“…You wish to work?”
“If it’s fine by you, I want to do a little something.”
“I respect your opinion, but do you really need to?”
At Baker’s question, I clasped my hands together.
Then, I briefly avoided his gaze and cautiously parted my lips.
“That’s, a bit…”
“Is it hard for you to say?”
“I don’t want to say this, but I can’t put my mind at ease.”
“…”
Baker, who was approaching, stopped in his tracks.
I knew how to make it so he couldn’t refuse my proposal.
“It’s not that I’m going back on my word. I just think I need a little more time.”
“…”
“Is that not alright?”
“No way. I will unconditionally support you. How could I oppose something you want? It’s just that, part of me is also worried. You’re known to be weak.”
“I won’t overdo it to that extent. Honestly, there’s not much I can do. I don’t have any business acumen, and I don’t have any special training, so at best it’ll be charity work.”
Upon hearing this much, Baker swallowed his words, perhaps finding it hard to refuse.
Just as I had anticipated, he did not appreciate the idea of me working.
However, he didn’t have a reason to refuse either.
I quietly looked at Baker, who was probably looking for an excuse to refuse my proposal.
There was no need to rush him.
The excuse Baker could come up with was already set.
“There’s also the issue with Meryl.”
Finally, the words I wanted to hear came from Baker.
I took a quick breath and brought up the topic I had already thought of.
“I wanted to discuss that with you.”
“What kind of discussion?”
“I was thinking of sending Meryl to the academy.”
“Are you serious?”
Baker, as if he couldn’t believe it, raised both eyebrows.
That was understandable as I had been opposing Meryl’s admission to the academy until now.
“She’s already late compared to other children. It won’t hurt to start preparing now.”
“…”
“Why?”
“No, it’s just unlike you.”
“What’s like me?”
I asked, but I couldn’t provide an accurate answer.
All I could think of was how unfamiliar my own reflection seemed in the mirror, just grinning out of habit.
“That’s because you really love Meryl…”
“She’s our child. Of course, I love her.”
“…”
“She’s a child we had a particularly hard time having.”
“Right. We did.”
Baker quietly looked at me.
I silently gestured towards Baker.
“To be honest, I’m not sure. I still think Meryl is too young to go to the academy.”
“Then don’t send her. I’ll always follow your will.”
Baker, who had hugged me from behind, whispered in my ear.
Enduring the ticklish sensation of a stranger’s breath in my ear, I leaned against Baker.
“But there was a big issue between us.”
“…”
“It seems I wasn’t alright. I didn’t know hiding my feelings would be this hard. Especially since I have to be with Meryl all the time, it’s even more so.”
I mumbled weakly, and at the same time, strength came into the arms of Baker, who had hugged me.
I didn’t rush him this time either.
The answer a busy man could give to satisfy my selfishness was also limited.
All I had to do was wait.
[This is the time separator]“Do I really have to go?”
“You always sang about wanting to go to the academy.”
“I didn’t know you wouldn’t be at the academy.”
Meryl firmly held my hand.
Looking at my pouting daughter, my heart weakened, but there was nothing I could do.
To settle everything and go back to the way things were, I needed time.
I didn’t want Meryl to get involved in this either.
“Just sleep for ten nights, then we can see each other again.”
“Ten nights?”
“That’s right. Ten nights.”
It was a lie.
Meryl couldn’t count up to ten yet.
After counting one or two nights, she would give up and start counting from the beginning, and by the time she had increased her count after a few times, everything would have been sorted out.
“It’s okay. We’ll be able to see each other soon.”
“…”
“Really. Don’t you trust me?”
“No, I trust you. But…”
“But?”
“I like you more than the academy.”
Meryl’s small shoulders sagged helplessly.
Unable to bear the sight of her, I embraced my child.
Considering that noble children usually register for the academy at five years old, Meryl’s admission was late.
However, that didn’t make it any easier to send her away.
I knew that someday, I would have to send Meryl to the academy, but I had thought of that as something to be dealt with in the future.
Everyone argued that the child should grow up quickly, but I had a different opinion.
A child should grow up as a child. Systematic education at the academy is good, but I thought there were more things to learn in the mother’s arms.
“I’ll visit you often.”
“…….”
“I’ll buy lots of cakes from the rice bakery.”
“…Really?”
“Meriel’s birthday is coming up soon. Of course, mother should go.”
The wind slowly went out of Meriel’s cheeks that were sulky and swollen with anger.
A child who was honest with her emotions quickly changed her expression.
“…Then, will you teach me the magic of cutting the cake beautifully then?”
“Magic?”
“You said so, Mom. You’ll tell Meriel when she turns 8.”
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.”
