After finishing her adornment, Etienne immediately called for Retin, the butler. As soon as he appeared, she handed him a box.
“What is this?” asked the butler.
“A gift box.”
“Whom should I deliver it to?”
“Open it and see.”
With Etienne’s laughter-tinged instruction, the butler hesitated for a moment before reaching out. When Lady Etienne smiles like that, it usually means something amusing is at hand. So, when he opened the box and found nothing inside, he asked with even more confusion, “There’s nothing in here?”
“Put in a piece of paper where each servant writes what gift they want.”
“The servants of the Clare household?”
“Yes. I want to buy them the gifts they want.”
That explained the gift box. Etienne raised her index finger.
“I’ll buy the butler’s gift first, so make sure to write it down and put it in.”
“Why this sudden idea?”
“Just, I’m grateful.”
“Hmm… Are wishes also acceptable?”
“If it’s something I can fulfill.”
Etienne handed the box into the butler’s care and was about to leave the room when he called out to her from behind.
“Where are you going?”
Smiling brightly, Etienne nodded.
“I have someone I want to meet.”
“May I ask who it is?”
“Yes. A person I must meet for my future.”
The unfortunate crown prince, Lehart, who was supposed to become the emperor but suddenly died one day, and the Clare Ducal family, which declined following Lehart.
The first person Etienne thought of after her return was Fernando. It had been the day she saved him from the pond, and having saved him, her next task was Lehart.
‘I need to find out how he died. It would be even better if I can prevent his death.’
The crown prince’s death raised many questions and brought hatred upon many from the emperor for following him.
Etienne wanted to unravel the mysteries surrounding the prince’s death and correct the course of events. But there was one problem.
‘So far, the prince and I have no connection.’
In her previous life, she had only regarded him as the future emperor, and he likely considered the Clare family as just one among many noble families. Their relationship was limited to a few encounters.
A year later, when she turned seventeen, she was able to meet him as the daughter of a family supporting the prince.
‘I can’t wait until next year.’
Even if there’s nothing she could do right now, she wanted to meet the prince immediately.
“May I know who this must-meet person is?”
“I’ll tell you when I get back.”
She planned to tell him after the meeting, as she might not meet the prince today. Leaving the butler in curiosity, Etienne left.
“We’ve arrived.”
Etienne soon reached the outer city. To reach the inner city, she had to go further, but she ordered the coach to stop here.
Stepping out of the coach, she looked around and then gestured to her following servants.
“Everyone, go back.”
“But when you return to the ducal house…”
“I can manage on my own.”
Etienne got out of the coach, dismissing everyone except for her guard, Zen.
The maids, servants, and even the coachman hesitated, but Etienne decisively turned away.
“Let’s go.”
Zen silently followed her, leaving only the employed staff behind.
Recently, the lady who seemed unable to do anything without them had transformed overnight, leaving them stunned.
Walking with only Zen, Etienne felt more at ease.
“May I ask why we’re walking?”
“I like this path.”
“The lady does?”
“Of course not. This is my first time here.”
Responding to the guard Zen’s question, Etienne answered easily, as if it wasn’t a difficult matter. Nobles typically rode carriages straight into the inner city.
They generally didn’t favor the outer city, accessible even to commoners. Nobles didn’t seem to care about elaborately decorated gardens or meticulously crafted sculptures in the outer city, simply because it was the outer city.
Originally, Etienne also used to ride directly into the inner city, not really knowing why. She had just learned to do so, following her father in his carriage.
There wasn’t a particular reason not to wander around the outer city. Thus, she decided to start using the outer city from today.
Etienne walked slowly, with only Zen following quietly behind her. People occasionally glimpsed her, adorned in a fancy dress, and looked at her curiously.
However, Etienne, seemingly unaware of their gazes, leisurely strolled through the outer city, enjoying the surroundings.
“I missed out on so much.”
When she thought Fernando was her only happiness, she didn’t have the leisure to look around.
“I didn’t even notice such beautiful flowers…”
Though she handled many flowers for flower arrangements, all her attention was on Fernando.
“I never truly appreciated the sparkling lake.”
She only jumped into the water to save Fernando, never really admiring the lake.
“But now I see, the world is full of beauty, especially here. I never knew because I always passed by in a carriage.”
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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