Crunch.
I put the cookie I was holding into my mouth and watched the movements in the bushes.
No one had revealed themselves, but it was clear that the noise wasn’t from small animals in the garden or the wind.
‘I can definitely feel something.’
Since I became able to use magic, I realized that I had a considerable knack for finding objects imbued with magic or detecting the presence of people.
I first discovered this ability when I detected an assassin’s intrusion.
After that, Sione trained me more systematically in my magic detection skills, and as a result, I acquired exceptional sensory abilities.
Though it wasn’t an ability I needed unless in a crisis situation, I used it in utterly unexpected ways.
In various places in Rose Palace, there were snacks secretly hidden by Sione in case I suddenly collapsed from magic depletion, and I could use this ability to find them.
I could practice my detection skills and eat an extra handful of snacks without anyone knowing, so for me, it couldn’t get any better.
By continuously honing my detection skills even in normal times, I reached a point where I could even sense weak magical fluctuations.
I could even discern that the person hiding now had no intention of harming me.
“You’re hiding; I know everything. Just come out.”
After saying this nonchalantly, I popped another cookie from the plate into my mouth.
A humanshaped shadow jumped out from the thick bushes.
“…Caught.”
The person hiding was the Benian boy I met yesterday.
I drank my tea with an unfazed expression.
Since I hadn’t locked the door and had made sure to eat, wandering around alone wasn’t so strange.
Sione and the maid sisters were a bit worried, but since everyone knew I was strong, no one strongly opposed.
“Don’t hide like that. Walk freely.”
“Walk freely? Doesn’t seem like something you should say with these on your hands and feet.”
The boy touched his shackles and gave a hollow laugh.
A selfmocking, seemingly pessimistic laugh.
“Hmm, are the shackles very uncomfortable?”
“What a stupid question. Can it be comfortable to drag around this piece of iron?”
“If so, I’ll unlock them for you, then.”
Snap.
With a flick of my finger, covered in cookie crumbs, the shackles binding the boy’s hands and feet cracked open.
The broken shackles turned to dust and disappeared as soon as they hit the ground, leaving the astonished boy’s face frozen.
“How did you…”
“Now it’s good, right? Come here a bit. I have something to say.”
I waved at the boy, who was standing at a distance, looking guarded.
He slowly approached me after a moment’s hesitation.
“Don’t you know I’m a Benian? Or haven’t you heard about these shackles?”
“Uh? I know neither.”
“What? Then what do you think I’ll do to you? What if I threaten you?”
“You won’t threaten. I know when I see. Bad guys have a distinct look.”
The boy’s face began to twist as he listened.
He seemed to be doubting whether I was insane.
“Enough, come sit here. I told you I have something to say.”
“…I’ll listen standing.”
“Heh, it’s better to sit.”
After a heavy silence that resembled a standoff for a few seconds,
The boy, who exhaled a deep sigh, circled the table and sat opposite me.
“Now, okay? Say what you have to.”
“You’re impatient. You should eat something here.”
“I don’t like snacks much.”
“It’s delicious! If you don’t eat, you’ll really regret it!”
I pointed to the lavish desserts that filled the table with twinkling eyes.
A variety of cakes made with generous amounts of tropical fruits rarely seen on the continent, cookies with various ingredients, scones, and meringues topped with chewy custard cream and jam, and even cupcakes.
Sione’s ambitious baked creations, which were gradually becoming topnotch, occupied most of the selection.
Even I, who always has a snack at hand, was drawn by the visuals, and it would have been strange not to be tempted.
“……Then I’ll eat just a little out of courtesy. Just a little.”
However, contrary to his words, the boy who put a small piece of cookie in his mouth quickly widened his eyes and began to devour the snacks on the table in a hurry.
‘Of course, there wouldn’t be a child who hates snacks.’
Moreover, these are not ordinary snacks.
These are special desserts filled with a high concentration of magical energy, and anyone with even a bit of demonic blood mixed in couldn’t help but be completely immersed.
‘Aside from that, it’s good to look at.’
Although it’s not something an old man like me should say, a child looks cutest when they are a child.
I don’t know where he learned it, but looking at the twelveyearold boy’s chatty tone like an old man, my heart ached.
Even yesterday, the child who looked pale and messy has now cleaned up and is eating diligently, which made me feel automatically proud.
“Here, drink some water too. It hurts if your throat gets clogged.”
“Kuk, kek.”
Ah, I should have just handed him the water cup.
As the coughing didn’t stop for a while, I ran in embarrassment, patting the boy’s back, muttering,
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.”
