Retreating, Rudby read the desire in Fernando’s eyes and flashed a bright smile.
How delightful.
It’s so enjoyable even without harming anyone with my own hands.
Indeed, the wisdom gained from that place had many uses.
Rudby intended to use Fernando to lure Reinhardt down. Originally, I was planning to take Etienne for myself, but it was more fun to involve the two.
“Even if you hadn’t confessed, I wouldn’t have used you.”
Fernando’s first confession diminished the value of proposing to Etienne for me. So, after Fernando crushes Reinhardt first with his own hands… I will kill Fernando.
Rudby lifted his head and looked at the palace of the Crown Prince. There were items hidden by my mother. The earring I gave to Etienne was enchanted to make Rudby fall in love, but the items my mother hid contained a spell that made the other person hate.
It could make a knight who swore allegiance turn a sword toward the master’s neck. Originally intended for Reinhardt’s knight, I found a suitable opponent to use it on—Fernando.
“That’s how I become the emperor.”
Should the empress be Etienne? No. It’s better to have Etienne play a decisive role in making me the emperor.
Back in my room, Etienne couldn’t stay still and paced around the room.
“What should I do? Have they broken up now?”
Anxiously, Etienne rushed to the window, stretched her body, and looked towards the garden. However, the wall blocked the view, and she couldn’t see anything.
Frustrated, she leaned her neck further, then turned around and let out a sigh.
“If I had known, I would have talked to Fernando first.”
What she kept secret from him seemed to have given him a sense of betrayal.
Etienne regretted the choices that led to this situation. If only she had been a bit more careful. If only she had been honest. All of these regrets weighed heavily on Etienne’s heart.
“This can’t go on.”
Would apologizing and expressing regret until Fernando’s heart softened restore everything to its rightful place?
“There’s no other way.”
Etienne decided to go find Fernando. The fact that it was dawn posed no problem. She thought it would be better to quickly go to him and honestly explain the situation.
Etienne crossed the room and opened the door. Heading straight to where Fernando was, she hesitated.
“I don’t know where Fernando stays.”
An unexpected fact tripped her up. Etienne stood still in the corridor, then changed direction. She planned to go to Reinhardt, apologize for bothering him, and ask him to tell her where Fernando was staying.
Etienne grabbed her skirt and quickly ran towards Reinhardt’s location.
“Why are you here again?”
Reinhardt, standing lopsided on one foot, looked at Fernando.
“Give up on Etienne.”
Fernando spoke to Reinhardt in a low voice.
“That conversation seems to have ended earlier, Fernando. I won’t let go of Etienne. So…”
Reinhardt, who was about to say enough, momentarily stopped speaking due to the palpable hostility he sensed. If this momentum was genuine…
Reinhardt widened his eyes like a lantern and looked at Fernando, who was glaring at him.
“You…”
Fernando’s eyes were reddened, and his fist trembled. Reinhardt was silently looking at him when suddenly, the door burst open.
“My lord… Fernando?”
Etienne, who had come to find Reinhardt, spotted Fernando and called out to him.
Noticing that there were no courtiers or knights outside when there should be, it seemed strange. However, inside, two men were confronting each other. Sensing a tense and dangerous atmosphere between them, Etienne approached them with an uneasy expression.
“Surely… it can’t be true?”
If something happened during the emperor’s funeral period, it would be a big problem. Especially if it escalated to a physical altercation, it would be even worse.
“Calm down, Fernando. I will explain everything…”
As Etienne reached out her hands to try to calm Fernando, Reinhardt said to her, “Don’t come any closer, Etienne.”
At that moment, when Reinhardt turned his gaze to Etienne, Fernando rushed at them.
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.”
