Since my true identity would likely be revealed to Prince Norton tomorrow, it seemed like a good idea to walk through the silver birch forest with him and have a separate conversation.
“Yes, please. It’s an honor.”
Prince Norton willingly followed me.
“Bonis, guide him well.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Commander Markrom continued to wear a puzzled expression due to the prince addressing me with such respect, but without further inquiry, he bid me farewell.
“Prince Norton, then I’ll see you later. If you ever need a sparring partner, feel free to call me.”
“Thank you.”
It’s so awkward, really.
I left the training ground with Prince Norton and entered the silver birch forest path.
I needed to bring up the conversation quickly before arriving at the Empress’s palace, but my mouth wouldn’t move.
Recalling Commander Markrom’s story earlier, I decided to talk to Prince Norton.
“Your Highness, if you’ve arrived in the Raphion Empire today, have you not yet met the Empress?”
Squawk, squawk, squawk [dash].
After some hesitation, I finally spoke, but somewhere, a flock of crows cawed loudly.
It felt oddly ominous.
“Yes, I plan to request an audience and greet Her Majesty formally tomorrow. I’ll be accompanied by the Empress. Oh, and… Your Highness, are you also participating in the hunting competition?”
“Yes, I came here because there’s a particular creature I want to hunt.”
“Oh, what kind of creature is it?”
“A very cunning and dangerous creature.”
Prince Norton’s voice sounded oddly cold.
“Dangerous? Well, as far as I know, there are no monsters in the forests of the northern continent where the hunting competition is held.”
“I didn’t come to hunt monsters. It’s a creature that may not be a monster, but it’s harmful to humans…”
What is he saying?
Prince Norton seemed to be choosing his words carefully.
“The Empress will surely participate, won’t she?”
“Yes… Yes?”
I, like a fool, answered Prince Norton’s question naturally and then flinched.
Should I confess the truth at this point?
Before I knew it, the silver birch forest path ended, and we arrived at a field covered in rapeseed flowers.
I gazed at the Empress’s palace in front of me and slowly turned my head to Prince Norton.
“Um… Your Highness.”
“Yes, Empress.”
!
I had a feeling, and it turns out… Prince Norton already knew my true identity.
But when did he find out?
How does he know my face?
I called Prince Norton and couldn’t continue speaking, just stared at him in surprise.
I needed to confirm once again whether he truly knew about my identity.
“Just now… What did you say?”
“The Empress probably doesn’t know about my existence, but I’ve encountered you several times in the royal palace.”
“…Where? In the Shat’onyl royal palace?!”
While I froze in astonishment, Prince Norton nodded with a relaxed expression, unlike my rigid face.
“With so many people in the palace, how do you remember me…?”
I tried to sound composed, but the tension in my tone revealed my anxiety.
“No, more importantly, why did you visit the Shat’onyl royal palace?”
I bombarded Prince Norton with consecutive questions.
“I had a mercenary knight order that I employed from the palace.”
“Ah!”
The Shat’onyl royal family once called in a specialized mercenary knight order to eliminate a troublesome Rank 1 monster that was destroying diamond mines.
However, why is Prince Norton in the mercenary knight order?
“At the time when the power struggle occurred in my homeland, the Partsha Empire, I left the empire, concealed my identity, joined the mercenary knight order, and traveled to various places. Eventually, my journey led me to the Shat’onyl Kingdom.”
“Ah, I see. I apologize; I didn’t know.”
“No need to apologize. Since we haven’t met before, it’s natural not to know me.”
Prince Norton raised one hand and smiled.
“So, how did you…?”
“I happened to see Empress and you near the gorge where I used to take walks frequently.”
“That gorge, by any chance?!”
Upon Prince Norton’s words, sweat trickled down my spine.
“Yes, the Poedyn Gorge near the royal palace.”
If he saw me there… Did he witness what I did in the water?
I sometimes enjoyed entering the stream in the gorge and swinging my sword. I liked the feeling of the resistance of the water against the movements of my hand and arm holding the sword. When faced with the pressure as if confronting a formidable opponent, unable to move my body freely, my body and the sword always came up with new solutions to break free. It was a place where I felt a peculiar sense of pleasure alone, although I never thought someone might secretly be watching.
“I was the commander. I wanted to approach and talk to you several times, but it seemed inappropriate.”
That… He wasn’t seeing me for the first time in the gorge?
“Why?”
Even if Prince Norton spoke to me in the gorge, it might not have been a pleasant encounter, but I was curious about the reason.
“Every time you came out of the gorge, your clothes were soaked, and I couldn’t bring myself to start a conversation.”
“!”
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.”
