Simon had no interest in this little bastard child of who-knows-who anyway.
Rather, he got furiously angry every time he saw the baby. Because it reminded him of his own pathetic situation of being sold to the ducal family to cover up Odette’s scandal.
Even when the midwife, after confirming that the premature baby was breathing properly, tried to hand the baby to him, he firmly refused.
This low-born little one of unknown origin would become the heir to the Tyrot Duchy just for being born from Odette’s womb. At the same time, Simon would once again become like a kite with a broken string.
“Damn. So annoyingly noisy.”
The baby, perhaps hungry, did not stop crying easily. Simon was irritated, but he couldn’t just slap the baby anywhere. The crown prince wouldn’t leave him alone if he did that.
Since the crown prince had told him to bring the child secretly, he knew well that the child would be in danger. But what did it matter.
What was important to him now was regaining the crown prince’s trust, thereby seizing the honor and wealth the crown prince had promised, and living with everyone’s adulation. That was all.
“You’ll only get in the way of that, little one.”
Looking down at the newborn’s tiny tear-stained face, now only making faint crying sounds with a hoarse throat, Simon whispered with satisfaction.
“Cry all you want. This is your lot in life and fate.”
He was determined to deliver this baby safely to Nigel no matter what.
Kasha Lyuschino was enough to make him lose his prey that had been in his grasp.
He had no intention of repeating the same mistake ever again.
[This is the timeline separator]“Yes. You have worked hard.”
Simon bowed flatly behind Nigel’s back, who was walking two or three steps ahead of him.
“Please do not speak of hard work. If it is Your Highness the Crown Prince’s order, I will lay down my life.”
The crown prince, who suddenly stopped walking, looked back at him over his shoulder. His eerie violet eyes narrowed with an unreadable emotion.
“Yes… That’s good to hear.”
The baby’s crying was no longer heard. The crown prince did not even properly check the face of the baby Simon had brought, but had his attendant receive it instead. The attendant holding the child quickly disappeared somewhere.
Since Nigel did not dismiss him, Simon followed behind him hesitantly, taking cues.
But unlike usual, Nigel was moving without any escort knights.
‘Why, at this critical time when even His Majesty the Emperor has passed away?’
Come to think of it, the number of servants in the Crown Prince’s Palace, including the escort knights, seemed to have decreased significantly compared to before.
Moreover, though he dared not show his surprise, the crown prince was even now strutting around the palace in a robe usually worn only in the bedroom.
It was all utterly incomprehensible. However, Simon bowed his head in a show of loyalty, completely concealing all his questions.
‘I can’t just go back like this again today.’
It had been almost a year since Nigel had become the crown prince. Now that His Majesty the Emperor had passed away, the crown prince had achieved everything he wanted.
Then, it was time for him, who had been assisting the crown prince’s moves from the shadows, to also receive compensation and rise to the “unimaginably high place” the crown prince had promised.
Having stolen Odette’s baby and even fled, it would be difficult to return to the Tyrot Duchy unscathed. The crown prince’s latest order had effectively forced Simon to a once-in-a-lifetime crossroad.
‘This time, you have to truly take responsibility for my life, Your Highness.’
Behind Nigel’s back, Simon muttered inwardly, his eyes flashing with a chilling light.
Meanwhile, Nigel moved his steps without hesitation and turned a corner leading underground.
But as he turned the corner, Nigel suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.
“Gasp. Your Highness! You, you’re back already?”
Someone’s frightened voice was heard. And Nigel’s voice in response was colder and more frigid than the northern cold wave.
“Why are you here? I’m sure I told you to guard that room without budging.”
“Th-that’s… I, I just went to the restroom for a moment, I’m s-sorry! Your Highness the Crown Prince! I’ll return immediately…”
“Ha. Incompetent and disobedient too?”
“Your Highness! Wait a minute! Ugh! Kuh…”
Simon froze on the spot, not daring to turn the corner. The metallic scent of blood wafted from beyond the corner in time with someone’s last moments.
Only after hearing Nigel’s footsteps again could Simon move his body. As he turned the corner, the owner of the scream finally came into view.
The crown prince’s escort knight lay sprawled at the entrance of the underground stairs. And a long, mercilessly cut wound on his chest was spewing red blood.
Judging by the empty scabbard the knight wore, the crown prince seemed to have drawn the knight’s sword and slashed its owner.
The knight should have had no trouble matching the crown prince in strength, but he lay sprawled lifelessly, twitching without even being able to resist.
