“My preference? A dependable person!”
“Dependable.”
As I walked leisurely, the Emperor’s long legs kept trying to go ahead of me. In that instant, as I was sweating profusely and on alert, the Emperor spoke to me.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“…Didn’t I say last time that I wasn’t to your taste?”
“Really? You want to be to my taste?”
“No way. You said you like dependable people, so I should lose some weight now.”
There are people like that in the world. People you want to smack their mouths every time you see them. The Emperor is exactly that kind of person.
“It’s a good idea.”
“Yes.”
The silence returned. Somehow, I felt I must not stop talking.
Ha, as if I were teasing the Emperor, as if I had become his servant, as if I had found a man I liked at a blind date, I kept on talking nonsense.
‘I won’t do this again when I enter the palace,’ I vowed.
“It’s a bit shabby.”
“That’s true. I had some expectations because you’re a count, but it’s shabby. Do all nobles live like this?”
“…”
I thought it was okay. The hallway that the countess, lost in luxury, was quite proud of.
I came here to show the Emperor that our family wasn’t falling into that category, but I only received an unpleasant response.
“…Well. It’s all the same.”
“Do you like these things?”
“These things? Ah. Well. Not particularly.”
If you put something good on top of something good, they just clash. One side must play a supporting role, but all the objects that the countess has adorned are too much.
As if to show off her superiority. Therefore, the more I looked, the more uncomfortable it felt.
“Unexpected.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
The Emperor, who seemed to have something to say, closed his mouth again, and in the meantime, we were able to arrive at the reception room.
The count and countess’s servants were standing at the door, showing that they were already there.
As we arrived, the door opened like an automatic door, and the uneasy, lipbiting faces of the two appeared.
“We, we welcome His Majesty the Emperor.”
“We welcome His Majesty the Emperor. Thank you for visiting such a shabby place…”
“It is shabby.”
The countess stood before the Emperor, unlike the trembling count, and her face hardened at the Emperor’s words of shabbiness.
“Th… That’s true, it’s incomparable to the palace. But may I ask why you are visiting our estate, Your Majesty?”
“The questions are mine to ask. You two stay still.”
“Oh yes…”
“No, I don’t have any particular questions. Since you seem quite curious about why I came, let’s talk about that first. I will marry Isabella.”
The pupils of the two trembled for a moment. As if asking if they heard correctly, as if they had heard wrong. I could feel their expressions and eyes.
So I shook my head, smiled, and cheerfully shouted.
“I’m going to marry His Majesty the Emperor!”
“Ha…”
“What… what…”
I grinned at the dumbfounded countess.
For ordinary people, the Emperor is,
Perhaps like a company president. Someone you only look at from afar. Thanks to him, you eat well and live well, but the presence that makes you distract yourself in case you make eye contact. And if you do, you feel embarrassed as if you were caught badmouthing.
To me or my parents, the chairman, no, the Emperor was such a person.
[The Emperor must be a flawed human being. Like he can’t perform his male duties. Otherwise, how could the Emperor of a country have the Empress’s seat vacant at that age?] [Right, right. He might be infertile. Daughter, don’t even think about getting involved.] [Don’t worry.] [Yes, Isabella. You are smart, so we won’t worry, but… we still don’t want you to become the Empress. It’s a position where you could lose your head if you make a mistake. It would be better to live plump and freely, perhaps as a concubine.] At that time, Isabella said that the emperor wouldn’t even look at her, asking why she would look at someone who had nothing but a handsome face. She spoke as if she had resolved to marry a rich and foolish man.So, their parents’ reaction is quite understandable.
“Wh… who are you going to marry?”
“Who? His Majesty the Emperor! I’m going to marry His Majesty.”
“Ha… ha ha… you definitely……”
Didn’t you say you absolutely disliked the Emperor? And now you’re saying it’s the Emperor? Say it’s not true. Really, it’s not that.
But I was firm. No. I knew what the earl and his wife wanted to hear, but I never uttered it. Who would benefit from that?
The count staggered as if about to fall backward, but the countess, apparently quite accustomed to such situations, quickly regained her composure.
“It cannot happen.”
It can’t happen. They want me to move as they wish, my husbandtobe must be manipulated as they wish, and the Emperor absolutely won’t do.
What parent would say no to their child marrying an emperor? They should run barefoot to say how well it went. But these people were different.
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.”
