When Riena remained silent, Johannes approached her a bit closer and continued speaking.
“I know you don’t have any special connection with Duke Winkler. If you’re getting to know each other from scratch, wouldn’t I have a chance too?”
After saying that, Johannes covered his eyes and let out a hollow laugh.
“What I just said sounds really pathetic. But please understand, my lady. I’m so desperate to win your heart.”
“……”
“I’ll respect your choice. It’s painful, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Just then, the stable boy Ben arrived with a two-horse carriage accompanying Lucy. Cassel approached and took Riena’s hand.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
Riena turned away from Johannes, who was smiling bitterly, and approached the carriage.
The stable boy Ben silently looked at Riena without saying a word. Riena could read from his kind face that he was congratulating her on her engagement.
‘Thank you.’
Riena mouthed to him before getting into the carriage. She saw the bag inside the carriage and put the ribbon she had kept in her pocket back into it.
Cassel got into the carriage after her. It was because of Riena’s suggestion to ride together in the carriage until the rain stopped, even though he had already changed his clothes.
Cassel, sitting across from Riena, spoke in a voice filled with regret.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t prepare a carriage in advance.”
“It’s alright. I like this carriage. It’s familiar.”
Riena gave him a faint smile before looking out the window. Along with the sound of hooves, the carriage began to move. Unlike earlier when they were fleeing, the rain had started to thin out.
Riena worried that the carriage might get stuck in a puddle again, but unlike before, it seemed that the driver was being more careful, so no such mishap occurred.
She leaned back against the seat and gazed at the receding mansion, lost in belated thoughts.
‘What on earth is going on?’
A man who came with a letter from her late father and proposed. Moreover, this man had the exact same appearance as the man in her dreams who had been hurting her heart for the past two months.
While not being able to be certain they were the same person, her heart was pounding nonetheless.
Riena had never thought she would meet someone who looked exactly like the man she had seen in her dreams. How could this have happened?
Could the man who appeared in her dreams and the man sitting across from her really be the same person? It seemed like they were. Otherwise, how could their appearance and voice be so identical?
Yet questions remained. How could someone she had never seen before appear in her dreams multiple times? Was this even possible?
‘Or perhaps we’ve met before?’
After a moment’s thought, Riena cautiously asked.
“Have we met before, by any chance?”
Cassel replied as if wondering why she would ask such a thing.
“Of course, when we were children…”
“No, not when we were children. I mean later. After becoming adults?”
It wasn’t a difficult question. But the man didn’t answer immediately and hesitated. Swallowing dryly and pondering, he finally spoke just as Riena was beginning to find it strange.
“Probably not. Before I left the count’s territory and inherited my title, I mostly stayed in Winkler territory. If you never came to Winkler territory, we wouldn’t have had a chance to meet.”
“I see. Then we must not have met before.”
“But why do you ask?”
This time, Riena hesitated. She couldn’t honestly tell the man that she had seen him in her dreams. So she made up an excuse.
“Your face seemed familiar somehow.”
Cassel, who had seemed impassive, let out a small laugh. As if enchanted by his low, resonant voice, Riena stared at him blankly.
“Isn’t it natural that I look familiar since you saw me when we were young? Even if I’ve changed a lot since childhood, some of that appearance must remain.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
It wasn’t simply recognizing his childhood face, but seeing exactly Cassel’s face in her dreams.
However, unable to say the absurd words “I saw you in my dreams,” it became awkward to explain.
Even to Riena’s ears, her question from earlier sounded really ridiculous.
In the end, she vaguely trailed off.
“I guess so. Since we saw each other as children…”
Riena had many other things she wanted to ask. But she couldn’t even organize her own thoughts about what she wanted to ask.
While Riena was faltering, unable to formulate her questions, the carriage gradually slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop.
‘Don’t tell me the carriage broke down again?’
Riena quietly looked at Cassel, unable to understand what was happening. He got out of the carriage with an expression that still didn’t reveal his inner thoughts. Then, opening an umbrella and holding it out, he extended his hand towards her, who was looking puzzled.
“There’s somewhere we need to stop briefly before leaving.”
‘Do I really have to go along?’ Riena was muttering inwardly when she was startled by the scene visible over Cassel’s shoulder. It was a familiar sight. At the same time, her heart ached so much that tears welled up as soon as she saw it.
The Dyke family cemetery.
Riena quickly wiped away the tears that suddenly welled up and took Cassel’s hand.
