In the end, I left the palace with Duke Martins and wandered through the garden.
For a while, we didn’t speak to each other.
I had nothing to say, and the duke seemed to be saving his words.
The duke, who had something to say, and I, who had something to hear, remained silent.
We walked and walked, smelling the fresh scent of grass.
“By now, the approval must have been granted.”
This was the first thing Duke Martins said to me after we left for the garden.
“Are you talking about the harem issue?”
“Yes, how do you feel?”
“I don’t know why you ask such a question, wanting to hear some kind of answer. You are the one who knows my identity best.”
If I were the real empress, the fool walking next to me would have been shattered by my hand by now.
“That’s why I am more curious to ask you. Have you fallen in love with His Majesty in the meantime?”
At Duke Martins’ words, my heart throbbed.
“Well, people’s emotions do change unexpectedly.”
“It sounds exactly like your experience, doesn’t it?”
“It’s funny to get such a question from the person in question.”
“……What did you say? What does that mean?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
The expression on Duke Martins’ face seemed to be hiding something quite different from his response.
I felt like he would grudgingly answer if I kept probing, but I wasn’t curious enough to dig any further.
Around the time when we changed our walk direction towards the endless field of sunflowers, Duke Martins started talking again.
“I say this without any malice, but Her Majesty the Empress is just staying here for a while. It’s not that you came to find your real husband.”
“Is my acting as the Empress so perfect? It seems like you’re giving such advice because you think I’ve forgotten my position.”
I asked back, as if arguing.
“I apologize if you were offended. If all the looks and expressions you had while looking at His Majesty were acting, then you are truly amazing.”
“……That’s a relief.”
I wanted to get out of this situation quickly.
“Duke, at this point, would you like to deliver your message?”
When I asked in a hurry, Duke Martins nodded, holding a meaningful smile on his face.
“It is said that the royal knights have found Princess Resilia.”
At that moment, my heart sunk.
If I had heard this news before the national soul, I would definitely have been relieved and happy.
But now, having spent time with him, I was not at all happy about the news.
It’s a big problem. This feeling is dangerous.
“Then, when will the princess… come to the Laphion royal family?”
“There seems to be a bit of a problem.”
“A problem? What happened?”
“Hmm, it seems that Princess Resilia is not in good health.”
“Did she get sick?”
“It’s not exactly a sickness, but the princess needs some time to take care of herself. I guess she must have been worn out from fleeing with a mercenary whose origin she didn’t know.”
“Yes, she probably was.”
I replied absentmindedly, staring into the void.
As the problem of introducing the harem and the issue of Princess Resilia were added, my head was throbbing mercilessly.
Which of the two problems is making me feel worse?
……I really don’t know.
Right now, all I desperately want is to return to my bedroom and go to bed early.
“I will immediately inform Her Majesty the Empress as soon as another news comes from the kingdom.”
“Please do so.”
I replied to Duke Martins and waved to Sharon, who was far away.
“Sharon, let’s go back to the Empress Palace now.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
While Sharon was walking towards us, Duke Martins quickly whispered to me.
“It might be good to establish discipline among the harems before Princess Resilia arrives at the palace.”
“Who?”
At Duke Martins’ sudden remark, my head tilted askew.
“Your Majesty, the Empress.”
The duke pointed at me with his chin.
“Why should I, do that?”
I asked back, lifting my shoulders as if protesting.
“Well… for Princess Resilia, who will be the empress in the future, and for your current self, the Empress?”
The tone of Duke Martins’ words seemed like he was making fun of me.
He waited for my reaction with a halfsmiling face.
At the moment when I wanted to stomp on Duke Martins’ shin like chopping down a tree with an axe, my ankle slightly lifted off the ground, but I endured.
When I was about to apply force to my foot, there was a sign of people from the opposite side of the sunflower field where we were standing.
“Your Majesty, from now on, we will be able to have meals together and take walks more often, right?”
“Catherine, surely you haven’t forgotten about that incident before our engagement?”
“Well, of course not. I really made a foolish mistake back then. There wasn’t a day I didn’t regret it.”
“Mistakes are things you make unknowingly. That was, you deceived me.”
It was Rinel and Catherine’s voices.
Duke Martins and I unintentionally overheard their conversation.
Something serious was being discussed.
“I most despise those who deceive me.”
With his cold voice, a cold wind blew through the sunflower field.
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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