I quickly moved my hands to attack the opponent’s vital points.
However.
“Greetings, Your Majesty the Queen.”
A familiar male voice.
Who was it?
It was definitely a voice I had heard before, but I was too flustered to think calmly.
If there had been any signs of him wanting to harm me even a little, I would have attacked immediately, but the man only covered my face with a black cloth and didn’t pose any threat.
The cloth covering my face was slowly removed.
It turned out to be the robe that the man was wearing.
“Who…?”
“Hush, just a moment.”
As I raised my head to get a closer look at the man’s face, he grabbed my shoulders and gently lowered me to sit.
He unfolded his robe and draped it over my head again.
In a blink of an eye, I found myself sitting down with the man.
Fortunately, the white kitten was quietly nestled in my lap.
Due to both of us bowing together, I could see the face of the man who had flipped his robe from up close.
Surprisingly, he…
“Prince Norton?”
He nodded silently.
Curious about what on earth was going on, I stared at him.
Prince Norton gestured with his fingers when I nodded.
I followed his gaze to a man and a woman in strange attire in the distance on the field.
What are they doing over there?
Why do I have to be involved in this?
And what about this kitten that jumped into my arms?
And now, Prince Norton suddenly appears…
Many questions arose all at once, but for now, I decided to watch the two people Prince Norton pointed at.
They seemed to be having a conversation, but they didn’t appear to know each other well from the atmosphere.
When they finished their conversation, it was as the woman tried to pass by the man.
“Ugh!”
A short scream escaped the tightly closed lips of the man as the girl’s hair, braided into two strands, fell on the man’s shoulder, tapping his forehead.
After a moment, the man stepped back.
The girl raised one hand towards the man and then collapsed to the ground lifelessly.
“Gasping.”
I was startled by the sudden turn of events, and as I flinched, I fell backward.
Prince Norton grabbed my arm and supported me.
The man who had just killed the girl seemed to have heard our movement, slowly walking towards us.
Prince Norton quickly reached for the hilt of the sword at his waist.
I mentally prepared myself as well.
Regardless of who he was, if that man attacked us, we couldn’t just stand there.
Prince Norton and I held our breath, listening to the careful footsteps of the approaching man.
The man’s footsteps were extremely cautious.
But when no more unusual sounds came from this side, the man didn’t approach any further. Instead, he turned towards the direction of the Empress’s palace and ran towards the garden.
Prince Norton and I, still crouched, covered our heads with our robes and spent a few minutes in silence.
Feeling like it was about time to get up, I looked at Prince Norton, and he simultaneously turned his head towards me.
“Shall we stand up?”
“Yes.”
We both rose to our feet.
“Are you okay, Your Majesty the Empress?”
“No, not at all. What on earth is going on?”
I gestured with my eyes towards the servant lying in the middle of the field, already looking lifeless.
“I happened to witness this servant running away from the West Palace through the main palace to this place.”
“If it’s from the West Palace, there’s a high chance it’s a servant from one of the concubines’ residences. But running away? Avoiding that man from earlier?”
The situation was completely incomprehensible.
Prince Norton paused for a moment and spoke cautiously.
“Well, the truth is… I followed the bodyguard of Prince Tesla, who was chasing that servant.”
“Oh, that man from earlier… He was the bodyguard of Prince Tesla?!”
I asked, recalling Ken Kyung, the bodyguard of Prince Tesla.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“But why would the bodyguard of Prince Tesla be chasing a servant from the concubines’ residences?”
And why did Prince Norton go to the West Palace, where the concubines’ residences were gathered, in the middle of the night?
Prince Norton seemed to know something but hesitated, as if debating whether to tell me.
“Could it be that the servant witnessed something? So…”
Having a suspicion of my own, I subtly hinted at Prince Norton.
Upon that, he nodded willingly.
Could it be that the servant witnessed the meeting between Prince Tesla’s spy, planted in the Raphion Imperial Palace, and someone here?
So, did Ken Kyung chase the servant and ultimately commit murder?
These crazy people…
“Then, did you see where the servant was in the West Palace?”
“In a place midway between the concubines’ residences… Oh, it was behind the palace, where there is a large bird tree.”
“I see.”
I don’t know exactly where behind the palace there is a bird tree, but if it’s a place midway between the residences of the four concubines…
Pessilini?
Was she a spy?
“It seems to be the residence of Pessilini, a court lady of Count Asto.”
“I see.”
Prince Norton wasn’t particularly surprised.
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.”
