Blair, trying to calm her anxious heart, looked out the window and turned her head at the sound of a knock.
Lina was entering with a letter in her hand.
“Madam, an invitation to a hunting competition has arrived from the palace.”
The hunting competition was an event heralding the arrival of spring.
Blair accepted the letter and pondered. She would have to convince Herdin once again.
Having parted ways with the ladies and maids, Rachel left the temple with a much relieved expression.
To forget the shame inflicted by Blair would take a long time, but even so, doing this much helped a bit. Of course, this relief wouldn’t last for long.
Rachel walked towards the carriage of Lord Selden, which was waiting. As she approached, a displeasing voice came from behind.
“Rachel.”
Turning in the direction of the voice, there stood Wesley.
Spotting him, Rachel wrinkled her face.
Although she had known Wesley since childhood, ever since he stepped into the gambling den two years ago, begging everyone for money, everyone avoided him. Not only that, but his drinking habits were insufferable, causing trouble wherever he went. There was no use getting involved with him.
Rachel swallowed a sigh and gestured to the coachman to get on the carriage. As the coachman disappeared, she finally spoke.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you sober, Wesley. Is the Marquis doing well? Seems like he’s aged a lot lately, probably because of you.”
“Well, my muse, you know. He’s fine. How about your parents?”
“They’re doing well. With a clever and well-behaved daughter like me, what could be worrying them?”
Wesley chuckled as if he found Rachel’s words amusing. Even that laughter was unpleasant to Rachel.
“By the way, what’s going on here? You didn’t come to see me, did you?”
“Of course, I came to see you. If I want to meet the highly esteemed Lady of Dewhurst, I have to come to the temple, don’t I?”
“If you came here to borrow money for gambling, get lost, or if it’s about something else, still get lost. And never come back.”
Coldly dismissing him, Rachel turned around and opened the carriage door. As she did, a whistle accompanied by his voice reached her ears from behind.
“At the reception held at the Delmarc Duchy, our princess… no, the Duchess took a hard hit.”
Hearing that story, Rachel paused. The look in her eyes as she turned to him was trembling with anger.
More than the fear of being caught for what she said to Blair, the fact that someone witnessed Blair taking a hard hit was driving her insane.
She had considered Blair under her control for a lifetime.
Blair’s appearance, easily swayed by a word or action, filled Rachel with a sense of superiority. When she manipulated Blair, it brought her more satisfaction than being the noble princess.
It was both her pride and her dignity. But someone witnessed the moment her dignity was trampled so miserably.
“I heard that daytime words are heard by birds, and nighttime words are heard by mice. Did that little mouse overhear it?”
Wesley whistled at Rachel’s reaction, taunting her.
“So, before that little mouse scurries off somewhere to squeak, can we have a talk?”
Before Rachel could give permission, Wesley abruptly climbed onto the open carriage. Rachel, with a reluctant frown, followed suit and boarded the carriage.
Soon, the carriage started moving.
Rachel glared at Wesley, who was sitting across from her, and asked, “So, what’s the matter? You’re not going to ask me to pay off your gambling debts under this excuse, are you?”
“I might borrow money, but I won’t ask you to pay off any debts. I have some pride. I wouldn’t ask you for that.”
“So what do you want?”
“Revenge.”
“…What kind of revenge?”
“You want revenge on the Duchess, too.”
Blair and revenge.
When these words came out of Wesley’s mouth, Rachel’s gaze oddly changed.
“Our dear Rachel Seldon has been taking care of the princess all this time, and she doesn’t even appreciate the favor. Just because of some man?”
“…
“To prevent you from being so arrogant again, shouldn’t I crush you?”
As Wesley spoke like that, his eyes were shining with madness.
Rachel frowned at him.
There was a rough guess as to why Wesley had developed such feelings.
Perhaps he harbored resentment for the incident at the Empress Dowager’s birthday party, where he clashed with Herdin. Unable to vent his anger on Herdin, who was too strong a opponent, he redirected the arrows of his anger towards Blair.
However, Rachel had no intention of getting involved in his plans.
“I thought you forgot; I’m Blair’s cousin. No matter how much you hate her, I won’t do such things. If you want to do it, do it alone. Don’t drag me into it.”
“Just pretending to be scary while being hypocritical.”
Wesley’s mocking, which quickly changed his attitude in response to Rachel’s uncooperative reaction, dug into her weaknesses.
Not missing that opening, Wesley shouted.
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.
Link to read