Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 8

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 8
* * *
“Goodness, there’s such an abundance of fine carpets!”
“We could use several of them right away!”
Each time a trunk lid opened, silken fabrics caught the sunlight and flowed like a river, while precious objects tumbled forth across the surface.
Gold-threaded curtains, mother-of-pearl inlaid boxes. And golden goblets studded with jewels, all of them overflowing.
With each trunk unpacked, the servants could barely contain their radiant smiles.
Though they moved about in constant motion, they took care to place every item that had arrived today in one place and one place alone: where I stayed.
The dining table was laid with a pristine tablecloth trimmed in Colbert Lace, and the bathing room was stacked with hundreds of cakes of pearl powder fragrant soap.
The empty bedroom’s cabinet now gleamed with opalescent jewels, and pearl curtains drifted in the breeze, while soft sky-blue carpets cushioned the floor below.
Even the dishware had been replaced with jeweled pieces. I couldn’t help but purse my lips inwardly.
It was only today that I learned the Northern Kingdom had sent so many treasures ahead.
‘So they really did think I was falling far short compared to Ayu.’
Not only were these drawn from the king’s personal wealth—many came from the State Treasury itself.
Of course, I wasn’t moved.
The king had shown such generosity not out of concern for me, but out of fear that the emperor of Pasa would grow angry and demand Ayu’s return.
‘A blessing in disguise, I suppose.’
As the space grew brighter and more inviting, my spirits rose along with it.
Watching the servants decorate the castle with such enthusiasm was contagious, in its way.
“Sleep well, Grand Duchess.”
By half a day’s end, the bedroom had become remarkably cozy.
These beautiful ornaments were things neither Pasa nor the Northern Kingdom had ever possessed.
I spun round and round on the newly laid carpet, then flopped onto the bed without ceremony.
‘Unexpectedly, I’ve acquired capital!’
The golden decorations could fetch a good price when sold.
It would be unseemly to sell the dowry outright just yet—I’d need to wait a while and convert it all to coin gradually.
‘Once I have the money, I’ll start again with that.’
My mind drifted to the fields and the countless plants and animals I had once prepared to save the Northern Kingdom from ruin.
Though I’d lost them all when I became a concubine.
‘But I still have the knowledge in my head.’
Having spent over a decade in the hospital, I’d always been filled with hope that someday I might recover.
That’s why I dreamed constantly.
I wanted to see the aurora, and I wanted to visit the Salt Desert.
Among all these bucket list dreams, I’d also thought about my future.
Since my time outside the ward was strictly limited, I’d begun to crave nature.
That was when it started.
The dream that when my body healed, I would return to farming.
After that, my algorithm was flooded with videos about homesteading, and my searches filled with unique agricultural knowledge.
‘Later, I even found myself really enjoying adult programs like that lifestyle show.’
Once my mind was crammed full of all manner of farming knowledge, confidence bloomed within me.
All I had to do was get better, I told myself.
If I recovered safely and left the hospital to become a farmer, I’d be prosperous in no time.
‘In the end, I died anyway.’
But I’d been given a second life.
While scheming about ways to earn money, I eventually burrowed deeper into the blankets.
My eyelids grew heavy almost at once.
I’d expected to sleep deeply in this thick, quality quilt fresh from the carriage, but instead—
“Grand Duchess!”
“Grand Duchess! Grand Duchess, wake up!”
“The Grand Duke has returned!”
My eyes snapped open at the servants’ urgent cries.
“What?”
Even as they spoke, the servants were already pulling me toward the bathing room in a flurry.
“A messenger just arrived! The Grand Duke will be here soon!”
“Soon? How soon? Tomorrow? Tonight?”
“No!”
The servants bounced on their heels as they plunged me into a bath of hot water.
“He’ll arrive in fifteen minutes!”
* * *
And Sherkan did indeed return in proper form.
I stood before the Main Castle’s gates waiting for him, my heart unprepared.
I’d feared he might return with priests, but thankfully he came back with only knights.
“Your Highness.”
His vacant eyes glanced down at me. A beat too late, his answer came.
“Yes.”
“I—”
Just as I was about to speak the words I’d chosen so carefully, Sherkan seized my hand and strode into the castle with long, decisive steps.
‘What?’
I wasn’t the only one bewildered. The handmaids, even the knights, wore expressions of clear confusion.
“Your Highness? Where are you going?”
“Where else would I go at this hour but the bedchamber?”
The deep exhaustion in Sherkan’s voice made me hold my tongue.
It truly was late.
And yet……
‘Is he truly unaffected?’
It was almost bizarre how calmly he moved, this man who had left in such anger.
I looked down at my hand held in his. Firmly clasped, I could feel every callus on his palm.
Perhaps the reason I couldn’t stay angry with Sherkan was because I felt the overwhelming weight that rested on still-boyish shoulders.