“I’m already on edge, so why are they testing my patience and going crazy?”
Nigel, still seemingly not over his anger, kicked the knight’s twitching hand far away, panting.
After wiping his blood-soaked boots on the wall in irritation, Nigel began walking again, this time much faster than before.
He was still holding the sword he had used to slash the knight. Simon followed closely behind, careful not to go against the crown prince’s mood.
Finally, descending the stairs, a dim underground corridor appeared.
“Wait.”
The crown prince suddenly stopped walking and frowned.
Simon also held his breath and looked around.
The crown prince’s gaze was directed at a room at the end of the corridor. Small voices seemed to be leaking out from the slightly open doorway.
“What is this now…”
Nigel’s brow twitched.
It was the same for Simon. The voice drifting out from the doorway was definitely familiar. Because it was clearly the voice of the woman who was his wife, even if only in name.
“…Odette?”
Hearing Simon muttering unknowingly, Nigel twisted the corner of his mouth as if amused and began to hum.
As he approached the room, the humming grew louder. Nigel opened the door wide open with a big motion without hesitation.
“…No, I mean, before that, my baby− Gasp!!”
Odette, who had been frowning and saying something to Kasha, saw Nigel and jumped up with a scream.
“Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince…”
“There sure are a lot of rats scurrying around the palace today of all days.”
“Th-that’s not it… I, well.”
Seeing the crown prince in a robe, Odette was flustered and at a loss. The crown prince, who had shed his gentle smile that she knew, felt so unfamiliar that he seemed vicious.
But then, Odette’s eyes caught Simon, who peeked out from behind the crown prince.
“S-Simon? You!”
“Odette, how are you here…”
“Is that what you have to say now?”
Nigel had no interest in whether the two fought or not. His gaze was solely fixed on Kasha, who was crouched in the corner, slowly scanning her up and down.
Her attire was disheveled, unlike usual, due to being blindfolded and dragged here.
Through the unguardedly open neckline, the swell of her breasts was revealed, and a red cloth hung diagonally across her neck, intensely stimulating the eyes.
Nigel swallowed hard unconsciously in a daze. The already ignited lust burned even more fiercely in his stomach.
Meanwhile, as the crown prince’s silence seemed to be taken as a kind of acquiescence, Odette and Simon were openly arguing beside him.
“You, what did you do with my baby? How could you leave the baby alone?”
“…How should I know. That damn bastard child.”
“Wh-what? You, what did you just say…”
“Why, are you suddenly overcome with maternal love for that kid? Where was that when you were wailing that he ruined your life. Isn’t this the situation you wanted? Rather, it’s like getting what you want without lifting a finger.”
“What…? Simon, you dare to…”
Odette stammered, flabbergasted.
Simon, who had always catered to her whims as if he would give her his liver and gall bladder, had changed his face like a different person and was spewing profanity at her.
“You’re the one who shouldn’t act rashly in front of His Highness the Crown Prince. If you don’t want to end up like your filthy bastard child.”
“You, you…!”
Odette trembled with rage, but as Simon said, she couldn’t dare throw a fit in front of the crown prince. Simon glared at her as if she deserved it.
“Your family is ruined anyway, so can’t you just shut up and stay quiet? In order to cater to your insufferably arrogant whims and pretend to love you! Do you know! How much! Effort I put in! Do you have any idea how agonizing that was for me?!”
Hearing Simon’s unrestrained accusations, Odette gaped in shock.
And it wasn’t just Odette who was stunned for a moment.
‘Can’t you just die gracefully, you damn XX? In order to cater to your insufferably gloomy whims and pretend to love you! Do you know! How much! Effort I put in! Do you have any idea how agonizing that was for me?!’
The reproach Simon had hurled at Kasha when he visited the prison before the regression. It was now being poured out at Odette. Simply with the target and content changed, but carrying the same intensity of anger and irritation.
‘Those words…’
Kasha swallowed as she looked at Nigel, who had already come close and was staring at her intently.
‘Are you saying someone is about to die soon?’
Nigel, standing before her eyes, was smiling while emitting the pungent scent of blood and holding a sword dripping with blood.
Did he smile with that same face back then too, when he unfolded his fan, exuding that terrible perfume scent, before the regression?
Right then, Nigel, his mouth stretched long as if he was having the time of his life, spoke.
“Kasha Lyuschino. Now, shall you try to give me some proper joy?”
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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