Ding-dong.
Upon the sound of the doorbell, Yeonju, who was sitting on the sofa, turned her head. The housekeeper, checking the intercom screen, spoke to her.
“Big Madam is here.”
“Oh. She said she’d come today, but she’s here early. Please open the door.”
Yeonju immediately got up. After a while, Aran’s figure appeared as she opened the front door.
Aran had something in both hands. Yeonju approached to greet her.
“You’ve come. Mother.”
“Yes. Have you eaten?”
“I haven’t had lunch yet.”
“Good. I came early. Housekeeper, take this.”
The housekeeper approached. Aran began taking something out of the basket she was holding.
“This is gomtang I made by boiling beef bones and straining them since yesterday.
And these are vegetables grown by someone Grandpa knows on a farm. When you want to eat salad, use these. The ones sold in stores are full of pesticides.”
Large side dish containers piled up like a tower, appearing one by one.
“And this is radish kimchi I personally pickled. Try it when you have no appetite; it’s refreshing and delicious. And this is stir-fried anchovies, and this is jangjorim. Have them for lunch.”
“No… Why did you bring so much? It must have been hard…”
“What’s hard about it? It’s for you and our little one to eat; it’s not hard at all.”
The nickname “little one” contained the wish for the baby to grow healthily over ten months.
Since Yeonju’s pregnancy, Aran had occasionally visited, bringing side dishes and necessary items for the pregnant woman and the newborn.
“Please, Mother. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Good. I’ll be going now. Eat your lunch quickly.”
As Aran tried to turn around, Yeonju held her.
“Come in and have a cup of tea before you go.”
“No. If Jina gets to know, she’ll say something again.”
As Aran recalled Jina’s firm attitude, she shook her head.
“That stubborn guy. Even if I bring something for you with difficulty, he says thanks, but there’s always something lacking… Maybe he inherited that from his real mother.”
“……”
“As if I’m going to do something terrible to you. Even though I’m grateful when I bring it to you with difficulty… Maybe he’s too harsh on his real mother.”
“……”
“And, I couldn’t treat you well before, right? I should have taken care of you like a proper family head when you were chosen by Jina, even if I couldn’t. It’s just that I couldn’t.”
“…….”
“I feel like I’ve been too harsh to you under the pretext of caring for Jino.”
Yeonju, too, considered herself a precious and valuable child to someone, realizing that she had not been mature enough. Overwhelmed by belated guilt and regret, Aran couldn’t lift her head.
“If I’ve hurt you, just lay it all out and forget about it.”
In response to her words, Yeonju nodded thoughtfully.
“No, Mother.”
Yeonju looked at her with a serious expression.
“I understand Mother’s feelings. I understand that I seemed lacking to Mr. Jinwook, and I understand that it was difficult to admit.”
Of course, there were many times when she felt resentful and displeased.
But now that she had become a mother herself, she realized that a parent’s heart for their child was deeper than anything else in the world. Yeonju also felt that she could do anything for the baby in her womb.
Although Aran had been indifferent and cold to her, Yeonju was grateful for her expressing apologies like this even now.
Yeonju smiled as if to reassure her.
“I’m thankful that you’re telling me this now.”
“…….”
“I’ll try to do better and become a daughter-in-law who can satisfy Mother’s heart.”
At these affectionate words, Aran’s eyes moistened.
Expressing regret so late, Yeonju said she was thankful.
Even though anyone could see that she hadn’t been treated well, Yeonju understood her.
She could have resented and shouted at least once, wondering why she was like this, but Yeonju had never done that. She always quietly maintained her position and fulfilled her duties.
Yeonju was a more mature person than her. To someone so broad-minded and warm-hearted, to someone so firm and unyielding… Why did she treat her so badly?
Ashamed of her past self, Aran couldn’t lift her head.
“No… You’ve already done well enough.”
“…….”
“I’ll do better from now on.”
With tears streaming down, Aran said.
“You’ve been through a lot… I’m sorry.”
“Secretary Ju.”
Minhee snapped out of her thoughts.
“…Yes?”
Looking to the side, she saw Jinwook sitting in the back seat of the car.
With one long leg crossed, Jinwook flipped through some documents and said, “This is the third time I’m calling you.”
It implied that it took three calls to get her attention because she was lost in her thoughts.
Minhee immediately lowered her head.
“I apologize.”
Minhee was accompanying Jinwook for his external schedule. In the morning, they attended a ceremony at the youth cultural center sponsored by the LM Group, and for lunch, they dined with figures from politics and business.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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