Carlos woke up belatedly and got up.
“Wait…!”
By his side, the loyal attendant Ben was the only one who had awakened, sweating coldly.
“Your Highness, are you conscious now?”
“Where is this place?”
“It’s the Crown Prince’s Palace. We brought you here right away since you fainted at the ‘location.’ I didn’t call other attendants just in case.”
A scar on Carlos’s forehead caught his eye.
“It wasn’t a dream after all.”
Scars used for the ritual won’t disappear no matter what means are used. Because the scar indicates the success of the offering.
If it disappears, so does the compensation. However, once the ritual is over, there is no lingering pain.
“Ben, besides me, did anyone enter the ‘location’?”
“Yes. No one else did.”
“I see.”
Honestly, Carlos wanted to deny Estelle, whom he had seen in the royal cave. He wanted to deny her face, unconsciously begging and clinging to him as soon as he saw her.
‘In the end, she turned away from me.’
Although she explicitly said she needed him, he didn’t want to believe that he was rejected.
‘But the one I met was indeed Estelle.’
Originally, the feeling was completely different from the Estelle I had seen in dreams. Estelle should have offered some conditions or proposals.
But all she did upon meeting was cling to me like a leech.
‘Even dangling Libertin as a condition is not allowed…’
Right now, Estelle will never grab his hand. Annoyed, Carlos admitted the fact and reflected on how the situation had completely changed from the past.
‘Unlike me, that girl doesn’t need me anymore.’
Then, to make Carlos indispensable again. Since only Carlos remains from the past, just like when he sent desperate letters.
“We need to separate the two.”
“Yes?”
“Ben, thoroughly investigate the weaknesses of Duke Blancart.”
Courtier Ben responded awkwardly.
“Your Highness, you gave a similar order before, but unlike Your Highness, there was nothing significant that could be a problem for Duke Blancart.”
“Does that make sense?”
Carlos banged the wall with his fist.
“That guy is also human, so there must be some fatal problem! Before getting married, there must have been some trivial woman problem!”
“Duke Blancart, unlike Your Highness, has thoroughly sorted everything out, so there was nothing like that.”
“…He climbed up from the bottom. Logically, in that process, he should have done something vulgar at least!”
Of course, Johan was from the long-established Blancart Duke family. However, ironically, he was also known as a model of a man who rose from the bottom with the stain of rebellion.
“Is there nothing trivial, like suspicions in the upper ranks of Blancart or in political dealings?”
“At least from what I have investigated, there are no problems, and everything is clean.”
Carlos twisted his face.
“Even with that arrogant personality?”
Carlos was also somewhat arrogant, but the Johan he met in person was a man more arrogant than Carlos.
“Although Duke Blancart is an arrogant person, he is different from other nobles. He doesn’t flaunt his arrogance in his actions.”
“…Even with that aristocratic air?”
“Your Highness is dignified, but Duke Blancart feels naturally superior, as if born with a different kind of superiority. So, even without lowering himself, he naturally evokes a sense of admiration…”
Ben discreetly observed Carlos. Carlos clenched his teeth as if he were going to throw something, but fortunately, he didn’t throw or vent his anger.
“Damn, is there no way?”
It was at that moment when Carlos muttered like that.
“Your Highness, there is a guest who came to see you outside.”
“Who?”
“Someone who came out of the temple. She showed the temple emblem, saying that you would recognize and welcome her immediately if she met you. Did you happen to make an appointment with the temple?”
“What nonsense. Chase her away immediately.”
As Carlos was about to dismiss her as usual without any courtesy, he suddenly stopped.
“Wait, did I say I would recognize her?”
“Yes, you definitely said that.”
“What the… Is it a woman, by any chance?”
“Uh… Yes, it is a woman.”
“Bring her in for now.”
“Yes?”
Ben asked Carlos, puzzled.
“I don’t know if that woman is pretty or not. Why?”
“What does anyone else say?”
“I usually remember everyone Your Highness has met… Is it because she is someone you secretly met?”
“It’s not like that!”
As Carlos grumbled, Ben quickly brought the guest. The guest was wearing a shabby hood flipped over.
“Thank you for allowing me to enter the palace without an appointment.”
It was a voice as clear and transparent as rolling jade beads, but Carlos felt a strange sense of disappointment.
‘Not Estelle. I had such a laughable expectation.’
With a frowning face, Carlos asked irritably.
“Do you think I will recognize you at a glance?”
“Yes, I specifically said that.”
“I can’t reveal my identity in the palace, so I had no choice. Since I met Your Highness once, I should show proper courtesy.”
Although it was unbelievable that it was hidden under the shabby hood, a thick waterfall of blonde hair poured out.
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.”
