Maybe I was so surprised that I temporarily gained superhuman strength?
“I was sorry then.”
“At the time, I was bewildered not knowing how I was hit, but actually, it was cool.”
“What? You think being hit is cool?”
He seemed to enjoy sadism? I looked him up and down. Philip’s face turned red.
“I don’t want to be hit again, though.”
He seemed to realize the meaning of my gaze.
He cleared his throat a few times and pointed at a tree in the distance.
“Ah, there are pears over there. Would you like some?”
“Pears?”
I knew Philip was trying to change the subject, but I looked in the direction he was pointing.
As he said, there were several tall pear trees, with Western pears the size of my fist tantalizingly hanging.
“It does look delicious.”
But in my memory, Western pears weren’t very tasty.
“It looks too high to pick, doesn’t it?”
Philip picked up two small stones.
“You can pick it like this.”
He fixed his eyes above for a moment and threw the stones one after the other as if shooting them.
Thwack!
Philip lightly caught the two falling pears and pointed to a stream nearby.
“Let’s rest there for a moment before moving on.”
Philip bent one knee and lowered his body, washing his hands and the pears in the clear flowing water.
The ripples in the stream sparkled in the sunlight.
Philip blended in beautifully with the clear blue background.
‘Pretty. Like a picture …’
Soon, Philip handed me the pear after shaking off the water a couple of times.
“Take this for a moment.”
I unconsciously took the pear, unable to hide my astonishment.
“It’s amazing. You threw stones, but there’s no damage to the pear?”
Philip replied nonchalantly.
“You hit the stem, not the pear.”
“You?”
Was he possessed by Wilhelm Tell? Or Robin Hood? How did he pull off that trick?
“Can you throw it accurately from a distance like that?”
“It’s nothing special.”
He took out a handkerchief and laid it on a rock.
“I know you don’t like sitting on the ground, but we came out unprepared… Have a seat.”
Philip, who invited me to sit, sat on the rock next to him. Then he took out a very small knife.
“You carry a knife with you?”
“It’s for peeling fruit.”
He even washed the blade of the knife in the water, and skillfully peeled the pear skin, offering it to me.
“You may find this experience unfamiliar, but it tastes good.”
The beautifully peeled pear gave off a sweet scent. It felt different from the Western pear I knew. The white flesh also looked appetizing.
“Wait a minute, I’ll wash my hands too.”
I quickly squatted down and dipped my hands in the stream.
The clear and cool stream water felt good, and a small smile naturally came out.
When will I be able to go out and play by dipping my feet?
“……”
Count Philip Morris stares at me intently.
‘Did I wash my hands too long?’
I quickly shake off the moisture and get up to receive the pear from Philip.
“Thank you.”
I sat on a rock.
The crunchy bite and the flowing pear juice were very cool and sweet.
‘Impossible. Is it this delicious?’
It seemed to be a different kind of Western pear from the ones I knew in my previous life.
Count Philip Morris, who was staring at me, finished peeling the remaining pear.
I observed his movements as I ate the pear.
Big, long, white fingers moved gracefully and strongly. His meticulous hand movements were even dazzling.
Soon, Philip tried to take a bite of the pear.
I stopped my hand unknowingly and focused on how he ate.
I expected that he might eat the pear in one bite like the gardener earlier.
Crunch.
With a small sound, his jaw and Adam’s apple slowly bobbed.
‘No way. How can casually sitting on a path and eating a fruit look so elegant?’
Philip was the epitome of grace.
By the riverbank, or slowly turning his gaze to the sky or the forest, eating fruit, he soon caught my eye and covered his mouth with his hand.
“Why do you do that?”
“I was reminded of the gardener eating an apple in two bites.”
“The gardener? Who are you talking about?”
At his question, I realized that this mansion had more than one or two gardeners.
“Who else? The gardener I yelled at earlier.”
“Yelled at? Ah, you mean Hyde.”
Philip’s eyes widened. Perhaps the fact that one could eat an apple like that was also surprising to him.
“You didn’t know that gardener ate apples like that?”
I explained how Hyde ate the apple, saying, ‘Really, I was shocked.’
Philip, who was listening to my story with interest, asked.
“Madam, but.”
“Yes?”
“I hesitate to ask, but do you know about that gardener? He has been here for a long time and is very wild, popular with the ladies.”
I haven’t seen this in the novel, but he was a popular character?
“I thought you would know as well, Madam……”
Philip cautiously trailed off.
He wouldn’t know I’m someone else, but it felt like a piercing question.
I just rolled my eyes and made a cold excuse.
“Why should I know about some insignificant gardener, wild or manly?”
I was quite satisfied with the wicked answer.
“……”
However, Philip just looked at me quietly.
‘Ugh. Did I answer wrong?’
Thinking again, the lady of the house might question how she could not know about her servant.
“Isn’t that something Domingo should know?”
I made a sharp reply before Philip could even ask, and he nodded calmly.
“Yes. Madam doesn’t need to remember the gardener.”
I threw away the finished pear and washed my juicestained hands and mouth. Sitting and talking like this would expose everything.
“We should walk some more.”
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
It seemed like a hollow laugh, but somehow it looked like he was in a good mood too.
“Let’s do that.”
[This is the time separator]In Philip’s eyes, Ellen was very strange today. And so was he.
“Wow, isn’t that flower so pretty?”
Ellen laughed innocently, looking at the flowers and nameless plants.
“That’s true.”
Philip answered with a calm smile. However, his mind was full of questions since earlier.
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.”
