“Lise? Are you okay?”
A hero who would someday kill me.
My expression must have been poor, for Yurik asked me with concern. He put down the fairy tale book he was holding and walked over to me.
A chilly wind blew. Yurik, wearing only a thin shirt, shivered. He seemed discontented with his inability to take off his jacket to give to me.
“Damn, I didn’t bring a coat. Let’s get inside quickly, Lise.”
“Didn’t you say you were going to see Grandfather?”
When I muttered softly, Yurik lifted his head. As if not understanding what I was saying, he cocked his head.
“I said I was going to Grandfather’s house. Today is a holiday, so….”
“Ah, I guess there was a friction at the company. I will go there right after I resolve it.”
“Then you can read a book at the mansion.”
I asked more than I needed to. Was I in a bad mood? I glanced at Yurik. Fortunately, he didn’t seem angry, but he hesitated to speak.
It seemed unlike Yurik to hesitate to speak, so I thought something must be going on.
“If it’s hard to say, you don’t have to say it.”
“No, that’s…. I went to the market with Mother earlier. I happened to see the lights on at the Marsen mansion, so I thought maybe you didn’t go to the relatives’ house.”
What does reading a book here have to do with that? Yurik’s face gradually turned red. I stared at Yurik without understanding the meaning.
“So I thought if I read a book here, maybe I wouldn’t meet you. We met here often.”
“Ah….”
You wanted to see me.
“But what about you? Why didn’t you go to your relatives’ house?”
Embarrassed, Yurik quickly changed the subject. His question was not malicious, but I flinched. Feeling hit to the point, I smiled awkwardly, and Yurik, realizing my feelings, was taken aback.
“If you don’t want to say, you don’t have to.”
“What, that’s exactly what I just said.”
“We feel the same, so it can’t be helped.”
He smiled slightly, and Yurik lowered his voice, looking a bit pouty. He looked so cute that I resisted teasing him more.
I wondered if Yurik knew that I was a bastard. My hair color, even my eye color, was different from my siblings, so he might have thought it was suspicious.
Even so, to bring up the fact that I was a bastard with my own mouth was another story. This was my last shred of pride. Who would consider me family if I denied the Marsen family with my own mouth?
“Everyone went to Grandfather’s house except for me.”
Yurik understood the meaning and did not ask further.
I spoke roughly, but in fact, I was worried that Yurik might feel sorry for me. He was a nobleman and an heir. He would know well how much of a hindrance being a bastard is to a noble child.
Being a bastard was not good in many ways. Of course, you couldn’t be the heir, and the family didn’t recognize you.
In other families, bastards were not considered nobles, so they were at a disadvantage in society. If I had been a male child, it would have been better, but being born a female made me almost nonexistent.
That was my position. An existence like a nonexistence.
“Lise, no matter who you are….”
“Aren’t you cold? Let’s go into the mansion now.”
Yurik looked at me with a piercing gaze.
I turned to avoid his gaze, but Yurik grabbed my wrist. Naturally, my head turned toward Yurik. He hesitated, then handed me the fairy tale book on the floor.
“……Do you want to read this together?”
“I don’t want to.”
“What?”
Yurik was dumbfounded, seemingly never expecting to be rejected. His expression was so ridiculous that I burst out laughing.
“Pfft! You, your face is really funny right now.”
“This, this book is interesting. I read it three times every day!”
“Really?”
“Ah, no. Not three times… about twice?”
Today, Yurik seemed more like a child than me. His appearance was so cute that I burst into laughter, and Yurik glared at me, resting his chin on his hands.
“Stop laughing, Lise.”
“What can I do if I keep laughing?”
“Damn, when you grow up, you’ll quickly get rid of these books.”
“Damn? You use that word too?”
“I’m angry.”
I should stop now. If I tease him more and Yurik refuses to look at my face, what will I do?
“I’m sorry, Yurik. So, please don’t hate me.”
“……”
“Huh? Huh?”
“… How could I hate you.”
I pouted in front of Yurik’s face, and his expression quickly softened. That wasn’t enough. I didn’t take my eyes off Yurik’s face because I wanted to hear a confident answer.
“Really? You don’t hate me?”
“But Lise, aren’t you too close?”
“Answer first.”
As the distance between Yurik and me narrowed, the color returned to his previously pale face.
“I like you, Lise.”
It felt as if my heart had dropped.
A moment of silence passed. Yurik, whom I thought would only be embarrassed, firmly caught my gaze with his solid eyes. His face was still flushed, but his actions were defiant.
“Lise.”
“Yurik likes me…”
The thought involuntarily slipped from my mouth.
“……”
“Really?”
“Don’t laugh, Lise.”
“Ah, did I laugh?”
“Lise.”
Yurik sighed softly.
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.”
