As the flames erupted, Lucia quickly rushed down upon hearing the scream from below. As expected, the Emperor was below the balcony, but the unexpected figures were Leon and the Crown Prince. There was also a small thief wearing a pink mask.
As their eyes met, a moment of stillness followed, even swallowing the scream on the brink of unconsciousness. The one to break this silence was the pink thief, who was sitting down.
Swiftly scanning the surroundings, the hesitant thief suddenly took off the mask, as if contemplating something. Then, the thief, once again making a loud noise, was the Emperor.
“Charles!? Why are you here so late at night…!”
“Oh, Abamama! Uncle! Charles got lost while taking a walk!”
“Good heavens! Without a single escort knight?”
Smiling awkwardly, Charles ran towards the surprised Emperor and embraced him. However, something was off. The child kept looking back, as if someone else were there. And indeed, in this dark place with all the lights out, small footsteps could be heard beyond the dim corner.
Not one to miss such details, Lucia shifted her steps, and suddenly, Charles burst out.
“Aaah! I was walking with Lulu and Pepe! But when the fireworks went off, they ran away! Abamama, what should we do?!”
“….”
Then Lucia’s steps came to a halt. Lulu and Pepe were dogs raised in the palace, larger than Charles, making them hard to overlook.
Now, the problem was the Emperor.
The eyes seeking an explanation from Lucia turned towards the Emperor. Then, his eyelids blinked excessively, accompanied by uneasy, heavy breaths. What he needed now was,
“You brat! What if the young princess wanders around at night like this! Causing so much trouble for all these people!”
The Emperor’s left eyelid was moving vigorously as he scolded his daughter. As always, Charles, the son, acknowledged his father’s efforts.
“Abamama, Uncle, Captain Leon. Charles was foolish. So, will you take Charles with you?”
“Uh, well, yes. Yes, let’s do that. Everyone, go about your tasks!”
“No! Abamama! Let’s go over there, all together. Charles is scared of dark places!”
“Oogoo oogoo, understood. Got it. Come on, Captain Lucia, follow along!”
Confirming each other’s intentions, the royal family and the captain began to walk towards the direction indicated by the daughter. In any case, it was a satisfactory outcome for both parties.
After embracing Charles, the Emperor gestured to the hidden children with a nod from his shoulder.
‘Hey there, go that way.’
The concealed children wiped away their tears, a testament to Charles’s sacrifice. [Star icon]
After parting with Charles, the children headed back to the residence of the attendants. And in their slow footsteps, no words were exchanged. It seemed as if they were considerably shocked by the fact that the only shield protecting them from being exposed had disappeared.
However, the only one unaware of the seriousness of the situation was the child.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Roy began to whine.
“Heeeng, when are we going home…?”
All the children, who had been silent, turned their gaze towards Roy. No, it was more accurate to say they glared at him.
“Hey, Roy, have some sense. You’re the reason we got caught. Do you want to be grilled?”
“Ivannu, that’s too much. Huuuu…!”
And soon, as if adding harmony to his sobbing, Nia also choked up.
“Annia, it’s all because of you that we came here… Uuuuh…”
As the two representatives of crying birds burst into tears, Cesar, who had been observing, quickly reprimanded the children.
“Ivannu, blaming someone else is not right. Princess Charlotte sacrificed herself only with the hope that this expedition would end safely.”
Sacrifice.
The word “sacrifice” came solemnly from the mouth of the child who seemed smarter than anyone else. Coinciding with this, the grass in the nearby flowerbeds shook slightly.
It was the sound of suppressed laughter from the princess’s bodyguard, who had been watching in hiding.
During their journey here, he had witnessed the hardships and struggles of the children.
And it was more amusing than any funny story.
But Evan, who was keen-eyed, noticed that he was being laughed at.
‘Even a lowly bodyguard is mocking me…’
For Evan, who had a strong sense of pride, this situation was quite humiliating.
Moreover, there was no princess to take care of now.
For Evan, continuing this absurd secret mission to find just one palace maid was originally an impossible task, as it wouldn’t make sense without the princess in the first place.
Rolling his eyes following the children, Evan stopped and, hearing the movement of the approaching bodyguard, took a step back.
Then, Evan collided with the bodyguard who had been halfheartedly following, feeling relieved.
“Oh. What should we do, everyone? We’ve been caught by an imperial knight.”
It was an obviously deliberate smile now that the bodyguard had removed the mask, revealing an imperial knight in military attire.
“Oh no!? Caught?”
“How did this happen? How?”
The children turned around with confused faces, shouting.
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.”
