“Why is the Count here……”
Flustered, Lea stepped back as Akkia entered the room, moving with a natural and familiar grace as if he owned the place.
As she blinked to comprehend the situation, Akkia casually slouched on the sofa and gestured with his chin.
“How long do you plan to stand there with that dumbfounded face?”
At his words, she hastily took a seat.
‘What on earth is happening?’
She was in the reception room at the top of Magnolia. The reception room used to welcome external guests by the owner of Magnolia.
And that fact revealed the identity of the man lounging on the sofa as if he owned the place.
“……Count. Could it be.”
Even as she spoke, she subtly asked, almost wishing it were not true. The notion that the sickly Count she’d known, who had been confined to his residence, was the owner of Magnolia seemed ludicrous.
Yet, Akkia’s response shattered her expectations.
“You seem shocked. From the looks of it, your usually sharp mind must’ve frozen.”
He grinned from ear to ear, resting his chin in his hand.
“I am the owner of this Magnolia.”
In her eyes, which had been shaking violently, horror surged forth.
‘The Count owns Magnolia……!!’
What was Magnolia?
The only rising power that threatened Parchia, the empire’s top commerce hub.
And the owner was a frail prince, one who could die at any moment.
She could confidently say that if this became known throughout the empire, it would be the year’s biggest gossip.
‘So that’s why no one has ever seen the owner of Magnolia.’
In critical situations, he must have used a proxy. He probably switched the proxy regularly to better conceal his identity.
Chills ran down Lea’s arms.
But then, she was struck by a realization. The memory of Berun being incredibly shocked when he saw the Count at Tren.
‘Wait, then my nutritional supplement contract…’
Regaining her composure, Lea asked the Count.
“Count, did you also arrange for me to supply the nutritional supplement?”
“I had it proposed because your desperate struggle to earn a few pennies was so pathetic.”
‘Heh.’
A sigh naturally escaped from Lea.
“Is that all you think?”
“……”
“When your hometown, Tren, suffered from a disaster, I specially supplied them with resources. Naturally, you wouldn’t be able to focus on making an antidote otherwise.”
While people often modestly hide their good deeds, unfortunately, Akkia had no such decorum.
The Count began reciting every small and big thing he had done, as if he wanted Lea to recognize them all.
“So, you sent me to Tren so I could focus on developing the antidote?”
“That’s right.”
“Then why did you come to Tren?”
“To monitor whether you were doing well.”
Akkia answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“What about the donation to the orphanage?”
“That was……”
He stopped his bold narrative.
“That’s like your home, isn’t it? Let’s say it’s a welfare measure for the employees.”
Though he threw out the words carelessly, Lea’s heart started pounding more violently than before.
Just when an awkward silence was beginning to settle between them, a knock sounded, and someone’s voice filled the room.
“Sorry to interrupt your good time, both of you.”
Though she thought they were alone, a man entered the room.
“When will you introduce me……”
Upon seeing the man’s face, Lea couldn’t help but be astonished once more. The man standing before her was none other than…
“……Rickel?”
“Hello, Lea.”
He waved one hand and let out an awkward smile.
Why on earth was that man here, too? Lea started piecing together the situation as she looked from one man to the other.
“Could it be, the highranking person Rickel serves is…”
“That’s right. The Count standing before you.”
Lea felt as if she had been hit on the back of her head with a hammer.
‘He’s been fooling me this whole time!’
The indignity of having been played in the palm of the Count’s hand loomed in her mind. But that thought was brief; a question sprouted within her.
‘Why reveal this to me now?’
Given he was a Count, it only made sense for him to keep secrets about the servant he had employed—her.
Why keep it hidden then? Why divulge all this information now?
Something felt off.
It felt like she had stepped into a quagmire with no escape.
Lea looked at the Count with uneasy eyes. Noticing her apprehension, he finally spoke.
“I wasn’t initially planning to tell you.”
His lips then curled up slightly.
“I changed my mind.”
“…What changed?”
Could you not change your mind without my consent?
“We’re not exactly strangers, are we?”
“If we’re not, then…”
“It’s a secret we shouldn’t keep if our lips have met.”
He added nonchalantly, smirking all the while.
(This is a time separator.)
In an afternoon basked in warm sunlight, within an office, a blond man sat, listening to the report from Lord Rodrigo.
His only cousin, Akkia.
Having been exiled to the remote Heidern territory, living a sickly life where death was always a possibility, the news of his coma had arrived.
‘Count Heidern’s comatose condition.’
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.”
