As Akia descended from the carriage, a middle-aged butler appeared, as if waiting for him, and greeted him.
“Welcome, I am Butler Barton of Bellarus.”
He had neatly combed gray hair, wore round glasses, and spoke with a courteous demeanor.
“I’ll excuse myself for a moment. But where is Duke Bellarus?”
“The Duke is currently away on urgent business, and he is expected to return to the mansion in a few days. He instructed me not to be negligent in welcoming you on behalf of Duke Haidern. ”
“I see.”
The Duke nodded in acknowledgment of the butler’s concise report.
‘Can I go down now?’
Lea, who had been waiting inside the carriage as their conversation continued, cautiously tried to descend.
“Can you come down alone?”
“Yes. Well…”
Noticing Lea, the Duke approached her.
‘Even though others are watching…’
Being escorted by the Duke’s butler.
It was obvious how the people in the service of Duke Bellarus would view her. Lea, who inwardly sighed deeply, momentarily met the gaze of Bellarus’s butler.
However…
“…”
The butler’s eyes, entwined with hers, shook violently. As if someone who had seen something they shouldn’t have, his lips remained agape without closing.
“I apologize for the late introduction. This is my apothecary and personal physician.”
With the Duke’s smooth introduction, the butler’s gaze, which had momentarily turned to him, once again landed on Lea.
“Hello. I am Lea, the apothecary of Duke Haidern.”
“…Nice to meet you. I am Butler Barton of Bellarus Mansion.”
He, a seasoned butler, showed proper manners without a hint of clutter.
Although the voice of the non-judgmental butler seemed to tremble slightly, Lea dismissed it as unimportant.
The Duke sat in the reception room and listened to the report from the responsible person of Belaruskal.
According to Barton, Duke Bellarus had urgently left his territory due to a problem with the cultivation of the region’s specialty products.
During the Duke’s brief absence, a part of the mine had collapsed.
Originally, it would take about two weeks to resolve the issue related to the specialty product, but due to the collapse of the mine, he had to return urgently.
Akia tapped his fingers on the table.
“So, what is the current situation in the mine?”
“The location that collapsed this time is the third chamber, which is relatively large. However, it seems that Duke Haidern will not come down to the territory personally.”
Cox, the responsible person from Belaruskal, replied with an expression that seemed like he didn’t know whether the Duke would personally come down.
“Duke Bellarus said it’s always been an issue, so there’s nothing to worry about. However, now that the Duke has visited, please rest comfortably and recover from any fatigue.”
[Tap, tap.]Cox stopped talking, intending to continue, but halted at the sound of a knock. Following that, a maid who entered bowed her head and spoke to the two.
“Here comes the apothecary.”
“Let her in.”
Lea, dressed in a unfamiliar dress, walked slowly into the reception room as if she was waiting for that moment. The fabric of her dress, unfamiliar to the Duke, rustled and scattered in the air as she walked.
The Duke, who had been sitting and listening to the report, was taken aback by Lea’s dress, which he saw for the first time.
“Well… I did wear it because you gave it to me, but I don’t think it suits me at all, does it?”
Due to the carriage incident from the previous day, all the baggage she brought had been soaked in mud. Thanks to that, all her spare clothes were damaged, so she had to ask Butler Barton, the mansion’s steward, for clothes.
A white-haired Bellarus Duke living alone in the mansion.
Naturally, she thought there wouldn’t be suitable clothes for her to wear, so she was considering borrowing even a maid’s dress.
The steward, who seemed to be contemplating for a moment, handed her a somewhat old dress.
Ignoring the traces of time, the fabric seemed slightly faded, but at a glance, it was still an expensive dress.
Lea had never worn such a dress in her life, so her appearance felt unfamiliar to herself.
While waiting for the answer, Lea stood straight, facing Akia.
At that moment, a sharp sound of breaking dishes echoed through the room, and ceramic shards scattered on the floor.
[Dash] Crash!At the powerful sound resonating in the room, everyone turned towards the back entrance. The steward Barton stood frozen with a shocked expression.
“Steward, are you okay?”
Seeing the broken coffee pot and teacups under his feet, Lea asked with a concerned look.
“Ah…”
As if possessed by a ghost, he continued to stare only at Lea’s face with a soulless expression.
“Steward?”
Only after Lea asked again did he seem to come to his senses, trembling as he shook himself.
“This, this… I have been rude to our guests. I apologize.”
It was an unusual mistake for the elderly steward who had managed Duke Bellarus for over 30 years.
Barton quickly bowed his head in apology to both of them. Then, he instructed the incoming maid to clean up.
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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