We didn’t have any particular conversation for a while, but we could definitely feel the silent battle from the gazes coming and going. This was indeed a suffocating and fierce situation for me.
“By the way, the Duke of Blake himself revealed the embezzlement of the orphanage director, didn’t he?”
Sicar glanced at me as if to say, “You got me involved in this unnecessary matter…” and then responded.
“I just happened to discover it.”
“I was really surprised. I didn’t think you’d be interested in such a thing.”
“As a servant of His Majesty, I couldn’t ignore such a heinous incident happening right before my eyes.”
He usually would’ve beat around the bush. But, seeing him packaging his own achievements as Gillian’s grace, it seemed like Sicar was being a little humble this time.
Thanks to that, my nervous heart felt a little bit calmer.
“It’s very reassuring to have the Duke with Lecardor.”
“The Blake family will always stand with His Majesty as faithful subjects of the Kingdom of Lecardor.”
He never said anything like this in the original story. Since Sicar was always arrogant in front of Gillian, he was an outsider in Gillian’s eyes. Why is he suddenly acting so modest?
Then, I saw Hersia, with an uncomfortable look on her face, being guided over by a servant. Upon seeing Hersia, Gillian reached out as if welcoming a lovely sister.
“Come here, Hersia.”
Gillian greeted her warmly, but in reality, the two hadn’t met many times.
Hersia’s face, unable to hide her feelings, was full of discomfort. She awkwardly smiled and kissed Gillian’s extended hand.
“It’s been a while, Your Majesty.”
After greeting Gillian, Hersia immediately saluted the queen.
“Congratulations on your wedding, Your Highness. I am Hersia Mobiat of the Mobiat Count family, the maternal family of His Majesty.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you. Nice to meet you, Hersia.”
Hersia, who is not even Sicar’s real fiancée but a fiancée in the novel, looked smaller and cuter than described in the novel. Her shy, facehiding demeanor reminded me of myself.
“Here are the Duke and Duchess of Blake. Say hello.”
Hersia bowed her red face towards me in confusion.
“Ah, hello. It’s an honor to meet you, Duke, Duchess. I am Hersia Mobiat of the Mobiat Count family, the maternal family of His Majesty.”
Seeing her introduction longer than mine, I felt a kind of comradeship.
In fact, besides the introduction, I also felt a comradeship for being confined by a person named Sicar. Of course, for her, it must have only happened in the novel.
“Queen. I have something to discuss with the Duke. Please have a chat with the Duchess.”
“I shall do so, Your Majesty.”
Sicar only gave me a sign that he would be back, and then disappeared somewhere with Gillian without a word.
I wanted to get rid of Sicar, but he was the only one I could rely on here, so I was at a loss.
I wanted to say take me with you, but I couldn’t because the companion was Gillian.
“He seems to be going to talk about politics again.”
“Ah, I see.”
It’s uncomfortable.
If I had been alone with the queen, I might have suffocated. But seeing Hersia trembling to the point where her hands were visibly shaking, I felt a kinship with her.
Without her, I would have been the one shaking like that. It was comforting that she was there.
“Hersia seems to be quite shy.”
“I’m sorry for being so nervous. It’s been a while since I’ve been to such a big event since the debutante.”
Even though Hersia was shaking, she was speaking confidently. The queen gently placed her hand on Hersia’s trembling shoulder, smiling kindly.
“Feel at ease as you are the cousin of the king.”
“I am at a loss for how to respond to your grace.”
I really didn’t know what to do.
As the two were conversing, I was outwardly smiling, but my awkwardness was as apparent as Hersia’s.
“Duchess of Blake.”
“Yes, your majesty.”
“I heard you two had an unofficial wedding. The rumor is that the Duke had such a wedding to protect his foreign wife, right?”
Rumors sure have a way of spreading, but this one seems to have really taken off. No, it’s been blown way out of proportion.
Even Hersia, who had been consistently questioning ‘where am I, who am I’, seemed taken aback.
“Oh my! You mean it’s not a rumor, but real?”
“That’s right, Hersia.”
Our story, exaggerated as it was, seems to have relieved Hersia’s shyness.
I felt my face heating up and desperately needed a fan, but I tried my best to maintain a humble smile.
“It’s not that he was trying to protect me, but because I’m a foreigner, I think the Duke may have considered that the guests would find me strange. Your majesty.”
“It seems that the Duke has fallen for your humble nature.”
Fallen for me? Sicar would be surprised if he knew I thought of him as a pet human.
Come to think of it, I felt the glances of the noble ladies sneaking peeks at me.
‘Just how did my rumor spread like this? What’s going on?’
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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