As she carefully got out of the carriage with his escort, the knight named Dean, who had been acting as the coachman, handed her a bouquet of white chrysanthemums.
“I thought we should pay our respects to the master…”
Hearing Cassel’s low murmur, Riena decided not to doubt him anymore. For someone who thought of her father like this, an unfounded belief that he could be trusted arose in her heart.
[This is the timeline separator]In front of the count’s grave, which she had visited after several days, flowers were piled up abundantly.
Among them were chrysanthemums that looked fresh, as if they had been left not long ago. It was a scene that vividly showed how respected the count had been by the people of the territory.
Riena tightly gripped the bouquet of chrysanthemums, remembering her father who had thought of the people of the territory until his last moment.
It had already been two months since her father passed away.
Two months. An absurdly short time to forget someone who had been together for 20 years of life.
By the time she had cried so much that no more tears would come out. She had already reddened her eyes several times after discovering traces of her father in the most trivial things while wandering around the mansion.
But it seemed like everyone except Riena had already forgotten the count.
Especially seeing her half-brother Aaron acting normal, Riena felt an indescribable shock.
Not just anyone, but even Aaron who shared the same blood…
While Riena was immersed in melancholy thoughts, Cassel handed her the umbrella and knelt down in front of the tombstone, not minding that his newly changed clothes were getting wet again in the rain.
He put his hands together and prayed for the deceased’s peace.
Riena watched his solemn figure for a moment before kneeling down beside him. She felt the cold on her legs as her skirt got wet, but somehow a corner of her heart felt warm.
“I heard it was… a horseback riding accident.”
After a moment of silence, Cassel spoke. Riena barely managed to answer in a voice tinged with moisture.
“…Yes.”
“May I ask for the details of what happened?”
Riena blankly recalled the events of that day.
“It was a day when the rain was pouring heavily.”
That day, Riena had been gripped by an inexplicable anxiety since morning. It was partly due to the dark clouds heavily covering the sky and the rain pouring so hard that she could barely see ahead, but that wasn’t the main reason.
Given the characteristics of Dyke territory where it often rained in summer, she was used to this kind of weather. She would feel gloomy on rainy days, but she didn’t feel scared or afraid.
Yet that day, her heart was unusually anxious. Her heart was pounding as if she had seen a ghost, and her hands were trembling as if she was standing outside in the middle of winter. Even food didn’t go down well, so she barely ate her meals.
She tried to stop her father, who insisted on going out to inspect the territory despite the bad weather.
That kind smile, as if soothing a child, was the last. Father returned that evening as a cold corpse. The promise to have dinner together became a promise that would never be kept.
Riena couldn’t even see her father’s face properly for the last time due to the knights’ insistence that it would be better not to look.
So whenever she thought of her father, she always remembered that smiling face before he left the mansion. That made it even more painful.
Male lead is a clingy little husband
One-line summary: The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
Introduction:
One day, Lu Yuner’s soul transmigrates into a female-dominant world. She enters the Imperial Academy and takes up the position of a doctoral instructor, teaching classes and grading schoolwork.
One day, she encounters the young prince Su Qingwan secretly skipping class from the male academy.
As a result, Su Qingwan is punished.
From then on, Su Qingwan sees Lu Yuner as a “thorn in his side”.
But before long, this “thorn” becomes the person he cherishes most, and he goes to great lengths to win Lu Yuner’s affection.
Mini scene 1:
One day, the sun is high in the sky but Su Qingwan still hasn’t gotten up for class.
Servant Xiaoyuan: “Young prince, it’s time for class. You’ll be late otherwise.”
Su Qingwan says arrogantly: “I’m not going. I am the esteemed prince, my status is so noble, why should I suffer this hardship? Besides, isn’t learning all this just to please women? Hmph, they’re not worthy!”
Mini scene 2:
After Su Qingwan falls for someone, he completely changes. He no longer skips class and diligently learns how to be a good husband and father. But he discovers that Sister Yuner is always surrounded by admirers.
Drunk and overcome with jealousy one day, he clings to Lu Yuner, crying beautifully like a pear blossom in the rain.
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan likes Sister Yuner.”
Lu Yuner: “Young prince, you’re drunk.”
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan isn’t drunk. Qingwan likes Sister Yuner, likes you so much, likes you to bits…” Before he can finish, Lu Yuner’s eyes flash with emotion and she leans in closer.
[Reading Guide]
1. The female lead is gentle, gracious, humble and polite but not weak. The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
2. 1v1, a bit torturous in the beginning but definitely sweet later on.
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