As Kaizen mentioned, the water in the garden began to rise.
“Kaizen!”
“Yes, Duke!”
Responding to the urgent call, Kaizen rushed to Duke Haribo.
“Immediately find Countess Roger!”
“…Yes?”
“Search every corner of the villa for her. I’ll check around the garden…”
The man giving instructions with a sinking gaze suddenly blurred his words, looking at one place.
A person riding on a horse through the rain that falls like arrows.
A knight’s attire glimpsed between the flipped black cloak.
‘A female knight?’
For a man, she was too petite.
“Hey, going that way is dangerous.”
In front of the entrance, the knight’s horse, which seemed unstoppable as if it wouldn’t stop for anything, rushed through the entrance and into the garden.
‘Who is it?’
Duke Haribo, momentarily taken aback by the unidentified knight’s appearance, opened his eyes wide.
Just as he was about to look at Kaizen again and give instructions to find Lamein, at that moment,
“Oh. Isn’t that Lord Cedric Roger?”
Kaizen murmured, looking over my shoulder.
“Cedric?”
Duke Haribo, who quickly turned his head, slowly raised his eyebrows.
Another person riding through the rain on horseback.
As Kaizen said, it was Cedric.
Jet-black hair soaked with rain.
Underneath, long, extended blue eyes held a colder light than ever before.
Just like the female knight who had passed by a little while ago, Cedric’s horse rushed into the garden in a frantic manner.
‘Is he here to find Lamein?’
Duke Haribo, who had been staring with narrowed eyes, blinked slowly. And then,
“Kaizen, first check if Countess Roger is inside the villa.”
He turned back to the path he had just walked out of.
“Cough! Cough! Cough!”
Lamein, painfully coughing, raised her upper body.
“What’s this! Co… Cough!”
Tears formed in her eyes as she continuously vomited rainwater swallowed through her nose and mouth.
Spitting out the mud that had entered her mouth, she looked around the surroundings in a daze with bloodshot eyes.
A black space covered in darkness.
The dim light filtering through the small window covered with bars on one side of the wall couldn’t properly illuminate the front.
‘Capture her immediately!’
The woman’s voice echoing through the rain and the pain felt from her head came to mind.
It was clear that they had confined her here.
“Is this an underground warehouse?”
Lamein quickly got up from her seat.
For a moment, while holding her throbbing head with her hands, she looked down at the floor.
Rainwater had risen up to her ankles.
She had painfully awakened by swallowing the rising water.
Shoaaa.
An enclosed dark space.
The echoing sound of rain became even more intimidating.
Water pouring relentlessly through the small window.
Water starting to rise at an increasingly faster speed.
The small trembling body began to shake in fear.
“Let’s calm down for now. Lamein. Calm down.”
She clenched her trembling hands tightly.
Turning her head to one side, she looked at a wall.
Her gaze stopped at a door made of iron along the stairs.
With water rising up to her knees, she approached the stairs with difficulty.
Grasping the heavy dress hem soaked in water, she lifted it.
And as she climbed up the stairs one by one,
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.
Water started pouring terrifyingly through the small window.
Turning her head to look at the window, Lamein’s pupils shook violently.
The lake water that had begun to engulf the ground had reached the front of the storage where Lamein was trapped.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Like a small fist pounding, it hit the door.
“Is there anyone there! There are people here!!”
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
“Someone is here!! No one is here!!”
The harsh sound of the iron door and desperate voices alternately echoed.
“Haa… Haa…”
Disheveled breaths escaped in a frantic manner.
“It won’t work.”
Lamein, who had barely swallowed her breath, slowly scanned the dark warehouse.
Her eyes, which brushed against objects floating on the water up to her waist, were fixed on one place.
A pipe lying on the table against the wall.
After hesitating for a moment, Lamein jumped into the water.
The sensation of dampness enveloping her entire body sent shivers down her spine.
Struggling to move her steps, she reached out for the pipe on the table.
“…Ah. Why is it so heavy.”
It wasn’t easy to walk through the water with the unexpectedly heavy pipe in hand.
Splash, splash, splash.
…!
Now, the lake water, which had risen higher than the height of the basement warehouse window, began to pour in like a water cannon.
Lamein, who had been looking helplessly, opened her eyes wide.
“There’s no time for this.”
Muttering to herself, she headed back to the stairs.
Now finding the submerged stairs, she barely escaped the water.
Thud! Thud!
She struck the door forcefully with the pipe.
“Please!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The impact of hitting the door made her hands and wrists tingle.
But the door showed no signs of budging.
Thump.
She dropped the unexpectedly heavy pipe into the water.
Splash, splash, splash.
And then, without making any sound, she knocked on the door.
Now, the thought that it was the end crossed her mind.
Stopping on the last step, she stood still, quietly watching the rising water.
She was someone who was about to die anyway.
But she had never anticipated the moment when death would approach her.
…Wouldn’t she be afraid?
Wouldn’t she blame the world and resent someone?
The thoughts she had roughly sketched out passed by in an instant.
Now, gazing blankly at her face, which was gradually being engulfed by the encroaching water, a sad smile crept over her lips.
‘Strangely, or perhaps… it feels like my mood is getting better.’
‘Because I came. It’s okay now. Relax, madam.’
‘It felt good to be recognized as the master’s person.’
‘Don’t worry. If anything happens to you, I’ll definitely save you.’
The memories that couldn’t linger were all warm.
…So, it was sad.
A sudden rush of emotions made her eyes well up with warmth.
Now, water had risen from her chest to below her neck.
Lamein, with watery eyes, slowly closed her eyelids.
At the villa’s garden and behind the building.
“Why is it so wide!”
Cedric, who was riding his horse in a frantic manner, pulled the reins.
Tadak. Tadak. Tadak.
Accompanied by the sound of wet hooves.
“Lord, perhaps Lady is not near the garden. Could she be inside the villa?”
Approaching Sylvia spoke with a rough voice mixed with breath.
“If she’s inside the villa, it’s safer. Let’s check the outside first.”
“Yes. There is a path over there.”
The two rushed towards the unexplored area.
“The water has already risen too much on this side, hasn’t it?”
The footsteps of the horse, which had risen above the ankles, gradually slowed down.
“Let’s take a closer look.”
“Yes.”
Cedric, who was surveying the surroundings with heightened senses, suddenly raised one hand.
The eyes of Sylvia, who had stopped her horse in an instant, flashed fiercely.
Among several buildings that looked like warehouses, a man was guarding in front of one building.
“It’s Zion’s attendant. I’ve seen him befo…!”
Before Sylvia could finish her sentence, she opened her eyes wide at Cedric, who rushed forward.
“Whoa! What the…! Ahhh!”
At that moment, when the man, who was looking at Cedric approaching with a fierce momentum, was about to run away in fear.
Swish.
Cedric’s blade, cutting through the darkness, swiftly severed the man’s throat.
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.”
