“Hmm, depending on who you meet inside, you may need to fix the door when leaving.”
Isaac couldn’t understand Anvakh’s words filled with pure goodwill, but he didn’t have the inclination to stop her or ask further questions, so he went along with it.
As she said, the person in front of him is not Taren.
As the sole heir of a family that can fill a lake with money, whatever Isaac is involved in is unlikely to be of concern.
And, he thought several times, she’s really a strange person.
Unable to cut his hair because it’s weird, Isaac, who hasn’t realized that his compatibility with this strange person has been surprisingly good since their first meeting, weakly pushed the slightly sagging door.
Despite the curtains hanging, the house, which was dim even in broad daylight, momentarily brightened.
After Isaac opened the door and stepped back, Anvakh stepped into the house first.
She looked around while taking off her robe hood, not bothering to ask who was there.
If someone was supposed to come out when called, they would have come out when she knocked.
Anvakh, observing the tidiness of the house more than expected, turned her head towards Isaac. Without asking anything, Isaac gestured to indicate that there was someone in the only room inside the house. Anvakh stealthily moved her steps.
When the scratching sound, emanating from the old latch, echoed loudly, Anvakh stopped her stealthy movement and, in an ordinary-sized voice, asked, “Where are they?”
“Over there.”
“In the closet?”
“Yes. They are hiding.”
Following Isaac’s casual gesture towards the wardrobe, Anvakh moved.
[Dash] Click.The small wardrobe door opened easily without resistance, and eventually, Anvakh and Isaac discovered a small figure crouched inside.
“A child…?”
Anvakh, sitting in the corner of the wardrobe, looked at the child burying their face in their knees and widened her eyes.
“No wonder the presence was noticeably weak. It’s a child.”
Isaac, with an unimpressed expression, only looked down at the small head of the child. As the child seemed unresponsive, Anvakh reached out towards the child.
However, just before her hand touched the child, the child flinched sharply and huddled even smaller.
Reacting to the child’s response, Anvakh withdrew her hand and spoke.
“Hello. I’m Anvakh. I apologize for suddenly intruding like this, but we’re on friendly terms with your brother.”
It wasn’t a lie, but it sounded suspicious enough. However, whether it was because of Anvakh’s voice, tone, or both, somehow the dubious words sounded trustworthy. The child, with their head buried in their knees, subtly raised their head at Anvakh’s gaze.
Without rushing the child and waiting patiently, Anvakh, upon making eye contact with the child, smiled widely and said, “Since you can’t escape anyway, just come out.”
To the cheerful words from Anvakh, the child clenched their fists, but after rolling their eyes for a moment, they obediently came out of the wardrobe, standing awkwardly.
“You’re a smart kid.”
Praising the child, who seemed quite quick-witted, Anvakh asked again, “You’re from the Levoir family, right? What’s your name?”
Though the face was innocent, and the voice was lively, there was an oddly pressuring atmosphere. As per the words of the distinguished person in front of me, I can’t escape anyway. I’ve probably already seen what happened with a single gesture from the man behind me, staring at me with fox eyes.
Oh… Since they said they’re on friendly terms with my brother, maybe I can hear news about my brother who hasn’t returned for a few days.
With a slightly hopeful yet resigned expression, the child, with lips pursed, spoke softly, “Sh-Sugar.”
“Alright. Good job. Sugar, huh.”
Anvakh, without abruptly asking Sugar anything, took some time to observe the child. Despite living in such an unfamiliar and dangerous place, Sugar seemed to have no visible injuries. Even the cheeks were quite plump, not typical of a child living in such a place, suggesting a good overall appearance.
Seeing that the skin was fair and the hands didn’t seem rough, it appeared that the servant referred to as “brother” had been quite well cared for. Anvakh approached Isaac and whispered, “It seems the servant is a better person than I thought, seeing how well they raised their sibling.”
However, Isaac, without whispering, denied in a voice not small enough for the child not to hear, “They might have raised them well to sell. There are always those who desire beautiful girls.”
“No way. Slave trading is strictly prohibited within the Empire.”
Dealing with people was always a matter that brought a smile to Anvakh’s face, but it became a serious issue, enough to freeze her expression, and Isaac casually added, “That’s why there are even more people looking for it. Moreover, while it is prohibited in the Empire, there are certainly kingdoms where human trafficking is openly accepted.”
“It’s rotten.”
“It is indeed.”
Anvakh spoke with genuine disdain, and Isaac shared the sentiment. For a moment, the two stared at each other without saying anything, then both turned their eyes towards the child. Sugar, who received the combined gaze, shrank with an uneasy demeanor, trembling slightly.
Observing the child, Isaac bluntly remarked, “Even if they were planning to raise and sell, they wouldn’t treat them this well.”
In response to Isaac’s words, Sugar, with shoulders hunched even more and trembling with a sweet voice, opened their mouth, “Th-they weren’t planning to sell me. My… brother always said I’m the most important.”
“Yeah. If that’s what your brother says.”
Anvakh carefully untangled Sugar’s messy hair, messed up from hiding in the wardrobe, and asked, “Where is your brother now?”
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.”
