As the night completely fell and the precious young lady’s figure was nowhere to be seen, chaos erupted in the mansion where the Elandria siblings were staying.
Even though it was a dormitory, it was a considerable mansion where the Duke’s relatives stayed. Valentin’s ambitious attempt to bring luggage was difficult, but there were around ten servants staying there.
They all frantically searched for Miss Valentin together.
And Delma, who had found and brought Valentin back, was blushing with dirty clothes.
“Brother!”
Waiting for the return of her brother who had unknowingly left the mansion, Nellusian sat seriously in the reception room.
Upon seeing him, Valentin, who had barely stopped crying earlier, rushed to him again.
“Valen.”
Carten had decent security, but Valentin was young, and her status as the Duke’s daughter was special. If she had been kidnapped just now, what would have happened?
Nellusian, relieved that his sister had returned safely, hugged her.
“Where were you? Delma said you were in your room.”
Since they had just brought her in from outside, it was obvious that Delma’s words were a lie. Delma, who received Nellusian’s sharp gaze, apologized with a pale face.
“I’m sorry, my lord.”
“What do you think of the safety of the young lady? Should I leave my precious sister alone outside? And you call yourself the maid of the Elandria family?”
Nellusian’s gentle reproach usually would have been enough, but this time, the temperature in the reception room dropped to about twenty degrees.
Delma couldn’t say anything. She judged it was better that way. Instead, Valentin glared at her brother with fiery eyes.
“Brother, it’s not the time for that kind of talk. Quickly bring Neris that wench here. Beat her until her legs break and lock her up in the basement! She dragged me, beat me, and locked me up in a dirty warehouse!”
“What?”
Punishing by beating and locking in the basement was a penalty usually applied to servants who committed serious crimes. However, why did such words suddenly come out, and why did Neris’s name come up here?
Nellusian was puzzled. The hand that was patting Valentin’s back stopped unconsciously.
Valentin deliberately snuggled deeper into her brother’s arms, crying loudly.
“I even called her sister earlier, huh, but how could she do this to me? To me, well, she told me to come out for a bit even though I found it annoying because she wanted to get close!”
Nellusian’s hand fell from Valentin’s back. However, Valentin, immersed in her acting, didn’t notice this fact.
“But suddenly, she took me to a dark place! And she said she has no debt in our house! How shameless is that? Doesn’t she know what gratitude is?”
Delma covered her mouth.
She was the one who orchestrated the details of this incident.
Having experience in fixing all kinds of “arrogant things” for Valentin, plans were already laid out on how to handle the situation if this matter got exposed midway.
Originally, Valentin would briefly go out in the evening, lock Neris Trude in that warehouse by the lakeside, then quickly return, pretend nothing happened, and have dinner with Nellusian.
During this time, Delma’s role was to conceal Valentin’s absence.
If Delma wasn’t visible, Nellusian would naturally suspect Valentin’s absence. If not, the precious young lady wouldn’t have been left alone in this rural town.
The plan went awry when Valentin didn’t return until later than expected.
Even if there were problems in the middle, Nellusian finding out about the plan was the biggest obstacle Valentin had originally considered.
At that time, she was supposed to insist that she was planning to build a closer relationship with Neris Trude. Even if Nellusian found it strange, Valentin expected that he would let it slide if his only sister coquettishly acted.
However, Valentin was in such a rage due to the unexpected turn of events that she ended up talking too much.
Nellusian sensed something amiss to the extent that it couldn’t be ignored.
“Neris said that?”
“Yeah!”
Nellusian grabbed his sister’s shoulders. Valentin tried to embrace her brother’s waist, but she couldn’t withstand the firm strength of the boy older than her.
“Valentin Elandria.”
With a voice as sharp as stepping on thin ice, Nellusian looked into his sister’s face and questioned her.
“Neris coaxed you out and suddenly imprisoned you?”
“Yes!”
Valentin answered confidently but realized the coldness in her brother’s eyes only afterwards.
“Where were you guys?”
After seeing Nellusian’s stern expression, Valentin understood that something was wrong.
With a frightened expression, she glanced at Delma. Urged by Nellusian’s stern voice, who sank into a low tone, Valentin spoke up.
“Valen, I asked you where you were. Don’t look at Delma.”
Valentin couldn’t answer immediately and hesitated. Seeing her rolling eyes, Nellusian furrowed his brows.
Soon, a stern interrogation fell on Delma.
“Delma, speak up. Where did you bring Valen from? You knew where she was, didn’t you?”
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.”
