Kian, seeing a playroom for the first time in his life, expressed his amazement by keeping his mouth wide open for quite a while. Then he rushed over and hugged me tightly, saying,
“It’s so beautiful! Mother!”
I sat down low to match Kian’s eye level and pulled him into my arms.
“Kian. Do you really like it?”
“Yes. I like it so, so much!”
“If you like it, Lord Duke will be very pleased too. Right, Sikar?”
I looked toward Sikar together with Kian. Sikar, who had been watching us, quickly averted his gaze when his eyes met Kian’s, as if feeling slightly awkward.
“Well, maybe, perhaps, something like that?”
Kian wore an expression clearly showing he didn’t understand why Sikar would be happy, so I quietly whispered to him about Sikar’s accomplishment.
“Lord Duke made this playroom especially for you.”
Upon hearing that, Kian’s eyes widened as if questioning whether it was true, and he stared at Sikar—then promptly nodded with a blank expression.
“Thank you.”
He said thank you, but his voice lacked any soul.
Truly, what a difficult father-son pair to get close to.
Still, even Kian’s aloofness was incredibly cute. I rubbed my face affectionately against his cheek, fully expressing my feelings.
“Then shall we try origami now?”
At the mention of origami, Kian’s face lit up with excitement.
“This is what we talked about doing yesterday, right?!”
“Yes. Look over there. Can you see Vika and Durion doing it? We’ll do the same kind of play.”
In the original story, Kian was said to adore origami. The reason was simple.
Having grown up only on snowy mountains, Kian loved making snowmen, animals, toys, and playing with snow. Thus, he became fascinated by a game where anything could be created from just a single sheet of paper.
Seeing how delighted Kian was, Sikar pulled me aside and grumbled in a low voice.
“A royal heir, at the age when he should be mastering and training in divine power, getting hooked on something like this? If he weren’t the protagonist, he wouldn’t have survived.”
“Instead of complaining, try opening your heart a little to Kian while making origami with him.”
“If I brought him into my household, I’ve already opened my heart.”
“No, that’s opening your mind. You brought him in because you rationally judged it necessary.”
“You’re playing with words. That’s the same thing.”
“Fine. Then I’ll speak plainly without wordplay. Do origami together with Kian.”
Even as I said this, my hands trembled violently out of fear—but since my goal was breaking Sikar’s curse, focusing on improving their relationship was also important.
To achieve that, I had to risk giving Sikar a direct order. Of course, I was terrified.
“Are you ordering me right now?”
I wanted to shout, but under Sikar’s intense gaze, my voice shrank to a mosquito’s whisper, like a powerless creature.
“Y-… yes.”
Sikar took my trembling hands and smiled mysteriously.
“Do you always tremble like this just when you see me?”
Obviously. Imagine talking to a lunatic who constantly holds a knife to your throat. Of course I’m trembling.
“It’s not because you’re scared of me—or maybe it’s because you like me? Watching you tremble like this is really amusing.”
“…Well. Fine.”
Again, I’ll just go along with it.
“Then shall we go do origami with Kian now?”
“Alright. Since you’re going to such lengths to break my curse, I suppose I should do at least this much.”
We returned inside, holding sheets of colored paper, and observed what Kian was folding. He was making flowers—specifically, roses.
“Kian. Isn’t folding roses difficult? It’s impressive you’re managing something this complex.”
Durion, as if he’d been waiting for someone to say it was hard, immediately grumbled.
“Right? Madam? This is difficult, isn’t it?”
Come to think of it, Vika and Durion were also folding roses.
“Humans, honestly. Why fold paper into roses when you could just pluck real ones? I simply cannot understand.”
It was such a Vika-like remark that Kian promptly stuffed a candy into Vika’s mouth.
Stuffing candy into someone’s mouth seemed to have the effect of silencing them. Maybe I should try stuffing candy into Sikar’s mouth too.
While I was thinking this, Kian unexpectedly spoke.
“Paper flowers don’t wilt. I want to make a thousand unwilting roses for Mother.”
“Kian. Are you folding roses for me?”
“Yes. Mother. Of course.”
“Why…? Why roses?”
“Because I think Mother likes roses. Your window is full of them, after all.”
Unbelievable! Those roses were planted by Sikar to brainwash me, but in Kian’s eyes, they looked like something I genuinely loved.
How is it that this child moves me every single day? My nose tingled as I hugged Kian tightly.
“I’m so grateful you think of me like this, Kian.”
Compared to Kian, who with his tiny hands strives to gift me unwilting roses through origami, I realized I’d never given him a proper, meaningful present myself. All gifts had been arranged by Sikar’s hand.
