“You’re only saying what’s convenient. You’re saying you’ll entrust the empire to Princess Charlotte?”
Ruans’ sunken eyes were filled with nothing but hostility. Adrian lightly brushed off that hostility as if he was used to it.
While Charlotte coming to the Isuter Empire was a welcome event, Ruans was on edge because he didn’t know what Adrian was plotting. Fortunately, it was reassuring that Teishar, the Marquis Spencer, was leaving all the duties of the marquis family to his father and visiting as Charlotte’s escort, but Ruans still couldn’t relax.
Adrian slowly rose to his feet.
“Yes. She has more talent for politics than I do.”
“If you lack talent in politics, brother, then give me the crown prince position. And you can marry Princess Charlotte of the Poloide Empire, can’t you?”
“No, Ruans.”
“Brother.”
“Do you know what the most common writing my aides and your aides do? For reference, my aides don’t have much writing to do.”
Adrian spent more days patrolling the outskirts than doing crown prince duties. The reason he had to do this was to subjugate the magical beasts appearing in the outskirts.
“Are you boasting about that? Brother.”
“More than you can.”
Ruans’ lips twitched.
“Because of your womanizing, the main job of the aides below is writing apology letters to young ladies. As a superior, you shouldn’t make your subordinates apologize on your behalf. That’s why you can’t become crown prince or emperor. So wake up from that dream.”
“Brother Adrian. Your words are too harsh!”
“Ruans! When Princess Charlotte arrives, you’ll have to be careful about that womanizing. I called you here to warn you about that.”
Adrian looked down at Ruans with a sharp gaze. Seeing his face turning red and blue, he seemed quite heated.
According to recent reports from the shadows, Ruans has been visiting the Count Pol Heredian’s residence almost daily. They reported that he was paying attention to the rumored illegitimate child of the Pol Heredian family.
“Since I don’t frequent social circles much, I’m not sure of the young ladies’ names. Was it Lady Hilina?”
“Who is that?”
“I’m talking about the Count Pol Heredian’s daughter that my little brother has been meeting every day.”
At Adrian’s words, Ruans’ eyes trembled like a candle placed in darkness. He couldn’t gauge how much Adrian knew about Lorencia and why he was asking.
“You have the name wrong. It’s Lady Illina Pol Heredian.”
“You must be visiting every day because you have special feelings for the Count Pol Heredian’s daughter and want to meet her.”
Ruans twisted the corner of his lips upward. He thought about why Adrian was asking this. If he somehow knew about Lorencia, he had to keep it hidden until the end. If Adrian found out she was a monster with the power to see the future, he might try to kill Lorencia by any means.
“That’s right.”
“Oh. So it’s true that you’ve been visiting the count’s residence every day to meet Lady Illina. I hope you nurture your love well.”
Seeing Ruans lying so nonchalantly, the expression gradually disappeared from Adrian’s face. Then he sat back down in his chair.
Recently, Ruans had started to cut ties with all the women he had been meeting, except for courtesans.
And he began frequenting the Count Pol Heredian’s residence daily. While there were reports of dates with Illina, it was suspicious that he would visit even when she was away from the residence for social activities.
The Pol Heredian family had registered one illegitimate child into the family. It wasn’t unusual for a noble family to register a female illegitimate child for political marriage.
But when the Pol Heredian family’s illegitimate child was registered, a strange rumor circulated. The rumor was that Ruans was involved in the registration of the illegitimate child. It was confirmed that Ruans’ involvement in the illegitimate child’s registration was true.
Adrian tried to understand if Ruans had fallen in love at first sight with a woman who happened to be the count’s illegitimate daughter and thus got involved in her registration. However, Ruans meets various women, from innocent noble ladies who have just had their debut to divorced noble ladies and even courtesans. He’s truly a serious womanizer.
So Ruans’ involvement in getting the illegitimate child registered into the Pol Heredian family felt suspicious.
No matter how much he thought about it, if Ruans didn’t love the Pol Heredian family’s illegitimate child, Adrian was simply curious why he was involved in getting her registered as a count’s daughter in the Pol Heredian family.
“If you want to see her every day, it seems you’ve already fallen in love with Lady Illina.”
“That’s right.”
Ruans said firmly. Adrian couldn’t help but laugh at his lie.
“Why are you laughing?”
Ruans asked, staring at Adrian as if not giving him any opening.
“Ruans. How about getting engaged to Lady Illina after Princess Charlotte and I announce our engagement?”
“I’ll slowly discuss that with Count Pol Heredian.”
Ruans’ face hardened, and he slightly bit his lower lip before releasing it. Adrian’s intention to get rid of him by having him engaged to Illina, thinking he was interested in Charlotte, was obvious.
The marriage talks with Charlotte had already fallen through anyway. She was now outside his interest. What’s important now is to plant the emotion of love in Lorencia. At least, he needs to make Lorencia love him, make her believe he’s the only one she can rely on, and turn her into an obedient doll.
“Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming marriage to Princess Charlotte. I’ve decided to end things with all the women I’ve been seeing and only meet Lady Illina from now on. So you don’t need to worry about that part you warned me about, Brother Adrian.”
Now that Lorencia has awakened her power, Charlotte is no longer necessary for Ruans. Lorencia is all he needs now.
“Is that so? If you say so.”
Ruans knew it was time to withdraw from Adrian now. Fortunately, Adrian smiled as if satisfied. Ruans also forced a smile to follow Adrian.
