As Adeline twisted her body trying to free her hand, the Duke restrained her other hand as well.
“What’s the problem now?”
The Duke’s eyes sparkled with fire as he met Adeline’s gaze.
“Wasn’t it you who complained about the dress being humiliating? So I personally changed the design for you.”
Adeline felt a surge of emotions at the Duke’s words, claiming he changed the dress for her.
He was a man obsessed with tormenting her, constantly changing dress designs and humiliating her in front of the servants.
“You said you’d rather wear that dress! Wearing it is a hundred times better than showing such behavior in front of the servants!”
Adeline defiantly showed off her body, marked with the red spots.
“So, wearing that dress is better, is that what you’re saying? Are you trying to tell me I was wrong to change it for you, thinking of you?”
“…”
“I saved your life, remember? I am your benefactor.”
The Duke moved closer to Adeline, looking down at her.
It seemed as if his crimson eyes were saying, ‘How dare you feel offended, you insignificant creature.’
“I’ve treated you as the mistress of the Duke’s house. That means you should also fulfill your role as my mistress, shouldn’t you?”
Mel and the Duke of Torpheo were so different, despite being the same person. Adeline found it impossible to bridge the gap between them.
“Is there no more affection from Mel? Why are you doing this?”
Adeline pushed him away with all her might. Despite her force, the Duke didn’t budge an inch.
“Funny. I am the Duke of Torpheo, not the Mel you tried to use.”
In response to Adeline’s rejection, as if all the situations were his fault, the Duke felt a great injustice. He released his grip from Adeline’s shoulder to seize her neck.
“Shouldn’t I be the one to take out my anger by wringing this delicate neck of yours?”
His head moved closer to Adeline, consumed with a desire to devour her.
“Don’t provoke me, Del.”
Despite his anger-filled voice, the Duke’s hand around Adeline’s neck was surprisingly gentle. He barely held her neck, yearning for her lips.
However, faced with Adeline’s continuous rejection, he gripped her chin firmly.
“Do you now want to be treated like a noblewoman?”
Meeting the Duke’s gaze head-on, Adeline read complex emotions in his eyes: resentment, sorrow, tenderness. Yet, his words were thorny and harsh.
“If you want to reveal your identity as Lady Credion and go to the Crown Prince, keep rejecting me.”
Adeline felt helpless against the Duke’s threat. She closed her eyes tightly.
Looking back, it was all initiated by Adeline herself. Staying in his villa, deceiving him as a lover, and even misleading him after his memory returned.
Her breaths became deeper as she resigned herself to the situation.
The heat between them intensified, and the Duke, unknowingly, began to press her more aggressively.
Thud.
Finally, as if giving up, Adeline dropped her arm that was holding the Duke’s wrist. Tears started rolling down her cheeks.
When her cold tears dropped on the hand that held her neck, the Duke began to regain his composure.
“Go in and rest for tonight. I have urgent duties to attend to and won’t be able to join you.”
In truth, the Duke had no such duties that night. He simply knew he wouldn’t be able to control himself if they shared the bedroom that evening.
He quickly moved away from Adeline.
“Escort the lady.”
After instructing the servants and leaving the room, the Duke disappeared.
As soon as Adeline entered her bedroom, her body collapsed from exhaustion.
Sitting by the door, she reflected on the day’s events.
‘Is this really the best?’
She couldn’t shake off the feelings.
It was a relationship doomed from the start, destined only to deepen the chasm between them.
Adeline felt infinitely sad about the situation. She was miserably relieved that they weren’t going to share a bed tonight.
‘The Mel I knew is truly gone.’
Adeline realized that she had unconsciously equated the amnesiac Mel with the Duke.
Had she truly been a commoner, Del, perhaps their paths wouldn’t have diverged so drastically.
Lost in impossible what-ifs, Adeline’s gaze sank into a deep abyss.
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.”