Loreliana at least had a mother while she was growing up. But him……
‘Of course he survives—the ending is good. The ending is good.’
He’s the only man Ayu will choose in the end.
But the price he paid to survive was undeniably steep and brutal.
Thinking of us both as pitiful creatures, the lingering resentment scattered like ash.
Meanwhile, as I grew weary walking, Sherkan simply lifted me like baggage and carried me across the vast Main Castle.
Click.
The second-floor bedchamber door closed, and only then did Sherkan speak.
“Loreliana.”
“Yes?”
“Are you still angry?”
For a moment I nearly let out an involuntary laugh.
My reply was barely a heartbeat slow before Sherkan grabbed both my shoulders and asked again.
“Are you very angry? Still?”
“Was I the one who was angry? You were the one who grew angry with me.”
It wasn’t sarcasm—a simple statement of fact.
“I was never angry. To be honest, I was a little at first. Who wouldn’t feel hurt when someone suddenly loses their temper and leaves? But……”
I’m a person who has decided to stay at the side of the male lead in this incomprehensible world.
So the strategy I chose was absolute: ‘Never let misunderstandings accumulate.’
“A few days passed and my mood sorted itself out. I’m naturally good at managing my emotions. And I’m grateful you sent my Dowry along. That’s all.”
Not cutting words short for no reason?
I won’t.
Hiding my true feelings?
Never.
At least not until I can stand on my own.
“Loreliana.”
Sherkan gazed at me intently.
“You know you’re acting like someone desperate to avoid owing me anything, right?”
“……Wouldn’t anyone else do the same? You bought me for such a high price and brought me here.”
I hesitated, then added,
“That’s not sarcasm. I mean it sincerely.”
Sherkan said nothing, only looked down at me.
I didn’t bother avoiding his gaze either.
But those eyes burning like embers revealed nothing of his thoughts, no matter how hard I searched them.
Sherkan lowered his head and suddenly pressed his lips to my cheek.
“……?!”
Seeing me frozen, he let out a soft laugh.
“Don’t give these lengthy explanations to anyone else.”
“What? Yes……”
“You look far too good when you do.”
As my mind slowly returned, I felt a sharp question arise.
“Your Highness.”
“Yes.”
“Haven’t the knights told you? How I drove away those who tried to touch the dowry I brought today?”
“They did.”
Yet he looked perfectly innocent about it?
I couldn’t make sense of it at all.
“So you’re telling me to behave even worse? Should I remember that I’m a very expensive and precious prize, and then do whatever I please at every turn?”
“Except front and back.”
“I’m sorry?”
Sherkan continued slowly.
“Just remember that you’re invaluable.”
……
“Do whatever you please at every turn. Right now, the most expensive thing in this castle isn’t the Main Castle, and it isn’t me—it’s you.”
“You’re truly materialistic.”
“I grew up with nothing.”
I was at a loss for words. Exasperated, yet at the same time, oddly unsettled.
His eyes, fixed so intently on mine, felt strangely distant.
Finally, I cleared my throat and spoke.
“So you’re telling me to do as I please?”
“Yes.”
“Then let go of me.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Then put me down.”
“I don’t want to do that either.”
“What exactly are the rules for doing as I please?”
“Don’t push my hand away. Everything else—do as you wish. Hit me, shout, curse at me.”
I laughed hollowly.
“I’ll do that when I get the chance. I can’t right now.”
“Why not?”
“Why not?”
“I lost my temper with you and left as I pleased. So why are you forgiving me?”
……
I looked up at Sherkan in silence.
The expression on his face as he asked why was oddly innocent.
Impossibly so for a boy who’d been stained with blood since birth.
“Because you are my savior.”
“So you’re saying you’ll never hit me?”
“Eventually it might be possible. Even gratitude fades with time, doesn’t it?”
“Does it?”
A faint smile crossed Sherkan’s lips.
“Mine doesn’t fade.”
“I suppose I’m small-minded.”
He laughed softly.
“You’re a noble lady—you ought to be.”
……
Half-dazed as I gazed at him, he suddenly smiled.
“Loreliana.”
“Yes?”
“Pasa was famous for its wealth, so why are you so thin for a concubine?”
‘Because I was starving myself to avoid being poisoned.’
“There was a war happening. Unless you were an empress of high rank, what kind of meals do you think concubines of lower stations received?”
I hurried to add, “The servants’ food suited my taste just fine.”
“You’ll need to eat eight meals a day.”
“……Do I look like an ox to you?”
Sherkan burst out laughing, and only then did he set me down on the bed.
There was a rustling sound.
It seemed he was removing his shoes. He slipped his feet into prepared slippers and asked.
“Want to bathe?”
“I……”
“We could bathe together if you’d like.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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