“Dad!”
Eve’s face lit up with a bright smile upon seeing Eclas.
“Dad, I missed you!”
Eve ran towards Eclas as fast as a squirrel and hugged him tightly.
“Eve, it’s been a while.”
Eclas gently patted Eve’s head.
The child grinned, revealing her small teeth.
“Dad, you’re wearing a prince’s clothes!”
Eve touched the luxurious jacket Eclas was wearing.
It wasn’t as flashy as what Eclas usually wore, but in Eve’s eyes, it looked quite stylish and sophisticated.
“Eve, have you been sick anywhere while I was gone?”
Eclas asked the child who was affectionately clinging to him.
Eve felt around her body as if searching for any ailments, then shook her head.
“No! Mom and the bad uncle protected me!”
“Bad uncle?”
“Yes! The uncle even let me ride a horse!”
At those words, Eclas’s gaze turned to Louise.
She had a somewhat uneasy expression but remained silent.
It was ridiculous, but a sense of relief washed over him.
The fact that she hadn’t revealed to Eve yet that Sched was her biological father.
And the fact that she still intended to let him play the role of Eve’s father.
Eclas smiled and made eye contact with Eve.
“Let’s go back home with Dad, Eve. Dad will let you ride a horse again.”
Eclas whispered affectionately to Eve.
“Are we going home now?”
“Yes. We’re going home.”
When he nodded, Eve held Eclas’s hand with one hand and Louise’s with the other.
“Let’s go!”
Eve shouted, looking up at her mom and dad alternately.
For a moment, Louise’s eyes met the child’s sparkling eyes.
‘Ah…’
It felt as if her heart was crumbling.
Louise let go of the small hand that grabbed her and knelt down.
The child’s innocent face was looking at her with pure naivety.
“Eve, Mommy has to go with the cardinals here.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the smile disappeared from Eve’s face.
The darkening expression pierced her eyes painfully.
“Mommy, you’re not coming?”
“Mommy has some things to take care of here.”
She was worried about how the forced smile would look to Eve’s eyes.
Am I smiling well right now? She couldn’t gauge it.
“What things…?”
“The cardinals asked Mommy to help them with some work.”
“Mommy? Why? No, I want Mommy to come with Eve.”
Eve’s lips protruded in a pout.
Her face looked like she was about to cry at any moment, and it was too painful to even look at her.
She held Eve’s small hand tightly and rubbed it for no reason.
“You know, the cardinals said they really need Mommy because she’s so smart.”
Louise forced a smile.
The corners of her mouth felt stiff for some reason.
Then Eve stared at her mother without throwing a tantrum.
Lips pressed tightly together without any complaints.
The child’s watery eyes crashed in like waves, breaking roughly.
It felt as if the resolve she had painstakingly built on the sand was shattering into pieces.
Suddenly, Louise felt a surge of respect for her father.
How could Father experiment on me like that?
How could he plunge a knife into his daughter’s heart?
Just seeing my child make that face is more painful than having a knife stabbed in my chest.
This agony of my heart being shredded to pieces, how did Father manage to shake it off?
For the first time, she thought she wanted to be like Father.
In the end, Louise avoided the child’s gaze like a sinner.
“So, I think Mommy will have to go away for quite a while.”
Pretending to be fine. She stroked the child’s dark cheek.
Then Eve’s lips quivered a few times before she spoke.
“How many nights?”
Her voice trembled as if she was about to cry.
“Well, about… a hundred nights?”
Eve didn’t know how to count to a hundred yet.
She only knew it was a big number.
“No! I don’t want a hundred nights!”
“If you play with Uncle Egon, it’ll go by quickly.”
“No! I want to be with Mommy!”
Eve spread her arms wide and hugged Louise’s neck tightly.
She could hear the sound of sobbing in her ear.
Louise bit her trembling lips firmly.
She took a deep breath slowly and exhaled quietly.
“Mommy wants to be with Eve too. Mommy loves Eve so so much.”
“Then stay with me.”
“But, if Mommy doesn’t go, something scary might happen again. That’s why I’m going. To protect Eve.”
Louise hugged Eve tightly.
The child buried her small head in her shoulder and rubbed her face side to side.
But she couldn’t throw any more tantrums and just sobbed.
The child was used to being separated and waiting.
Because Eclas would be away for a long time and only return after a while.
Her heart ached at the sight of the child who was quick to resign.
“…If I sleep for a hundred nights, will you definitely come back?”
Eve asked, tightly grasping her mother’s clothes.
She could feel her shoulder getting damp with the child’s tears and snot.
“Don’t cry, Eve.”
I feel like crying too.
“How much does Mommy love our Eve? Of course I have to come see you.”
Louise gently detached Eve and wiped the wet tears on her face with her finger.
Knowing it was a promise she couldn’t keep, she lied to the person most precious to her.
It hurt anew.
