Without hesitation, he ascended the stairs when the giggling sound of a little girl reached his ears.
A smile graced his lips. Moments later, around the corner where the second-floor railing began, a girl with ash-colored hair in a white silk nightgown and robe appeared.
Diane’s eyes met Nuarlan’s as he nearly finished climbing the stairs. To comfort Diane’s startled expression, Nuarlan offered a faint smile.
“Isn’t it time for bed, miss?”
“What are you doing here?”
Diane promptly retorted. Nuarlan swiftly ascended the remaining stairs and bowed slightly before her.
“I came to monitor, in case a grown lady like you disregards her nanny and leaves her bed. You know how brothers can be.”
“Eh, even my brother doesn’t do that!”
“It was Joyce who sent me. Ideally, I’d spank you right now and say you’re not getting any snacks tomorrow—”
“Either treat me as a child or as a grown lady, make up your mind!”
Annoyed, Diane complained. Nuarlan rolled his eyes and placed his index finger on his lips.
“But I’m not so rigid. If you really want, you can briefly check downstairs. But then you go right back in, understood?”
Torn, Diane’s attention was captured by the music coming from the first floor. Apparently, some guests’ children were showcasing their musical talent.
Seeing the blank expression on Diane’s face, Nuarlan chuckled softly and spread his arms.
“Shall I hold you? You’d get caught if you go down to the first floor, so let’s watch from the second. I’ll hold you so you can see better.”
His demeanor was exactly like that of a parent treating a six-year-old.
Since no twelve-year-old likes being treated like a six-year-old, Diane hesitated as she looked around.
Yet, recognizing her decision from her expression, Nuarlan suddenly lifted Diane and moved beside the railing.
At first, the heightened viewpoint made Diane cling tightly to Nuarlan’s neck, but her grip soon relaxed.
Looking down upon the vast first floor, her eyes seemed entranced by the well-coiffed heads of people occasionally passing by the hall. Eventually, her hand dangled down.
Internally, Nuarlan thought, Now, now is the time to loosen my grip.
That’s when it happened.
“What are you doing, brother?”
Neris didn’t miss the fleeting uncomfortable expression on Nuarlan’s face.
Even the most audacious villain flinches when caught, and that moment transformed all of her internal suspicions into certainties.
Dressed in the same white silk nightgown Diane wore as a child, and a purple robe adorned with golden tassels, Neris stood dignified like a young princess.
After blinking twice at her unreadable, mature smile, Nuarlan regained his usual easy grin.
“I was showing Diane the first floor.”
Too late, Nuarlan berated himself.
The plan had changed too rashly from the beginning.
He hadn’t believed Heather’s words that a woman working under Angelo was investigating this scheme with Neris.
However, it was true one of Angelo’s employees had disappeared, and Muriel was openly flaunting her stupidity. Even his timid father, Sibna, insisted that they should act quickly.
The Earl’s family, his uncle’s family, were all too good-hearted. The only observant one among them was Diane, but she was still young and followed her parents’ trusting advice without question.
Family?
What a joke. Just for being born first, his uncle became an Earl and his children nobles.
Yet, just for being born late, Nuarlan’s father remained a knight, and neither Nuarlan nor Muriel were nobles.
Under imperial law, grandchildren who currently hold titles were nobles, but their cousins were not. Thus, upon their grandfather’s death, Nualan and Muriel lost all their previous privileges. What kind of familial love could exist in such unfair circumstances?
Law oppressed people like this, so they had no choice but to find their own solutions.
The idea of using Diane’s “condition” came up less than a year ago.
Sivna, who was anxious because his business ventures were not going well, and Nualan, who was annoyed by Joyce’s rising prominence within the McKinnon Corporation, found their vague desires taking shape when Angelo Railing appeared before them.
The Earl and Joyce were already too well-established. Their only clear and singular weakness was Diane, the youngest, born late and adored by everyone.
They had planned to send the entire family abroad from the beginning. Diane had been diagnosed with a lifetime of leg issues when she was young, but the Earl and Joyce did not give up.
Creating a fictional character named Remarter and then seeing his naïveté was almost laughable.
Once they passed on the title and left the country, what did it matter if they died in some field?
Heder and Muriel were assigned roles to make Diane want to leave the country and to make her hate her own legs. Muriel’s actions were straightforward, almost confrontational, but Heder was truly skilled in manipulation.
It was regrettable that Diane was too stubborn to be easily swayed, but her will was not so important to the plan, so it didn’t matter much.
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.
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