Earlier this year, I accidentally overheard the royals whispering in the lounge at the royal banquet.
Duke Martins’s ideal type is a pitiful woman who has been left alone, whether through divorce or death.
“Is your taste really in lonely women? Or has it always been a coincidence?”
The Duke was taken aback as if he had been caught meeting his mistress in secret at night.
I felt a bit satisfying seeing his usually arrogant self not knowing what to do.
“It’s all…… a misunderstanding.”
“My, so Prince Tesler’s information was all wrong?”
“It, it must be.”
Duke Martins’s jaw muscle tensed.
I nodded as if I believed his words.
The Duke clenched his fists. It seemed like he was thinking about Prince Tesler, who he believed had exposed two of his secrets.
What if he asks Prince Tesler directly later?
Well, I wasn’t afraid even if my lie was exposed.
After all, I am much better at fencing than the Duke who is a dummy at it.
If he feels wronged, let him charge at me.
“Your Majesty, this conversation is also a secret. You know?”
Duke Martins whispered to me with a pleading look in his eyes as he glanced at the servants following us.
“Let’s see.”
“……Yes?”
“I’m joking.”
“You’re really good at…… hurtful jokes.”
“Isn’t it more cruel if it’s true and hurtful?”
“……Ah.”
“Even if it’s hurtful, it’s better to be a joke. Isn’t it?”
“Well, you’re right about that…… Ha!”
Duke Martins ended his words uneasily and slapped his forehead with his hand.
It seemed like a “bang” sound came from his forehead, which made me laugh.
Having a nonsensical conversation, we arrived at the front of the imperial palace before we knew it.
“Duke, try looking for them here in the Lapion Empire. Aren’t there lonely ladies here too? Then, take care on your way back.”
I cheerfully said goodbye and turned around, leaving the Duke with his shocked face behind.
“Your Majesty.”
Duke Martins called me and quickly walked up to me.
“Thank you for the advice.”
“You’re welcome.”
I replied with a flat tone.
“Come to think of it…… it seems like my taste is really as Your Majesty said. I’ll try looking for it. Maybe Your Majesty will be on the list of candidates.”
Duke Martins tilted his head slightly and said.
What’s he saying? This fencing dummy?
[Star Icon][Star Icon][Star Icon]“I’ve never had a moment of peace.”
I recalled the events of the day as I soaked in the bathtub with my eyes closed.
I was totally exhausted because my emotions had been on a roller coaster ride all day.
My husband, who I’ve only been married to for a few days, has a new woman.
And not just one, but four.
But of course, he is not a normal husband, but the emperor of a country.
Moreover, I’m just a temporary empress who will leave after a short stay.
So I shouldn’t care about it.
“Yes, I know. But……”
I’m having a fit of anger.
“Oh? It’s starting again.”
I opened my eyes at the sound of bubbles popping on the surface of the water.
The water, which was very cold at first, had risen to the temperature where steam was coming up.
The temperature of the water changes according to my mood, and today it’s almost like hot spring water.
I poured out the bathwater that had become hot like hot spring water several times with a big pearl shell.
Then I scooped cold water from the wooden bucket next to me and poured it into the bathtub to make it lukewarm again.
Then, there was a noisy sound from outside the bathroom.
“Your, Your Majesty! I will go in first and tell you. Her Majesty the Empress has ordered not to let anyone in. Therefore, we can’t go in during the bath time!”
“I’m not ‘anyone’, am I?”
“So, sorry. Your Majesty! My rudeness……”
I heard Rinel’s angry voice and Sharon’s frightened voice.
“Step aside at the bathroom door, and that’s enough for you to know your place. Step aside.”
Clang.
With Rinel’s words, the bathroom door opened immediately.
Phew, I did well to mix the cold water in advance.
I almost lied that the hot spring water had exploded in the bathroom.
I didn’t know what to do at his unexpected appearance, so I moved around clumsily in the bathtub.
Meanwhile, his voice came through a transparent curtain.
“Why are you trying to be polite in that situation? Just sit as you are.”
At Rinel’s words, I huddled back in the bathtub.
Then I realized that I hadn’t put on a single swimsuit.
The dizziness came late.
What was I thinking getting up naked?
No matter how polite I was in greeting, my outfit was already impolite!
“Are you taking a bubble bath?”
His voice came again from behind the curtain.
His shadow stretched long on the bathroom floor.
“Ah, no. There are… no bubbles.”
I replied, looking down at the clear water in the bathtub.
“Then it seems impossible to converse in that state.”
“…I suppose so.”
“Just a moment.”
“Huh? Your Majesty?!”
Rinel suddenly opened the door connected to the bedroom and went in.
I raised my voice and desperately called out to him who had entered the bedroom.
“Uh… I was just about to finish my bath! So, I can get out of the bathtub!”
“Stay put!”
Rinel raised his voice at me in the same way.
A moment later, his voice came near the bathroom door.
“I’m about to come in again, so you just need to stay still.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry about my eyes. Understand?”
“Yes……”
What is he trying to do?
I hugged my two knees, which were raised, with both arms.
Rinel, cutting through the steam rising like fog, came closer and closer.
He was dressed comfortably.
His two clenched fists slowly unfurled above the bathtub.
And from his two hands…
“Will this make our conversation a little easier?”
Red rose petals fluttered.
The rose petals, falling like snow, hid my body reflected in the water of the bathtub.
“Did I pluck too many?”
He looked regretfully at the bathtub, shaking his hand, muttering.
“If I knew it wouldn’t show anything, I would have plucked just a handful of flowers.”
“……”
For a man who had admitted four concubines this afternoon, his gaze was too shy.
At Rinel’s roselike seductive smile, I started to blush like a rose.
Then, the lukewarm water bubbled up for a moment and water droplets sprouted again.
Rinel, who had glanced down at the bathtub, widened his eyes and asked me.
“Zelda, you’re not being rude in the bathtub, are you?”
“……That, that comment seems to be ruder?”
I retorted at him with a heated face.
He leaned his head back and laughed as if he expected this reaction from me.
His laughter echoed loudly in the bathroom.
I glanced at the bathroom door.
I was worried about what kind of fantasies the attendants waiting outside might be spreading, hearing the emperor’s laughter seeping out from the bathroom.
“Your Majesty, can you please lower your laughter?”
“Why, are you worried about the attendants outside?”
“A little.”
“Really? Then I’ll go and order them to stay away.”
Rinel turned his body towards the bathroom door.
“Wait a minute!”
I quickly stopped Rinel.
“What.”
He turned to me, raising his neat eyebrows.
“If you give such an order, the misunderstanding will grow even more?”
“So what should I do.”
“Just laugh as much as you want.”
“Huh, a queen who is considerate of the attendants… Unique.”
Rinel chuckled and approached me again.
“What’s going on tonight?”
“Do I need a reason to visit the queen’s quarters?”
“It’s not like that… If you had let me know in advance, I would have finished my bath quickly and greeted you.”
“That’s why.”
Rinel put his hand in the bathtub and stirred the water.
“Huh? Ah.”
As he took his hand out of the bathtub again, he flicked water on my face and grinned.
“So, I just came.”
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.”