Despite having lived her whole life telling lies, why does it still hurt so much?
Neither physical pain nor mental anguish ever seems to go numb.
“I’ll be counting to a hundred, okay?”
Eve tugged at her mother’s collar, making a small and feeble threat.
Louise nodded and kissed Eve’s forehead.
I’m sorry for not being a good mother to you, Eve.
I’m really, really sorry for not being able to stay by your side until the end.
Louise swallowed the words that welled up thickly in her throat.
Someday Eve will find out.
That even after a hundred nights, Mommy won’t come.
That Mommy has left for good.
She knew it would be too painful for the child… but she couldn’t tell the truth.
She will resent her mother so much.
Louise hoped that Eve would hate and despise her mother instead.
Blaming everything on her mother like that and finding other happiness.
“Since you’re leaving with Uncle tomorrow, should we sleep together tonight?”
Louise smiled as she took in the sight of Eve.
Then Eve nodded her head vigorously.
“And Eve. Since Mommy is helping the cardinals, the Cardinal said she’ll give Eve a gift as thanks.”
Louise said as she stood up, holding Eve’s hand.
“Gift?”
At the mention of a gift, Eve wiped her snot with her sleeve.
“Yes. Eve must be so sad to be apart from Mommy, but she allowed it.”
“…What gift?”
Louise laughed as Eve softened at the mention of a gift.
Yes. Thank you for smiling even with something like this.
“Mommy doesn’t know either, but let’s go receive the gift together tomorrow. How about that?”
When Louise smiled and gently pulled her hand, Eve nodded with a pouty face.
[This is the timeline separator]Giselle looked at the man sitting in front of her.
A wealthy man with neatly tied brown hair and ruby-red eyes.
The air was quite awkward.
As far as Giselle knew, he never visited the Cardinal without a purpose.
And her prediction was not off the mark.
“I heard you’ve decided on Louise’s hellish punishment?”
The pleasantly curved eyes were as sharp as a sickle.
Another kid here to cling on like Sched Lester.
Calling himself Eve’s ‘dad’.
Giselle offered a silent prayer and nodded with a smile.
“It’s the law of the temple.”
It was a curt answer, as if she didn’t want to engage in a bothersome verbal fencing.
Then Eclas laughed and put a lump of sugar in his teacup.
“Of course. The temple must have a reason for deciding so.”
He nodded and lightly stirred the tea with a teaspoon.
The lump of sugar dissolved smoothly, and a faint warm steam rose from the crimson tea.
Giselle raised one eyebrow at the unexpectedly obedient reaction.
“You said the execution will take place once the other Cardinals arrive?”
After the sugar completely melted into the tea, Eclas lightly placed the teaspoon on the saucer.
“That’s right, but…”
Giselle answered, narrowing her eyes.
His demeanor of asking what he already knew was suspicious.
Sealing a heretic was rare and consumed a lot of holy power, so it wasn’t easy.
Giselle had already used a lot of power on sealing Sched’s apostle and Dietrich.
She could seal Louise too if needed, but she didn’t want to take on too much conscience-pricking work.
She… had witnessed what Louise accomplished after all.
More importantly, there was the pride of the other Cardinals to consider.
They didn’t want Giselle to monopolize all the important roles in this demon incident.
In other words, they wanted to share the credit.
Some wanted to experience the historically rare demon sealing, and there were also complex political reasons involved.
Anyway, Giselle wouldn’t be sealing Louise alone.
“The Cardinals should arrive tomorrow.”
He smiled brightly and took a sip of the sugared tea.
“They probably arrived in Recherdam today.”
“I suppose so. I pray their journey to Paradel will be smooth.”
At that moment, someone knocked on Giselle’s door.
The somewhat urgent knocking sound drew Eclas’s gaze leisurely to the door.
“It seems you have a visitor.”
“Cardinal…”
It was the voice of the lady-in-waiting, Justine, from outside.
“Let her in.”
Eclas nodded as if readily allowing the maid’s interruption.
When Giselle told her to enter, Justine and a priest soon came into the room.
“What is it?”
“The Cardinals haven’t even arrived in Hellingen yet.”
“…What?”
“Oh my, how unfortunate.”
An evidently artificial sigh was heard beside her ear.
Giselle glared at the viscount sitting at ease across from her.
“Right after praying for their safe arrival to Paradel, such news flies in. It seems my prayers really have bad luck.”
Eclas spoke smoothly and savored another sip of tea.
Giselle’s eyes turned back to Justine and the priest, demanding an explanation at once.
Then Justine spoke, glaring at Eclas.
“They said the Cardinals have to pay a thousand dela upfront to use the port facilities in Hellingen. In cash.”
Everyone’s gazes simultaneously focused on Eclas.
The port facilities in Hellingen were managed by the Bitel Company under a contract with Sched.
Eclas blinked calmly at the attention directed at him.
“Everyone usually pays around that much to use it.”
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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