The maid who entered had a young face she hadn’t seen before.
“I am the one assigned to serve you today….”
“Fine. Bring the usual maid to me.”
Elize’s command had the maid bowing her head deeply.
“She’s not here right now.”
“What? Then call any of the maids who usually come to my room.”
“Well, the thing is…”
The maid hesitated, unable to speak clearly. Irritated by her behavior, Elize got up, fastened her robe, pushed the maid aside, and walked out.
As soon as she stepped into the corridor, she felt something was different.
‘Where is everyone?’
Normally, the servants would be quietly and diligently doing their tasks, but no one was in sight.
Elize went downstairs. The Lady was sitting in the living room on the first floor.
The Lord and Lady usually stayed in the annex next to the villa. They would visit there when the Duke was present, but otherwise, they often came to see Elize.
“Mother.”
“Oh, Elize. I was just waiting for you.”
“More importantly, why are there no servants around today?”
“I asked the same thing. Apparently, an important guest arrived at the Duke’s place. They’re attending to them formally, so it seems the servants here went there. The Duke will also be busy greeting the guest and won’t be back for a week.”
“I wasn’t told anything about that…”
“It must’ve been sudden. Did the Duke mention anything else?”
At the flash of insight in her mother’s eyes, Elize sat on the sofa with a smile.
“He didn’t say anything else, really.”
“I see… But we really should start talking about the wedding. There’s so much to prepare.”
“Who doesn’t know that!”
Annoyed, Elize raised her voice. The Lady sighed and pacified her daughter. Continually talking about the Duke at this moment was likely to ignite her temper. So, she needed to switch topics.
However, the Lord and Lady themselves didn’t have much to gossip about, as they’d spent their days idly since arriving. But the Lady recalled a decent topic.
“Lida, speaking of which.”
“Lida? What about her? Did she send another ridiculous letter?”
Seeing a mischievous smile on Elize’s face, the Lady sighed in relief.
“She hasn’t sent anything since I cut her off. Anyway, do you remember the steward of this villa? The person who greeted us the day after we arrived?”
“Yes, I remember.”
He was an old, corpulent man. Despite this, his attire was quite lavish.
Turned out, he was a distant relative of the Duke, living comfortably with the title of the villa’s steward.
“That man is going to the capital this autumn to find a new son-in-law. So, I was thinking…”
The Lady also wore a smile similar to Elize’s.
“I wonder if I should send it to that person.”
“Do you think the steward will like it? The guy is obnoxiously tall, unimpressive, and lacking in humility. Besides, honestly, sending something with the name of Aradis to a mere villa steward is a bit…”
Elize frowned, not out of concern for Aelfrie.
I will soon become the Grand Duchess. If someone bearing the name of my family marries someone far beneath them, it will affect my reputation.
‘Why was she born my sister!’
How wonderful it would have been if she had been born the heir to the Golden Rule, as father had hoped.
Then, an engagement would have been arranged early in childhood. And a substantial gratitude payment would have been received from the other family.
In that case, I would have been served by useful servants in a grand and magnificent mansion since childhood.
‘And if the other family was great, I would have been much more comfortable.’
If the family she had been taken to was powerful, she would have frequently met peers of similar rank since childhood, and forming relationships would have not been difficult.
‘I wouldn’t have struggled to connect with the Grand Duke either.’
There would have been no room for Riena to interfere from the start.
Indeed, upon reconsideration, she had been nothing but a useless burden that hadn’t helped my life at all.
She even continues to cause me worries to this day.
“No. I asked, and he said he’s going to the capital to find a wife and then he’ll return to his hometown to look for a job as a steward. He said he’s getting on in years and is in a hurry to have children; wants at least five.”
“Hmm…….”
That meant he would not venture out of his domain until he had at least five children.
“Still, sending it to someone without even a title, and you being the sister of the Grand Duchess…”
“That’s not a problem. He is a sub-knight or something, you know? He’s been diligently saving money to bring a wife. He says he doesn’t care about the bride’s appearance; as long as she’s a noble and of childbearing age, anyone will do. It seems perfectly suitable.”
Watching her mother speak so passionately about Aelfrie’s marriage, Elize narrowed her eyes slightly.
“Just curious, did you receive the money first?”
“No, no, that’s the thing! That man came to the annex yesterday and pleaded so much….”
The Lady of the Manor spoke, fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
Link to read
