“This is disappointing. It seems I don’t have a chance.”
“…..”
“I was hoping to get closer to the Duke while staying at the mansion… But I was a step too late.”
Espin said lightly, shrugging his shoulders. He tried to smile, but the corners of his mouth couldn’t quite manage it, making him look dejected.
“Even though it’s disappointing… Nia, Jediel, and of course Duke Killian too, they’re all good people. So I want to cheer for Duke Killian.”
“…Thank you, Your Highness.”
He never expected to receive such encouragement from anyone. Moreover, from Princess Espin.
He bowed his head politely to express his gratitude.
‘But she is not accepting my feelings. So it hurts a lot.’
He couldn’t bring himself to reveal such inadequate inner thoughts, so he just suppressed a sigh. Unaware of his true feelings, Espin continued in a bright voice.
“I really enjoyed today. Although it ended with a terrible incident. Still, it was a perfect day until we met the pickpocket. Thank you, Duke Killian.”
“I enjoyed it too.”
As he reflected on the long day, Killian suddenly felt afraid. A chill breeze brushed against his chest.
‘Perhaps… she might have noticed.’
He had been worried about wrapping Veronia’s face with his cloak when she dropped one of her piercings. Although he tried to act nonchalant, it was still a suspicious action. Especially for someone as cautious as Veronia.
‘She must have been surprised to find the piercing gone after get ting into the carriage. And… she might have worried that I could have seen her face without scars…’
Or she might be growing suspicious, finding it odd that I pretended not to notice her unscarred face.
‘This is bad. I need to come up with a plan.’
Cold sweat broke out on his clasped hands, betraying his tension.
By the time the carriage arrived at the Duke’s mansion, the sky had already darkened. As he got out of the carriage, the head butler approached with urgent steps.
“Your Grace, you’ve returned.”
“Yes. What’s the matter?”
“A letter has arrived from the Empress Dowager’s Palace.”
The butler said as he handed an envelope to Killian. Killian’s eyebrows twitched as he received the envelope. He seemed displeased about something.
‘I expected this, but it’s a bit early.’
Opening the envelope, he found a brief message asking him to come to the Imperial Palace immediately. But Killian had no intention of doing so.
“Tell them I’m too drunk today, and I’ll visit early tomorrow morning.”
“Pardon? Ah… Yes. I will convey your message.”
There was no smell of alcohol at all, and judging by his face, voice, and gait, Killian wasn’t drunk in the slightest. Yet he was lying about being drunk?
The head butler seemed somewhat bewildered, as Killian had never avoided a summons from the Imperial Palace, even to the point of lying. But he quickly composed himself and bowed his head.
A truly faithful employee should not try to understand all of their master’s intentions. They should simply follow orders diligently.
[This is the timeline separator]“Mom, are you okay?”
Jediel’s eyes reddened as he looked at Veronia’s ear, tightly wrapped in bandages.
“Yes, I’m fine. The doctor treated all the wounded areas carefully and applied medicine well. So it doesn’t hurt at all.”
“…..”
Veronia tried to smile at the child, but Jediel still looked worried with a serious expression. At that moment, Louisa set down a bowl of chicken cream soup in front of Veronia.
“Even if you don’t feel like it, eat a little. You need to eat before taking your medicine.”
“I do feel like eating. I was hungry anyway. Wow, this looks delicious.”
As all the family members sat around staring intently at her, Veronia picked up her spoon. Her hand moved quickly between the bowl and her mouth. She even added comments like, “As expected, Louisa’s cooking is the best.”
Veronia, who had been absent-mindedly chewing on bread, suddenly seemed to remember something and quickly turned to Jediel, opening her mouth.
“By the way, Jediel. When did you become so close with Uncle Killian?”
“What?”
Jediel’s eyes widened at the sudden sharp question. Without waiting for the child’s answer, Veronia asked again.
“I saw you two whispering earlier. And there was something about ball throwing practice…”
“…..”
“Have you practiced throwing balls together?”
“Well…”
Jediel hesitated and couldn’t answer easily. The child’s lips trembled and his eyes turned red. Tears began to well up in his eyes.
Oh no. How can he be so tactless! Veronia felt a pang of guilt, realizing she had unintentionally frightened the child. She called the child’s name in the gentlest voice possible.
“Jediel.”
“…Yes.”
