Today, he revealed a side I had not seen before. Amidst an eerie and sinister atmosphere, only the anger towards the incident felt vivid and sincere. I was confused.
Staring intensely at me, he declared firmly.
“You must not die yet.”
“…”
“For a very long time, you must continue to live strongly like you are now.”
Whether wishes for health could sound like such a relentless demand.
“Lorisya Yang.”
Although I wanted to tell him not to call me by my name, I was speechless, confronted by the intense light hidden in his eyes.
Well, if I can’t even give my name to someone who saved my life twice, then I must be the one at fault.
Given the circumstances, he could call me “Soft and Chewy Rice Cake,” and I should just let it go.
The air in the room became suffocating. So, I tried to change the subject.
“Um, there’s something I’d like to discuss. In the future, in the competition, we should…”
Suddenly changing his facial expression to calm and gentle, he cut me off.
“Lorisya Yang. From now on, you must not make any mistakes. There won’t be a next time for you.”
As soon as I heard his words, I sensed that he knew the truth.
“Do you know why the accident happened?”
“I saw.”
In an instant, the tension was released, and I sighed deeply, feeling drained.
From now on, talking to him should be easier, but for some reason, I felt even more confused. Thoughts didn’t flow as naturally as usual.
Maybe it’s because I hit my head.
I murmured as if to myself.
“I want to ensure Princess’s safety.”
“Trust only me.”
“Gongja-nim?”
Looking back on the past, I had never struggled in conversations with Kaidel Gongja.
If anything, he was one of the easiest and understanding people I had ever talked to. Of course, apart from being irritating and unlucky.
But today was strangely different. Like a flickering light, the Kaidel Gongja I knew appeared and disappeared, a blinking sensation.
I must have suffered a severe injury…
I worried about myself and spoke more cautiously.
“Milio-ra Jungha and Grayan Jungha are competitors, but trusting and relying on Gongja-nim is not an easy thing to establish. I’m just asking for simple advice.”
“Not me.”
Kaidel Gongja lifted his upper body, leaning back deeply on the backrest.
His slightly twisted eyebrows were filled with annoyance and confusion at the same time. At a glance, he looked somewhat like a person who had been hurt.
But what’s with that glue-like gaze…?
I responded in confusion.
“I understand, I understand. Given the situation, for Gongja-nim’s safety, you should naturally distance yourself from me. I apologize for my short-sightedness, Kaidel Gongja-nim.”
“Rocard.”
“Yes?”
“Names are names. No need for formalities in that regard.”
“Hmm… I might have died in the royal hunting grounds back then.”
This place could be hell.
If I’m not insane right now, where else could be happening except the frozen hell where Lord Rokard Kaidel Gongja is sending ‘such signals’ towards me?
That’s when he said.
“Lorisya Yang. I have seen a lot of death. Among men of my age, there’s probably no one who has seen as much death as me and my comrades.”
Surprised by the sudden change of topic, I looked at him.
“Death leaves traces on people. Every time. The death of someone cherished is certainly more.”
“Gongja-nim…”
“Yesterday, you almost left such traces on me too. I’m angry about that, and I’m in a somewhat confused state. Facing you now, I have no choice but to confirm that fact.”
I lost my words feeling like I was being drawn into his intense gaze.
It was confusing. He really seemed to accept my death as if it were his own. So, I didn’t know if his attitude towards me had changed.
But it was not enough of an explanation in some way.
Today, my head was turning slower than usual. So, based on the feeling so far, I felt like he was trying to seduce me.
The fact that I, having such thoughts, was mad was evidence that this was a crazy idea.
I felt confused again when I realized his gaze was fixed on me.
When our eyes met, he smiled slightly. The laughter in his gaze, looking down at me with his jaw slightly exposed, would be artificial.
“No way, is he trying to make me fall for him now…?”
My head began to throb. However, since I couldn’t trust my thought abilities, I gave up on resisting and blurted out.
“Gongja-nim, do you happen to be interested in me? I mean, like, as a woman…”
After saying it, it felt like a breath had been released, but it wasn’t words inside me.
I closed my eyes tightly and bit my lips. It was to endure his laughter.
If there were muscles in my ears, I would have closed them tightly, but I couldn’t, so I hunched my shoulders.
But even as time passed, the room remained quiet.
“…”
In the end, I opened my eyes tightly and looked at him. Then, he was looking at me with a slightly annoyed face.
“…?”
“You still didn’t know that?”
I was dumbfounded because I didn’t understand what I had just heard.
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.”
