorted playfully.
“Am I, your woman?”
If it was the old Alfonso, his face would have certainly turned red. Even now, he couldn’t hide a slight blush in his ears. However, he firmly nodded his head.
“Yes.”
Assertively responding, Alfonso added another word.
“Just wait a bit.”
Ariadne smiled bashfully. It felt like a warm breeze blew in her heart. It felt like painkillers directly inserted into a daily life marked by misfortune and tragedy.
She always tended to her man. As was her habit, Ariadne asked.
“How did you free up your time? It doesn’t seem like you’re here officially.”
“That’s not your part to worry about.”
Prince Alfonso responded with a firm voice.
“I’ll handle it.”
Ariadne was slightly surprised by the unexpected determination from Alfonso, unlike his usual self, and his different response compared to Cesare. The output for the input was completely different than what she was accustomed to.
Cesare would have certainly whined to her, who was extending a caring hand, asking about his difficulties.
Complaining about how hard it was to free up time, or asking her to listen to his ingenious plan about how he did it. She was familiar with such times filled with boasting and pleading.
Amazed by this difference for a moment, Ariadne soon nodded her head. Alfonso must have his own thoughts. She decided to trust her prince.
“Take care of yourself too.”
She added one more word.
“Don’t overdo it.”
If they remain quiet, if they do nothing and merely hide in the shadows, the result they both desire will come.
The betrothal between the prince of Etruscan and the grand duchess of Gallico will be broken, and a situation where Prince Alfonso marries one of the daughters of Cardinal de Mare will occur.
But sacrifices are needed for the ritual. None other than Queen Marguerite is expected to be today’s offering on the altar, the white lamb to be sacrificed.
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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