“Mom isn’t trying to scold you. I was just curious. You’re Mom’s beloved son, and Uncle Killian is like Mom’s work superior.”
“…..”
The child blinked his teary eyes and looked up at Veronia.
“So I thought I should know in detail how you two became close.”
“…..”
“You don’t have to answer right now. You can tell me later when you’re ready. Okay?”
After hesitating for a moment at Veronia’s question, Jediel nodded and then opened his mouth again.
“I’ll just tell you now.”
“Alright.”
Veronia put down the bread she was about to eat and met the child’s gaze. This time, she didn’t ask again impatiently, but sat quietly waiting for the child to speak first.
“Uncle Killian came to our kindergarten.”
“To the kindergarten?”
Veronia was surprised by this new information. What reason could someone of the Chancellor’s status have for going to a kindergarten? It seemed odd.
‘Is he planning some new national project?’
She remembered Windler saying that Killian liked to do fieldwork himself in the early stages of any project.
“Uncle Killian and the principal watched our class, and we ate lunch together too.”
“I see.”
“When I fell while playing ball and was crying, Uncle Killian hugged me and ran with me.”
“Ah… Was that the day you said you got a glorious wound?”
“Yes.”
Jediel nodded, unable to meet Veronia’s gaze properly. He seemed to feel guilty about not telling the truth right away that day.
“So that day, I practiced throwing and catching balls with Uncle Killian.”
Jediel continued, fidgeting and watching Veronia’s reaction. But when Veronia remained silent, the child might have thought she was angry. He suddenly started sniffling and then burst into tears.
“Sob, I’m sorry, Mom. Hue… I wanted to meet Uncle Killian again… So I didn’t tell you. Hiccup!”
Momentarily at a loss for words at the child’s sincere confession, Veronia stared at him in a daze.
“You said not to talk to people you don’t know well… Hue… I thought you might tell me not to meet Uncle Killian too… So I didn’t tell you. Hiccup!”
I see. Veronia finally understood. She had said those things because she was concerned about Jediel showing interest in Killian. She had told him to keep his distance from people he didn’t know well, and it seems those words had stuck with the child.
“I’m sorry, Mom! Huaaang!”
In the end, Jediel broke into loud sobs. Tears streamed down his face. Veronia gently embraced the crying child.
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t understand your feelings of wanting to be friends with Uncle Killian. I’m sorry for that.”
“Mom… Huaaang!”
Veronia patted the child’s back gently, trying to comfort him. Jediel seemed to have a lot of pent-up emotions, as he continued to sob uncontrollably in his mother’s arms.
‘Maybe he was drawn to him because of their blood tie. But I just kept saying no…’
Her heart ached at the situation where she had to hurt the child because of the secret she had created. Before she knew it, two streams of tears were quietly flowing down her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, Jediel. I’m really sorry for making our son suffer because of me…”
“Jediel is sorry, Mom! Hue… Huaaang!”
Louisa and Hugo, watching the mother and son embrace and cry together, also had tears welling up in their eyes.
[This is the timeline separator]Veronia gazed intently at Jediel, who was sleeping soundly beside her. The child had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, exhausted.
In contrast, Veronia couldn’t fall asleep at all. Though her body was tired, she didn’t feel sleepy at all. Various thoughts were invading her mind, tormenting her.
Especially, the expression on Louisa’s face when she came to bring the herbal water was bothering her.
‘This is water brewed from herbs good for pain relief. Drink it if you wake up in pain during the night.’
‘Thank you, Grandmother.’
‘It seems Jediel really likes that gentleman who came with him earlier.’
‘Yes, it seems so.’
‘Nia, what about you?’
‘Me? What about me?’
‘….’
‘To me, he’s just like a work superior. An incredibly noble lord. That’s all.’
‘…I see. Well, sleep well.’
‘Yes. Good night, Grandmother.’
Though she didn’t ask specifically, her eyes seemed to see through everything.
‘How did she know?’
Veronia didn’t think Killian and Jediel looked so alike that one could immediately grasp the truth just from seeing Killian’s face briefly today. She thought it would take a long, close look to see the resemblance.
‘No, that’s not it. She probably just had a strange feeling, but couldn’t be certain. How could she know?’
Veronia shook her head, trying to deny the intuition that was naturally arising, and pushed thoughts of Louisa to the back of her mind. She closed her eyes. But even after a long while, sleep still wouldn’t come.
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.
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