“How about dressing up a bit more glamorously for the upcoming royal party?”
“The royal party? You mean His Majesty’s birthday celebration?”
“Yes.”
As Edward nodded, Louisa asked, “Are you planning to go this time?”
Her heart throbbed with sudden excitement.
Maybe her husband was slowly changing, just like his presence in the house at this hour wasn’t out of place anymore. Perhaps the day would come when it wouldn’t be awkward for him to attend a party with her.
But her hopes were dashed.
“No.”
Edward answered decisively.
“I’m too busy with a project for the foreseeable future.”
Louisa’s cheeks, which had warmed with excitement, suddenly cooled.
“I see… It can’t be helped if you’re busy with work.”
She picked up her cup of tea with three sugar cubes in it. Having craved something sweet, she took a sip of the tea and bit into a cookie.
As Louisa nibbled on the dessert, Edward asked, “Did you finish preparing for the party?”
“What’s there to prepare? Just need to dress neatly. Don’t worry about it.”
“Why, everyone else seems to take great care. According to Gilford, it’s quite a detailed affair.”
At Edward’s words, Louisa forcibly swallowed the retort that had risen to her throat.
Dressing up elaborately for the party only to go without her husband every time meant nothing more than being treated like a flamboyant peacock.
However, she couldn’t express this to her husband, suspecting why he avoided the parties.
‘Being amidst the nobility isn’t easy. It can’t be helped.’
She thought about the cold treatment she had received from them.
Even she, once a notable noble, had become the subject of gossip after her family’s downfall.
The comments Edward would hear about himself were likely even worse.
She didn’t relish the thought of her husband being subjected to such talk, so she understood why he didn’t attend.
The only regret was that the few parties he did attend for business weren’t with her.
‘It’s sad and disappointing, but not incomprehensible. It’s okay.’
There was no need to shower him with resentment for not attending.
Louisa took a deep breath to calm her tumultuous heart.
“No, it’s fine. His Majesty once commented that he finds my modest attire pleasing to the eye. I plan to dress similarly this time.”
“Since you’ve shown modesty before, why not try a different style this time? Then see what he says. Surely, His Majesty will find it pleasing.”
“No, really, it’s okay. Let’s leave this topic here.”
Before my resentment outweighs my understanding of you.
But at Louisa’s words, Edward’s expression hardened.
He thought of the time spent at the boutique instead of the lab and the gifts still in the backseat of his car, ungiven.
‘Would you have spoken this way if you knew about my day?’
He couldn’t understand why she so sharply rejected his suggestions.
Her firmness and conviction were part of what drew him to her, but at this moment, they felt frustratingly bitter.
Not knowing the thought he put into his gifts, her blunt refusal seemed cruelly indifferent.
“Right. You like that kind of stuff.”
Unable to hide his rising resentment, he blurted out.
“I was foolish to even suggest it. Silly me.”
“What do you mean, silly?”
“You never use anything I gift you.”
“…”
“You never seem to have a clear preference, so I ended up bringing anything and everything, just to leave it lying around the house. But you never even looked at them.”
‘I wanted to tell you it wasn’t like that,’ Louisa thought. She felt too heartbroken to be treated as a neglected wife, paraded like a peacock.
But she stopped herself from speaking.
What was the point in saying all this to someone who had no intention of attending the party? It would only add to the guilt already weighing him down.
Louisa pressed her hand against her chest.
“I’m sorry.”
After a long look at her, Edward twisted his eyebrows in frustration, stood up, and left the room.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