Kian needed not only Sikar’s love, but mine as well.
So I decided to repay him by folding a thousand cranes together with Sikar—even though Sikar had initially detached the cranes.
“Kian. You know, right? If you fold a thousand cranes and make a wish, your wish comes true.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then, what about a thousand roses?”
“That’s…”
I didn’t know either and was trying to think of something to say, when Sikar suddenly cut in.
“A thousand roses grant love.”
“Love?”
“Yes. That’s why your mother liked them so much.”
“Hmm. So Sikar, you’re saying that the reason I was happy seeing a thousand roses… was because I expected to fulfill love with you…?”
While I was speaking, Sikar nodded firmly in agreement—then suddenly pulled me behind his back.
“If you speak with such a flushed face, it’s obvious you like me.”
Predictably, Vika and Durion started commenting things like, “Madam’s face is as red as a beet,” and “Love can’t be hidden.”
Well, these villains, who’ve never blushed in their lives, probably don’t realize people can turn red from extreme embarrassment or anger.
“But, Master Vika. Have you actually heard such a saying before?”
“What saying? That a thousand roses grant love? Whether love exists or not, I couldn’t care less.”
Ah, I picked the wrong person to ask. So I turned to Durion instead, who scratched his chin thoughtfully.
“I don’t know about granting love, but I do know of a flower that kills if brewed a thousand times. It’s extremely toxic. Difficult to obtain, but once acquired, you can brew it a thousand times over a thousand days… and it can easily blind and deafen people…”
I quickly covered Kian’s ears and waved my hands dismissively.
“Master Durion? That’s enough explanation.”
I picked the wrong people to ask. What kind of information did I expect to get from a den of villains? I’ll remember this and ask Reidox later.
Since we didn’t complete our target amount of origami in one day, our folding continued into the next day.
Sikar remained as expressionless as yesterday, Vika grumbled just as much as yesterday, and Durion still scratched his head while fiddling with the colored paper.
“Why on earth do humans make these things? It’s annoying.”
Vika, seemingly fed up, summoned a dark spirit to fold the paper for him. A formless black entity, resembling smoke or water, folding paper was quite an unusual sight.
Intrigued by the sight, Kian summoned his own small spirit—but since its attribute was fire, it only ended up burning the paper.
“Silly young master. Paper burns in fire, you know.”
“Vika. Only say nice things to Kian.”
The moment Vika shrugged as if to say ‘fine,’ Kian stuffed a candy into his mouth. Maybe I should start stuffing candies into Vika’s mouth too.
Durion clearly lacked any talent for delicate crafting—it took him forever just to fold one rose. But once completed, he’d set it down and gaze at the paper rose with immense pride, as if deeply satisfied with himself.
“I thought only swordsmanship was difficult, but it seems the world is full of truly hard things? Handling such a tiny piece of paper is this tough. Wow!”
Seeing that, Durion, despite being a villain, seemed to have a strangely innocent side.
Just when it seemed we were nearing the end, Sikar’s right hand suddenly turned cold and stiff as he folded paper. The paper in his hand dropped abruptly to the floor.
This curse’s symptoms always struck Sikar suddenly. Accustomed to it, he merely frowned slightly.
“I suppose I’ll have to stop here for today.”
Just as Sikar rotated his wrist a few times, as if it felt stiff, and started to rise from his seat—
For the first time, Kian grabbed Sikar’s collar. All of us present stared at Kian in surprise, but Sikar merely looked at him impassively.
“Got something to say?”
Kian stared intensely at Sikar, then nodded.
“I think I can melt this.”
Had Kian already gained the ability to melt Sikar’s frozen hand?
Sikar didn’t seem to expect much, but he didn’t leave his seat.
“Oh? Then go ahead and try melting it.”
Kian solemnly clasped his hands together, gripped Sikar’s frozen right hand, closed his eyes, and concentrated.
Then, a fire spirit emerging from Kian’s hands began swirling around Sikar’s hand, melting the frozen chill. We all watched, spellbound, at the mystical and rare spectacle.
“Wow. What is this? Is the young master really melting Lord Duke’s hand right now? Wow, the young master is amazing!”
Flattered by Durion’s praise, Kian’s face turned slightly red, while Vika elbowed Durion’s side as if to say, “Why the fuss over nothing?”
And I watched Kian with tearful, grateful eyes, hands clasped together.
I’d only read phrases about melting coldness—but actually witnessing it before my eyes was nothing short of miraculous. Sikar, seemingly pleased, lifted one corner of his mouth.
“Not bad.”
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.”