After Ruans left, Adrian laughed loudly.
“Ruans is really cute, isn’t he?”
“Cute, Your Highness?”
“Don’t you find Lord Lanslon cute?”
At his unexpected question and remark, Lanslon narrowed his eyes, which had cooled bitterly.
“I would appreciate it if you read the report investigated by the shadows before hearing the answer to your question.”
Adrian began to read the report Lanslon handed over. And he slightly pursed his lips. From the very beginning of the report, he couldn’t understand.
“So the illegitimate child’s name was Lorencia. Born on February 21st.”
Adrian read through Lorencia’s report. Height approximately 155cm, small stature. A gaunt body that doesn’t gain weight due to abuse. And she has never been outside the count’s residence since birth.
“It’s so unfortunate that she lived abused because she’s an illegitimate child.”
After reading the report, Adrian’s face changed terribly. He placed his hand on his head as if it hurt. No matter how much he thought about it, it was difficult to understand Ruans’ intentions. He doesn’t love Lorencia as a romantic interest. Nor would he have had her registered into the Pol Heredian count family out of pity.
“That’s how it is for illegitimate children, Your Highness.”
“I don’t think they should receive such abuse just because they’re illegitimate, Lord Lanslon.”
Lanslon opened his mouth with a bitter expression.
“It’s difficult to change the position of an illegitimate child. Even if officially registered, there are no noble ladies who will sincerely accept them. They’re just evidence of infidelity and targets for venting anger.”
“They should be angry at the spouse who had an affair.”
“Even knowing the child is not at fault, it seems difficult to control emotions when they’re evidence of infidelity just by being seen, Your Highness Adrian.”
“We live as humans because we can control our emotions… I don’t know. I really don’t know what Ruans is thinking when he visits Lady Lorencia. Lord Lanslon, please read the report written by the shadows and give me your opinion as well.”
“Understood.”
Lanslon took back the report and read it again.
“It’s certainly strange. The reason why he recently cleared up his relationships with women is also strange…”
“Yes, that’s what’s strange. Why on earth did he clear up all the women he was meeting? Of course, he left the courtesans alone, but…”
“What’s certain is that Lady Lorencia seems to have a secret.”
“Then what on earth could that secret be? We need to find that out. For now, tell the shadows to investigate everything related to Lady Lorencia.”
“Understood.”
“It’s too complicated a problem. At times like this, if Charlotte were beside me, I could ask her right away.”
“She’ll be here soon, so please be patient a little longer, Your Highness.”
“Should I go out to greet her? What if magical beasts appear on the trade route while she’s coming?”
“Marquis Spencer is coming with her, so you don’t need to worry.”
“This won’t do. I’m so worried I can’t focus on work at all.”
“Your Highness, please do your work today without fail.”
“I can’t because I’m worried about Charlotte and Marquis Spencer. I’m sorry. Please convey my feelings to the aides.”
“Your Highness… This… Haa.”
Lanslon sighed as he watched Adrian quickly leave his seat.
[This is the timeline separator]Charlotte was excited at the thought of meeting her beloved Adrian.
Originally, she wanted to ride on horseback, but Susanna stopped her, saying she needed to maintain a pretty and neat appearance because she was going to the Isuter Empire for an engagement. Susanna was the nanny who had raised Charlotte since childhood and was now her reliable maid.
People applauded the beautiful Charlotte in her fine dress, which she had worn after a long time, and congratulated her on her engagement to Adrian. To the people of the Poloide Empire, Adrian is a good person. He’s cheerful and doesn’t discriminate against commoners. He saves people from magical beasts and helps them without showing off.
Charlotte also fell for Adrian because of such qualities.
People expected great benefits for both empires from the union of Adrian, who excels in swordsmanship and martial arts, and Charlotte, who is skilled in politics and diplomacy.
As the carriage door closed and the curtain was about to be lowered, someone knocked on the carriage window. It was Marquis Teishar Spencer.
“Princess Charlotte. Is there anything uncomfortable?”
Charlotte smiled brightly.
“It’s uncomfortable that we’re not going to the Isuter Empire faster.”
“You just need to be patient for one day.”
“Adrian will be waiting with his neck stretched out.”
“Don’t worry. His Highness Crown Prince Adrian has quite a thick neck, so he won’t die even if his neck stretches out a bit.”
Teishar retorted to Charlotte’s words. And he recalled the queen’s earnest request before departing.
Male lead first thought she played hard to get, only to realize she
really disliked him
Short intro:
What she can’t stand the most is the streets full of effeminate men, especially that so-called top beauty whom she avoids at all costs.
Shen Yaoxing looks at Jiang Mingyue, who keeps approaching her with coy shyness.
Shen Yaoxing: Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up!
She fears nothing in heaven or earth, except for him getting close to her.
*
At first he thought she was just using the trick of feigning indifference to attract his attention. Later, he learned that she truly despised him.
This dealt a heavy blow to Jiang Mingyue, and he vowed to make her, like everyone else, fall at his feet in worship!
***
Synopsis:
Before transmigrating, Shen Yaoxing only wanted to find a reliable man to spend her life with. Who knew that after transmigrating, she would become a reliable woman herself…
A forced misandrist, highly skilled, and reliable female lead
vs.
An initially aloof and arrogant, later morbid, obsessed male lead
_____
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