“Scream!”
I shrieked, narrowly avoiding the incoming arrows and throwing stars.
“Why are they attacking me? I’m not a bug or whatever they’re calling it!”
Despite my protests, the assault continued relentlessly. A palace servant charged at me, axe in hand.
“I didn’t provoke them, why are they attacking me? Aaah!”
“They usually attack the weaker ones first. Unlike beasts, they’re cowardly.”
Anselot spoke nonchalantly as he pierced the charging servant with his white spear.
“And, Princess, you look weaker compared to me.”
The servant attacking me fell right towards me.
“Ugh!”
“Scream!”
Thanks to Anselot, who swiftly caught me by the waist, I avoided the falling man.
“Pant, pant…”
Breathless, I stared at the fallen man, who was already dead.
It was the first time I witnessed someone’s death up close.
I wanted to cry out of fear, but there was no time for tears.
Another man in palace knight’s armor attacked, but Anselot countered swiftly, stabbing him in the abdomen.
“I’ll take care of these pests. Don’t get hurt, wait for me.”
With those words, Anselot left me and dove into the midst of the administrators.
My heart pounded as I watched the brutal battle unfold. Despite Anselot effortlessly taking down the administrators, their numbers were overwhelming.
Then, my eyes met Roana’s.
“…”
Instantly, Roana, wielding a dagger, charged at me with a speed reminiscent of Hezhen using a skill.
‘Damn, if only I had a weapon. Oh, a shield, any kind of protection…’
I recalled the time in the western garden of the Princess Palace when I formed a protective shield while facing Anselot. I tightly gripped the pendant around my neck, hoping for a reaction, but it remained unresponsive.
‘Please…’
As I opened my tightly shut eyes, Roana’s threatening face loomed before me, dagger raised.
“Scream!”
I rolled on the ground to dodge Roana’s dagger, then immediately grabbed her ankle, causing her to fall and drop the dagger.
Clink!
Roana and I both eyed the dagger on the ground, but I was quicker.
I grabbed the fallen dagger.
Roana, now weaponless, hesitated, then turned to flee.
“Ah!”
But she didn’t get far before collapsing with a dying scream. Anselot had thrown a spear of light at her fleeing back.
The white spear that pierced Roana disappeared into the air.
Anselot, lightly brushing off his hands, paused upon seeing me frozen at the sight of Roana’s death.
“Ah, this is…”
“…”
“Letting her go would have only brought more back to us. Once she saw us, she had to be eliminated.”
Anselot’s explanation, seemingly making excuses, felt odd to me.
“It’s not like I’m blaming you.”
Roana had clearly tried to kill me. I wasn’t so naïvely idealistic to question why my maid was killed in such a situation.
“That’s good to know.”
Relieved by my response, Anselot faintly smiled.
“I was worried you thought I was a mindless killer. I’m glad that’s not the case.”
‘Well, I do think you’re crazy…’
But there was no need to correct him.
I exhaled shortly, adjusting my disheveled clothing.
While I was disheveled from rolling on the ground, Anselot remained perfectly composed despite having faced numerous people.
“What exactly are they?”
“[System Cleaners]. Servants of the system who hunt and kill [Bugs].”
“But I’m not a bug or whatever!”
“You tried to escape the scenario.”
“……!”
Startled by Anselot’s casual response, I recalled the moment when I tried to escape the system’s control.
The terrible feeling when my body moved against my will, and the relief and liberation when I broke free.
“This world follows a massive scenario created by the system. And the system labels those trying to break out of its mold as bugs.”
“……”
Listening to Anselot, I felt strange.
I was sure of my free will, a living individual. To be eliminated just for stepping out of the system’s script felt like a denial of my very existence.
‘But how does Anselot know all this?’
The question flickered across my lips as I hesitated to ask him.
“Shall I help you?”
Anselot suddenly offered.
“Help me with what?”
His vague offer left me puzzled. He grinned and replied.
“Help you break free from the scenario.”
“But you destroyed the system window. And all the system cleaners are dead. So isn’t everything resolved?”
Anselot responded not with words, but with a meaningful smile.
And then,
Brrring!
The dreaded pink name window reappeared above my head.
“Ajester Empire’s Third Princess ”
Attributes: Lover, Terminal (Remaining Lifespan: Unknown)
“Why is that…!”
“Sadly, it wasn’t eliminated, just temporarily paralyzed.”
“……”
I bit my lower lip, glaring at the words above my head.
The annoying lover status was still there, and the terminal attribute remained. My lifespan was still ‘unknown’…
‘I need to hurry up and annul the engagement.’
A drop of cold sweat slid down my back.
‘Once it’s proven that Hezhen is impotent, I can annul our engagement…’
“It won’t be easy.”
Anselot suddenly spoke, as if reading my mind.
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.”
