Contrary to that, Erich, who was shocked by the sight of the Eden Rose, began to shed tears.
“……I’m sorry.”
With his eyes reddened and crying, Erich looked as pure as a water fairy.
“I want to apologize for all the rudeness I have committed to my lady, for hastily judging and pushing my lady.”
Then he knelt and repented.
“I’m sorry. Although this apology cannot change the past, I still apologize.”
I never wanted such repentance.
“You don’t have to apologize to me.”
But I did not accept his apology. I could not understand what Erich was apologizing for.
Accepting an apology I don’t understand could make matters worse.
“To be honest, what the Baron said before wasn’t entirely wrong either.”
“No, I am…….”
“I’m not ignoring the Baron’s feelings.”
When the wind blew, the rose bush leaves behind my back made a rustling sound. I neatly tucked my fluttering long hair behind my ears and smiled.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m not the daughter of Libertan. Now I may be the Duchess of Blanche, but my past doesn’t disappear.”
“My lady…….”
“The Baron did what the Baron had to do. It’s necessary to have someone who will be on guard and check when an outsider comes in.”
Erich’s face twisted with sorrow.
“So don’t blame yourself. I’m fine.”
Erich, looking into my eyes, showed his wounded hands.
“My lady. Originally, there was a scar here that I obtained after being abandoned by the master I used to serve.”
Fortunately, the bleeding had stopped now.
But the state of his hand was terrible.
“It’s gone now, but thanks to my lady, I can endure myself even without this wound.”
“Ah…….”
“I dare to put you in this scar.”
Erich, who had knelt on one knee, took a knight’s stance toward me.
“Will you permit me to dedicate my loyalty to you?”
Erich reached out to me.
“Are you sure you won’t regret this choice you made?”
He seemed to have been swayed too much by what I said. People tend to regret choices made in haste.
“Think a little more and tell me. And as long as I have Johan, I will also become someone you have to be loyal to, won’t I?”
“That’s not the case. My determination is firm.”
Erich smiled faintly.
“Even if I dare to betray my master, I will follow your will. Even if it’s a wrong choice, even if it’s disgraceful, I want to give myself to you.”
Erich, who was smiling, looked completely different from the Erich I knew.
‘It looks different too.’
The grayblue eyes I faced were full of sincerity.
I slowly placed my hand on Erich’s hand.
“Okay.”
My soft white hand contrasted sharply with his scarred, injured hand.
“My lady.”
Erich, without a moment’s hesitation, kissed the back of my hand and swore the knight’s oath.
“I give my heart to you, an eternal vow.”
(This is a time separator.)
Liandro was completely ruined.
He had to injure his leg and arm as a price for attacking Duke Blanchett.
Fortunately, thanks to spending a fortune on a cleric in the Countess Felcis’s residence, he was told he would recover with a few weeks of rest.
But the doubts in his mind deepened.
Liandro seemed to see someone as he gazed out the window and muttered,
“…Why do you reject me?”
Liandro was Estelle’s only knight who could save her.
“I can even risk my life for you.”
Estelle was a greater villain than even Duke Libertan and his wife. The only knight who would risk his life for such a villain was Liandro himself.
“I even tried to take responsibility for you, a villain.”
Of course, the situation was difficult.
It was because the devillike Johan showed a marriage contract that had been approved by the temple.
But Liandro didn’t fall for such tricks.
Even if they were pretending to be a real couple for now, Johan would surely deceive and abandon Estelle. Because Estelle was Libertan’s daughter.
‘If not, there’s no way he’d execute the Duke and Duchess.’
Countess Felcis, Liandro’s mother, looked at the bewildered Liandro and was heartbroken.
Liandro, who had been a healthy commander of the Royal Knights, was not getting up from bed even after the cleric’s treatment had healed his wounds.
“My poor son, why are you still like this? Is it really because of that woman?”
Countess Felcis, fuming, told her son about Estelle’s story that filled the social circles.
“That woman doesn’t care about you at all, crassly buying all the dresses in the dressing room, looting the jewelry store, and indulging in luxury.”
“…Is that true?”
“Yes! Maybe she wanted luxury so badly that she put on a farce and eliminated the healthy Count Hetel!”
Liandro’s eyes bulged.
Countess Felcis, seeing her son react so strongly to Estelle’s story, became even more upset and shouted,
“A close lady told me, that woman, out of jealousy for all women, not only tried to monopolize Duke Blanchett but even Duke Orteka.”
“……”
“Even the Crown Prince, why make your mother so sad for such a woman?”
But Liandro no longer heard his mother’s words.
‘Duke Johan Blanchett[Dash]!’
Furious Liandro broke the bed handle. A fierce glint flashed in his blue eyes.
‘How much more will you make her sin?’
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.”
