“Let me in, sister.”
Si, sister?
“…Sister?”
“I’m younger, you know.”
I suppose so.
“Let’s speak comfortably since we’re going to get married anyway.”
At Gibnen’s words, Riley laughed awkwardly.
“How can I speak casually with a Duke? We’re not even close enough to be like siblings.”
“In truth, we’re even closer than siblings.”
“……”
“Since we spent the night together, we might as well call each other ‘darling,’ or ‘dear.'”
What?
Riley was stunned by an unexpected comment. Could he be behaving so outrageously because of what happened last night?
“How long do you intend to keep me waiting?”
“Co, come in……”
Although he said to speak casually, the difference in their status was too clear, and Riley couldn’t easily loosen her tone, so she finally let him in with proper decorum.
“Are you planning to stand there all the time?”
“……Why are you here?”
“That’s because we obviously have a lot to talk about.”
The atmosphere is quite different from earlier.
Whether it was because he behaved too casually as if speaking to an old friend, or the word ‘sister’ made her realize that he was younger, she wasn’t sure.
Anyway, he settled in as if he owned the room. Lost for words in a clearly reversed situation, Riley sat down across from him.
With a face white with shock, she stared back at him, and he smiled.
“You look surprised.”
“Who wouldn’t be surprised if you suddenly proposed?”
“Well, I was surprised too.”
“What’s your real intention?”
At Riley’s question, Gibnen chuckled and crossed his arms.
“What intention? If a man and a woman spend the night together, they should naturally take responsibility for each other, right?”
“Coming from you, someone who is constantly the subject of scandalous gossip, that argument doesn’t seem convincing.”
“You seem to know me well.”
“……I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Riley had heard plenty about him from the maids, Clare, and her aunt.
Apart from being a talented man who became the head of the tower at a young age, he was also notorious for being involved with numerous women and becoming the main figure in scandalous rumors.
How could she not know about such a famous man? He lived as if he wanted to sweep all the fame in the world, known for his wayward life.
Yet the proposals coming to the Lianster house never diminished for one reason: he had attractive conditions that outweighed everything else.
“But anyway…… what exactly happened? Why are you doing this? Is the proposal serious?”
“Of course, why would you think it’s not sincere?”
“I can’t understand it no matter how I think about it. I don’t know what you would gain from marrying me.”
“Do you have to approach it like that? It could be simply that I fell in love with you at first sight and decided to marry you.”
Annoyed by his constant teasing, Riley snapped.
“That’s a flimsy excuse that even a passing dog wouldn’t believe.”
“You have no romance.”
“If you were a romantic person, you wouldn’t have come here and shoved a proposal at me like this. If you were the type of man to take responsibility for spending just one night together, you wouldn’t have been caught in so many scandalous rumors.”
Was it because her emotions were running high? She naturally let her guard down. She was taken aback after saying it, but fortunately, Gibnen, who had encouraged her to speak freely, didn’t seem to mind.
Seeing the opportunity, Riley decided to let loose completely.
“Oh, when you put it like that, I feel like such a piece of trash.”
“Don’t misunderstand; I’m not saying you’re bad. I just want you to explain this outrageous situation properly.”
Feeling like she had been too harsh, Riley lowered her eyes and fiddled with her fingers, timidly. Seeing her do that, Gibnen chuckled.
“Why are you looking for signs after you’ve said everything?”
“……”
“You don’t need to shrink back like that. I didn’t come to devour you; if you look at it, I came to help you.”
“……Help me? With what?”
“First, with this.”
Gibnen pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Riley. It was an old scroll tied with a green string.
Riley untied the scroll and spread out the paper, her body stiffening even before she began to read the content.
“This is my father’s handwriting… How did you get this?”
“It’s what your father left to my master.”
A flustered Riley began to read the content.
「Dear Yung, you haven’t forgotten the oath to protect my daughter if something happens to me, have you? If this letter has reached you, it means I am no longer of this world. Please take good care of my daughter [dash] Raistun Adaline [dash]」
“The reason I have this letter is because my master left it to me before he died.”
“……. ”
“My master could not take you in due to circumstances. I wonder if that has been a regret for him until now.”
“…That’s impossible.”
My father passed away in a carriage accident. It was a sudden accident. He left without even leaving a will.
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.”
