“Lord Kirian……! I am Priscilla Edems, a young lady of the Edems family.”
Though Kirian did not even glance at her, Priscilla courageously continued to speak.
“I have always watched Lord Kirian from afar–!”
But Kirian cleanly ignored her, as if he hadn’t heard anything, and spoke to me again.
“Who thinks my sister is an easy target?”
“No, no.”
I stole a glance at the ignored young lady, worried for her, but as I had expected, she was not blushing with shame or trembling with anger.
No, rather she was clenching her fists with a grim expression, as if she had anticipated this reaction.
I rolled my eyes to gauge the situation.
Priscilla shouted again with vigor.
“Oh, you will ignore my words today as well!”
“Sister always sleeps during math class? Should I buy snacks to wake you up?”
“No, there’s no need–.”
But Kirian, who had cleanly ignored Priscilla, was already standing up.
“Wait–! I have something to say–.”
Priscilla urgently grabbed Kirian’s hand.
I took a deep breath.
Touching Kirian’s body freely. It was one of the things Kirian hated the most.
In that moment, as I hurried to dissuade Kirian before a bloody incident occurred.
“Ah.”
With an elegant gesture, Kirian pulled out his hand and retrieved a handkerchief from his pocket.
Calmly wiping his hand, meticulously cleaning each joint of his fingers, Kirian finally crumpled the handkerchief and trampled it on the ground.
The handkerchief burned so fiercely it quickly turned to ash.
As the ash cooled, Priscilla’s cheeks burned even redder. Her face turned beet red, and she trembled but could not say a word.
“Sorry about that, sister. Something dirty got on me, so I can’t buy you snacks.”
Priscilla finally fled the scene, her face wet with tears.
I felt I understood now. Why the young ladies flocked to me. Because this would happen if they approached directly.
“You…….”
I pondered how to speak my mind without provoking Kirian, who already seemed downcast.
“You’re becoming more and more like the novel’s protagonist every day.”
To be precise, Kirian of the original work, whose character was severely flawed.
Kirian tilted his head, holding his chin.
“Would you like that, sister?”
I should have immediately said no and told him to stop ignoring people. It was right to rein him in before his character deteriorated beyond repair, like in the original novel.
But imagining Kirian casually chatting with other young ladies filled me with an inexplicable aversion.
“Just, just so.”
In the end, a strange answer was all that came out.
I heard later that the young lady Priscilla was selling the opportunity to shake hands with her at a high price, even after the handkerchief incident.
Despite not washing her hand since that day, the handshake rights were selling like hotcakes.
(This is a time marker.)
But after the handkerchief incident, the requests for introductions did not stop. In fact, they seemed to increase.
“Can I ask a favor–?”
“No, I’ve told you, I’m not selling!”
Already irritated right after etiquette class, the fifth request for an introduction made me explode.
“At this crucial moment, when I’m reviewing what color scheme is appropriate for a dress at the first tea party hosted by a friend who has lost a family member! If I wear an orange dress to that tea party, will you take responsibility? Will you?”
“No, no, I’m sorry.”
It was a voice that was quite familiar with being polite and elegant. That’s when I realized who was talking to me.
“Ah! Esmeralda. I didn’t know you were a young lady.”
I immediately tossed aside the tea party dress code and grabbed Esmeralda’s hand.
“Can you say that again?”
Esmeralda seemed a bit startled and glanced at the tossed rulebook.
Ah, no, I’ll come back later. The princess shouldn’t have to wear an orange dress because of me.
She waved her hand forcefully, looking quite sorry. She was not as outgoing as the original heroine, but she was as kindhearted as Esmeralda.
“Ah, what does it matter? Orange is so bright and pretty.”
“That’s true.”
Esmeralda gave her unique inbetweensmiles.
“It’s not anything else… I was wondering when I might be able to see Prince Kirian.”
I didn’t expect Esmeralda to make the same request as the other young ladies. Just moments ago, I had been willing to fulfill any of Esmeralda’s requests, but now there was a crack in that determination.
My face tightened slightly, and Esmeralda quickly added,
“Yo, these days my swordsmanship skills just aren’t improving, so I wanted to consult with him!”
Consultation, good. In reality, in the original work, Esmeralda and Kirian grew closer by sharing common interests.
But for some reason, my mouth would not open readily.
“If it’s swordsmanship, I’ll gladly help you even if it’s not through me. You and Kirian are close, Esmeralda.”
Kirian would at least respond with a gesture if Esmeralda greeted him.
Other people might bow 90 degrees or even salute, but Kirian would blatantly ignore them. However, he was different when it came to the female protagonist.
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
