“Huk, huk.”
Esmeralda diligently wiped away tears with a handkerchief.
“It’s been a while since I saw Lady Reyna’s face, so I couldn’t help feeling both happy and sad at the same time…”
Esmeralda blew her nose loudly in front of the portraits of the Duke’s family hanging in the corridor.
But no matter how loud she was or how much noise she made, the Marchioness seemed to ignore her existence completely, just staring at the portrait for a long time.
Esmeralda let out a loud cough.
“Ahem, ahem, if Lady Reyna were still here, she would have definitely come to my debutante ball!”
As the Marchioness continued to stand there with a vacant expression, Esmeralda boldly blocked the way in front of the portrait.
“Lately, while preparing for my debutante ball, I’ve been thinking about Lady Reyna so much! Surely, she would have attended the party more passionately than anyone else! Congratulating me! That’s right!”
When the Marchioness’s gaze finally fell on her, Esmeralda quickly raised her handkerchief again.
“Ah… Yeong-ae is already at the age to have a debutante ball.”
The Marchioness sighed and looked again at the bright and smiling Reyna in the portrait.
“Our Reyna would have also reached the age for a debutante ball…”
As the Marchioness’s attention shifted again, Esmeralda crumpled the handkerchief in her hands. But the Marchioness continued to murmur as if lost in her own thoughts.
“She would have looked so beautiful in a white dress…”
Esmeralda glared at the portrait of Reyna. She looked like a plump potato. It was impossible to understand why the Marchioness thought she would look pretty in a white dress, but she had to play along for now.
“It’s really regrettable! Not being able to see Reyna in a dress!”
Esmeralda almost shouted, and the Marchioness slowly came back to her senses.
“It’s regrettable! Will you come to my debutante ball?! Even if just for Reyna’s sake! Huk!”
The Marchioness, whose face had darkened at the mention of Reyna’s name, nodded slowly.
“Well… Then. Still, Reyna was our only friend.”
“Well, then, make sure to come with Sir Keyl and the whole family! It would be great if everyone attended! Huk!”
Turning her gaze back to the portrait, the Marchioness nodded slowly again.
“Yes… That’s right.”
After seeing off the guests, I headed to the city square.
Despite busy days looking for a lost puppy, educating organization members not to unnecessarily bang their heads, and scrutinizing financial statements of companies worth investing in, I found myself visiting a specific cafe every week like a habit.
The café that sells high-end desserts was bustling with customers even on weekdays. To be precise, it was crowded with leisurely aristocratic guests.
As soon as I entered the shop, people’s eyes naturally turned towards me. Despite dressing up in my own way, I stood out like an ugly duckling among the nobles.
“These days, the management of the shop is a mess.”
As I passed by, a certain noblewoman muttered while covering her mouth with a handkerchief.
“Oh, but the owner seems to be making an effort.”
Upon seeing me, another noblewoman waved a fan and teased the shop owner who had eagerly emerged.
Nodding in satisfaction, the noblewoman with a displeased expression glanced at the cafe owner, who had rushed over with shortness of breath.
“Well, if the shop owner has intentions, they should take care of it…”
“Ante-nim! If I knew you were coming, I would have prepared in advance! Today, the lemon tart is just sold out…!”
At the desperate shout of the cafe owner, the expression of the noblewoman crumpled.
“Oh my, what can we do about this?”
However, the shop owner paid no attention to the surrounding customers and continued to hurry about.
“I’ll make sure to prepare it next time, so please don’t raise the rent.”
The nobles, who pretended not to listen, exchanged glances. Words like ‘landlord’ and ‘rent’ could be vaguely heard.
I sighed.
“I was looking forward to eating lemon tart.”
“I’m sorry, Ante-nim.”
The cafe owner, bowing her head, hastily guided me to the display shelf.
“There are still a few lemon-flavored macarons left. Would you like those?”
“Macarons?”
I glanced at the colorful, round macarons displayed for a moment. Suddenly, memories of the first time the Marchioness offered me macarons flashed back.
The macarons I had back then were really delicious. Although, in the end, I had to hand over most of them to Kyrion.
“All right. Give me macarons. By color.”
As I moved to my usual seat by the window, the gossip magazines of the nobles, which I always read when I came to the cafe, were placed there.
Lemon tart was delicious, but the main purpose of visiting this cafe was to read these gossip magazines.
The front cover featured a huge picture of His Highness, and in flashy bold letters, it read, ‘Crown Prince, in Dramatic Escape After Engagement to Commoner Lady – Actively Seeking a New Alliance?’
As I flipped through the magazine, the entire page was filled with articles about His Highness.
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.
Link to read
