Nellia felt strange.
The person who resembled her so much turned out to be someone who had passed away. Considering Charlotte referred to her as a friend, she must have been young.
“May I ask why she passed away?”
“She got old…”
Huh…? Nellia tilted her head.
She passed away because she got old. In that case, Charlotte’s friend must have been considerably… older.
Even though there’s no rule against becoming friends with someone with a significant age difference, it was surprising.
“Maybe it’s because she lived a nature-friendly life in the countryside.”
“So, when I first saw Nellia, it felt very familiar.”
Then the cause of that awkward internal familiarity was because Charlotte’s friend was similar to her.
‘Now that a person I thought I’d never see again has appeared before me, it must have been a delight.’
Thinking that way, I could perfectly understand Charlotte’s actions.
“I know that Nellia is a good person, so now I like her even more.”
Charlotte shyly confessed her feelings.
Nellia felt the same way. After the misunderstanding was cleared, Charlotte seemed more comfortable and approachable.
“I also want to continue being close with Charlotte.”
With a brightened expression, Charlotte vigorously nodded her head. It was somewhat cute.
“How’s life in the capital? Have you adapted a bit?”
“More than before… The priests in the monastery treat me better now, and I’ve gotten somewhat used to the unfamiliar monastery…”
Nevertheless, Charlotte’s expression wasn’t bright. It seemed like there was something bothering her.
“Why? What’s wrong, Charlotte?”
Charlotte raised her gaze, and worry was frozen in her red eyes.
“Even though I haven’t told anyone since I came here… Actually, I came to the monastery to find something.”
Charlotte brought up this topic with difficulty, but Nellia already knew what Charlotte came to find and why. Having read the original work, she was well aware of the female protagonist, Charlotte.
However, she couldn’t act like she knew first, so Nellia pretended not to know and asked.
“What did you come to find?”
“…Zigrid’s heart.”
Charlotte seemed extremely embarrassed by the words she uttered.
“You might think it’s nonsense… but Zigrid’s heart definitely exists.”
It seemed Charlotte thought Nellia would look at her strangely for coming to the monastery to find Zigrid’s heart.
After all, Zigrid’s heart was still treated as a legendary story by most people.
“Yes, I think the same.”
When Nellia nodded decisively, Charlotte widened her eyes.
“Really…?”
“In the capital, there are already several people looking for Zigrid’s heart.”
Although it was a secret from Charlotte, Nellia was also one of the people searching for Zigrid’s heart.
“I see… In the place I was, it was completely dismissed as a legend. I didn’t think there would be anyone other than me looking for Zigrid’s heart.”
Charlotte mumbled something like, ‘Indeed, the capital is different…’
It seemed Charlotte was somewhat shocked by the fact that someone else was already looking for Zigrid’s heart.
Nellia asked Charlotte another question.
“Charlotte, do you have a wish you want to fulfill by looking for it? Most people looking for Zigrid’s heart have such reasons.”
Nellia already knew why Charlotte was looking for the heart, but she wanted to hear the reason directly from Charlotte.
“No… I’m just looking for it to prevent it from falling into the hands of someone with a bad heart. The priest who took care of me said it should never happen.”
Nellia found Charlotte quite remarkable. It was a tremendous sense of duty to come to this unfamiliar city just to save the world. Of course, in the middle of it, she fell in love with Carlos and changed her course to find a heart for him.
Thinking about it, Nellia became curious. The original story had already deviated, and Charlotte should have met Carlos much earlier but didn’t. What would happen to Charlotte’s life…?
Of course, meeting Carlos didn’t turn Charlotte’s thorny path into a flowery one right away.
‘Rather, she might go through a lot of heartache…’
Carlos was far from the standard male lead with an excellent personality. Despite having an unbelievably handsome face and the title of a prince, his personality was far from perfect.
Although he had fallen in love with Charlotte, he couldn’t realize his feelings right away and struggled for a while.
As a result, only Charlotte suffered, well…
On the other hand, Nellia felt sorry for Charlotte. Perhaps, because of her, the happy ending slipped away for Carlos, all for nothing.
Similarly, for Carlos.
“Nellia…?”
As Nellia’s expression darkened, Charlotte slightly lowered her head and brought her face closer.
Shadows fell on Nellia’s clear, bead-like amber eyes.
“Charlotte, what if Zigrid’s heart doesn’t fall into the hands of someone with a bad heart…?”
She wanted to clarify this issue first, hoping to relieve some burden from her heart.
Charlotte pressed her lips for a moment. She seemed to be contemplating the sudden question.
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.”
