“I see…….”
Upon hearing they were classmates, Lucia felt fortunate she wasn’t in her military uniform.
She was unaware that another classmate who could properly remember her was still hiding beneath the stage.
“Then please go ahead. And soon, I’ll send an invitation for a tea gathering, so please do come!”
Lucia nodded to her bright face.
And still, Roy who was saluting with twinkling eyes.
Their innocent appearances, filled with pure affection and love, were apparent to anyone who saw them.
.
.
.
Lucia, who had boarded the carriage, alighted in front of the lodging where she arrived with the child.
But before opening the door, Lucia halted her steps.
‘Strange. Today is the day when no one is supposed to help…’
The bronze door handle had turned ever so slightly more than it had this morning.
And then, Lucia spread her arms in front of Nia.
“Nia, close your eyes. And hold on tight.”
Checking the door handle was an old habit of the attacksensitive woman, and holding the child was her newly acquired habit.
She intended never to have an incident where the child would be lost again.
Nia quickly nodded her head at her mother’s serious face and hugged her.
Despite hugging tightly with her short arms, if Lucia were to move properly, she would easily let go.
So, Lucia filled her short dagger hidden in her dress with a heavy aura.
Although swinging it wrongly could mess up their small lodging, now was not the time to worry about that.
[Dash] Clang!As she opened the door, Lucia parried the incoming sword from the masked figure.
Deliberately aiming for the opponent’s weapon first, she lunged to break the incoming blade.
[Dash] Smack, clang!As expected, the strong force of her aurawrapped dagger broke the opponent’s longsword and embedded it into the wall.
All that was left was to stab the dagger below the collarbone of the mask, towards the heart.
It was the quickest way to cut off his breath.
However, Lucia immediately dissipated her fierce aura.
And sighed,
“Father, what are you doing?”
“Hahaha! Really, my daughter gives me no worries! But how can your aura be so thick? It’s like lava! Lava! Let’s see it again, shall we?”
It was Lucia’s father, Helbert.
He took off his mask with a playful face, and fussily made a fuss as if he had confirmed a perfect score on a test.
An attentive child carefully watched the middleaged man.
Nia listened intently to the conversation between her mother and that man, her eyes sparkling.
.
.
.
“……”
“……”
As Lucia was pouring the tea, the two figures, whose sizes differed by at least tenfold, were enveloped in silence.
Helbert seemed particularly uncomfortable, different from earlier. This was because the child was staring at him intently enough to make him uneasy.
“……Nia here……!”
As the child abruptly broke the silence, Helbert swallowed awkwardly and spoke.
“So, you’re…our daughter?”
All he could muster was ‘our daughter?’
Nia suddenly looked at Helbert, her large eyes blinking.
‘Our child!’
Her lingering curiosity had been correct.
Her mother’s father.
Then, the second most important person to show to Nia after her precious mother would be her father.
“……Yes! Yes! Nia here! Nia brushes teeth well, does homework well! Eats a lot! Also, cleans well!”
“……Ah, good. Well done.”
“Yes, Nia always does her best!”
Helbert licked his lips awkwardly again, looking at those twinkling eyes like a chick’s.
He had never been a cheerful person.
Moreover, before meeting Lucia, a child had always seemed to him like a fragile being that needed only protection.
The only exception was Lucia, who had incredible physical abilities.
“Since Nia does her best…what…should I…call you now?”
“……?”
“What…should I do? What…should I call you?”
The child’s cheeks flushed shyly like a peach.
So this was a story about Ivan’s grandfather from not long ago.
‘I want a grandfather too…!’
Of course, Ivan’s grandfather was really scary, but the child who admired Ivan’s normalcy was excited to have her own grandfather.
“What…should I?”
“Lucia, what is the child saying?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
Just then, Lucia came out with tea.
She had never made tea before and seemed to be concentrating with a serious face.
Seeing that, Helbert’s heart swelled.
“……Is this really your doing?”
“Yes. Try it.”
A blunt child who had never made tea or food before.
Yet, perhaps because she had someone to care for now, her neverbeforeseen cheerfulness made his nose tingle.
And so, Helbert cautiously brought the cup of precious tea to his lips.
[Dash] Puff, puff, cough!!!!“Cough! Cough! Lucia! Are you trying to kill me? What is this…!”
“……”
Lucia’s disappointed face.
“……It’s delicious! So delicious I could die!”
“Enough.”
As if making salad, the tea leaves were dancing in the cup.
He tried to drink it again to soothe Lucia, but it was almost better to chew on the dried leaves like a snack.
‘What on earth does this saint eat to grow?’
Although she was a saint with incredible healing abilities, how did she grow up eating stuff like this?
Then finally, compassion filled Helbert’s face as he looked at the child, more so than the fact she was a saint.
Taking a sip of the extremely bitter tea, Helbert grimaced.
And Nia, watching him, dashed over and brought back a few snacks she had saved from a picnic.
“……Here……Nia saved this……it’s…delicious……!”
With her tiny hands, the child shyly offered cookies.
“Th, thank you.”
‘Fortunately, it seems she buys her snacks.’
Awkwardly receiving it, Helbert avoided her expectant eyes and took a bite.
[Dash] Chew, chew.Thanks to the child, the bitterness in his mouth gradually disappeared.
Seeing this, Nia’s face bloomed brightly.
She seemed to think she had scored points.
And so, the small blanket, the saved candy.
For some reason, Nia kept giving things to Helbert.
And Helbert became increasingly awkward with the child’s actions.
“That’s enough. Thank you. I’m okay now.”
“Then can Nia…call you now……?”
Both Lucia and Helbert focused on the child’s shy words and actions.
“What are you saying?”
“……?”
Then, Nia who had been fidgeting with her grasped hands.
“……Gr, Grandpa……”
Upon hearing the child’s words, both Helbert and Lucia froze.
“……Me? A Grandfather?”
“That’s right. You’re a grandfather.”
Upon hearing Lucia’s words, Nia pointed her finger at him, unable to hide her glimmering expectations.
So Lucia is the daughter, and the daughter’s daughter is the granddaughter.
But the granddaughter is a saint, and the saint is a granddaughter.
Tied to the horse, he was thrown into confusion.
Given who the other party was, it was an unexpected situation.
However, the more the child remained silent, the more her cautious face appeared.
It was a dark gaze that cheerful children couldn’t have.
‘Had something happened before coming here? There’s no way they brought her here for nothing.’
Helbert couldn’t simply ignore that gaze full of stories.
Although he thought they only shared hair color, it reminded him of the first look he had seen in Lucia’s eyes.
“Hahaha! Indeed, you never fully understand the ways of the world, little one. It won’t be bad to watch them in secret, away from those damned elders!”
Startled by his sudden loud laughter, Nia flinched.
Seeing this, Helbert laughed even louder.
At the age of 65, she might have been a precious granddaughter he had acquired at just the right time.
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.”
