“Thank you so much, your grace. I found myself in a strange place and had no idea where to go. I can’t imagine what would have happened to me if you hadn’t helped. The very thought terrifies me.”
I have never seen a child speak so clearly and fluently in all my three years of working at a kindergarten. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve never cared for a sevenyearold before.
Anyway, I stared at Sicar as if asking him if he had ever seen such a clever child, but as usual, he looked uninterested.
How can he not be moved by such a cute child? He’s so coldhearted!
“You must have been scared. The carriage is going to shake a lot, so hold my hand tight. Lucy.”
“You seem to be a very kind person, your grace. I consider myself lucky to have met you again.”
She’s so cute that I’m on the verge of tears.
I gave a gentle smile and tightly wrapped my arm around Lucy’s shoulders.
“Right? I also just met you and thought I was lucky.”
“Really? I can’t express how honored I am to hear that from you, your grace.”
Lucy smiled brightly. If only Sicar hadn’t been there, she would have kept this smile until we reached the count’s mansion.
Sicar seemed annoyed and scratched his ear, then looked at Lucy and again wore a stern expression.
“I wish for a quiet ride, Lucy.”
I was worried that Lucy would be scared or disheartened, but as the protagonist, Lucy calmly replied.
“Yes… your grace.”
Lucy wasn’t a mature or precocious character. Inside the count’s mansion, she was a huge crybaby and a troublemaker. However, outside, she didn’t want to hear that she was a child who grew up without a mother, so she was careful not to disgrace the family.
She was pretending to be calm for now, but I thought she might burst into tears once we reach the count’s mansion. But looking at Lucy’s face, it seemed like she would start crying even before we got there.
Lucy was gritting her teeth to hold back tears.
As the saying goes, comforting a child on the verge of crying only makes them cry more. I whispered in Lucy’s ear.
“Lucy, you’re a very mature lady, aren’t you? I would have cried.”
Lucy, who was on the brink of crying, brightened up as if nothing had happened.
Lucy continued to keep her mature demeanor until we reached the count’s mansion. And I was entranced by the protagonist’s cute demeanor.
[Star Icon][Star Icon][Star Icon]“Please come in, Duke Blake, Duchess Blake. I can’t express my gratitude for finding our daughter.”
A gentle yet dignified charisma filled with kindness and grace. This was my first impression of Leydocks.
However, even he seemed to show subtle caution in his gaze when looking at Sicar. Rather than being thankful for finding Lucy, it felt like he was questioning the intention behind finding her.
“Would tea be alright?”
I can’t drink tea, so I’m considering asking for a glass of water.
“Not bad. But prepare a cup of milk tea.”
Sicar ordered my favorite milk tea with an indifferent expression.
“Milk tea, this is the first time I’ve heard of it.”
“It’s just mixing milk with tea. Prepare it with two spoons of tea and eight spoons of milk.”
Leydocks instructed the maid beside him to prepare the tea as Sicar had said.
I’m grateful that Sicar, who remembered my preference for milk tea over tea, ordered for me, but since we were the guests, I said with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“Thank you for your considerate gesture, Count.”
By the way, milk tea should be a novelty in this world.
No matter how skilled a chef is, it’s customary to break a sweat when preparing something for the first time, so I silently wished good luck to the chef who would be struggling in the kitchen around this time.
“Ah, Lucy tells me she has obtained a shawl. We will make sure to clean the shawl and send it back.”
“No, please keep the clothing. I want to give it to Lucy as a commemorative gift for our meeting.”
“Ah, I see. We are grateful once again for the deep kindness of the Duchess.”
“Don’t mention it. But how did Lucy end up lost alone in that distant place?”
Before speaking, Rinel Gideon Edipa let out a restrained sigh.
“Lucy is the youngest of my twins. When the twins were young, my wife battled an illness and eventually went to heaven. I couldn’t bring myself to tell the children that their mother had become a star in the sky. But after one day seeing a young girl choosing a dress with her mother at a boutique, she started looking for her mother.”
Rinel Gideon Edipa wore a gloomy expression, perhaps recalling that time.
“So I lied that her mother went to the fairyland, and since then she often leaves the house wanting to find the fairyland. I tried to raise the twins alone without making them feel lonely, but it was not easy to fill the void left by their mother.”
“That must have been hard for you.”
“I do feel heavyhearted thinking that it’s time to tell Lucy that her mother is in heaven, but it’s a problem that can’t be hidden forever.”
“I have a good idea.”
“A good idea?”
“But before that, can I ask a favor?”
“I’ll listen to the favor first and then consider it.”
“I have a sevenyearold child too. But he has no friends and is always alone.”
Rinel Gideon Edipa looked surprised at me, then at Sicar Blake, and after seeing Sicar Blake’s fierce look, he turned his gaze back to me.
“Is that so?”
The expression on Rinel Gideon Edipa’s face when looking at Sicar Blake seemed to say, “You’re a father to a sevenyearold at this age?” It would have been even more surprising because he probably thought Sicar Blake was single all this time.
“Ah, don’t misunderstand. The child was born before I met the Duke.”
Rinel Gideon Edipa looked at me as if to say ‘Is that so…?’ and I nodded.
Unaware that we were a pretend family, Rinel Gideon Edipa looked at Sicar Blake with even more surprise.
Who would have ever imagined that he would marry a woman with a sevenyearold child, given his temperament?
“I’ve heard that you personally educate your children without hiring a tutor. They say that you teach better than any tutor. I’ve heard there are many noblewomen who want to send their children to your lessons.”
“You’re suggesting…”
“Would it be possible for our child to receive those lessons as well, if it’s okay with you?”
Unable to hide his confusion, Rinel Gideon Edipa looked at Sicar Blake.
“Does the Duke also agree to this?”
Sicar Blake replied with a face that seemed to say there was nothing more to discuss.
“Do as my wife requests.”
Rinel Gideon Edipa clenched his teeth.
“That might be difficult.”
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.”
