Number 5 slightly opened the reception room door with an uneasy look. Inside, Kyrian, disguised as a monk, was casually greeting Marquis Magine.
Wearing a fake beard and somehow disguising himself as a monk, Kyrian had infiltrated the Marquis’s residence.
Fortunately, Marquis Magine seemed too preoccupied with Kyrian to pay attention to the disguise he had brought with him.
“Hmm, where is the restroom here…?”
Number 5 muttered to himself, anxious.
While Kyrian diverted the Marquis’s attention, Number 5 needed to quickly find Lady Ant.
Fortunately, the servants waiting outside the reception room sent Number 5 on his way without any suspicion.
“It’s right out if you turn right at the end of the corridor.”
One servant’s words received a nod from Number 5.
“Thank you.”
However, when he reached the end of the corridor, Number 5 turned left instead of right.
Although Magine Manor was more complicated than a maze, having walked the path once before, Number 5 could mentally draw a map.
A map showing the way to the stairs leading directly to the basement.
“Blood…”
Droplets of a dark liquid were present on each step of the staircase leading down. Number 5 hurriedly descended. As he went deeper, the pungent scent of blood became stronger.
Bloodstains continued along the long corridor in the basement. Following the twisting and turning corridors like a maze, Number 5 hastily followed the trail of red marks.
The bloodstains abruptly stopped in front of a hidden chamber.
Number 5 held his breath and slowly grasped the doorknob of the secret chamber. Surprisingly, the doorknob turned easily.
Creak.
The door opened, revealing…
“An empty room…?”
Examining the room thoroughly, besides bloodied bandages piled on an improvised bed, there was nothing else.
Number 5 clenched his fist. This was an unexpected turn of events. He needed to inform Kyrian quickly.
It didn’t seem like a simple coincidence.
Marquis Magine put down his teacup with a thud.
“Lord Kyrian, what brings you here so suddenly…?”
Marquis Magine pretended to stroke the trembling fingertips, trying to hide them.
Despite the Marquis’s inquiry, Kyrian remained silent, only casually tapping his toes on the armrest of the sofa.
“Do you have something you left behind in Magine Manor…?”
Kyrian lightly tapped the armrest with his fingertips.
“Yes. Something left behind.”
Finally, when Kyrian spoke, Marquis Magine recoiled. The situation became more dangerous the longer Kyrian stayed in the mansion while Reyna was inside.
“If you wait here for a moment, I will find it immediately.”
At that moment, a soft knocking sound came from the door.
Kyrian immediately uncrossed his legs and stood up gracefully.
“No, there’s no need for that.”
Heading towards the door, Kyrian did not look back and left.
“I plan to find it myself.”
“What a rude thing to do.”
Marquis Magine tried to block Kyrian’s path, but Kyrian easily avoided her.
“No matter how esteemed Lord Estira may be, he has no right to rummage through someone else’s house like this.”
Ignoring Marquis’s words, Kyrian, as if on a leisurely stroll, casually wandered through various parts of Marquis Manor.
“It’s just finding a lost item; don’t worry about it.”
As they ascended the floors, Marquis Magine became noticeably more anxious.
“You don’t need to trouble yourself; just instruct a servant.”
Kyrian raised an eyebrow.
“Ah, the servants who displayed the pinnacle of incompetence during the debutante ball?”
When Marquis Magine’s eyes trembled, Kyrian smirked.
“I’ll decline. I’d like to be careful with something precious.”
Kyrian confidently walked down the corridor, beginning to open one door after another. Empty guest rooms were revealed one by one.
Kyrian’s eyebrows twitched. Despite maintaining a seemingly casual smile, things were not as they appeared.
When he heard that his sister had returned to Marquis Manor, his heart tightened. She was returning so fearlessly, even after causing a commotion during the debutante ball.
However, Marquis Manor, which she had hastily returned to, was eerily quiet—too quiet.
Kyrian hastily grabbed the last doorknob.
“Lord Kyrian!”
Simultaneously, Marquis Magine grabbed his hand.
The strength was stronger than expected, and Kyrian was momentarily surprised.
As Kyrian struggled to turn the doorknob with his hand still held by Marquis Magine, she formed a thin smile.
“This room is occupied by a guest.”
As Marquis Magine squeezed Kyrian’s hand even tighter, wrinkles appeared on the smooth forehead of the noble.
The commoner had undoubtedly provided him with a potent potion. One that could contend with the successor of the renowned Estira Duchy.
“Well, then I should double-check.”
Kyrian twisted his lips and, in one breath, swung the door open.
“Just in case the guest takes something of mine and runs away, you see.”
But once Kyrian opened the door, he remained silent for a while without saying anything.
He seemed to have lost consciousness again.
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.”
