I brought my hands together in prayer and paced around the room. Fearing that I might accidentally damage the expensivelooking objects scattered around, my range of movement was limited.

The place I was in was a small, beautiful reception room decorated in red and gold. I expected to be taken to a dungeon under the pretext of ‘persuasion and coercion,’ but the knights had brought me here.

“Persuasion and coercion without violence, then?”

I was very surprised, very flustered. If it’s not torture, then what is persuasion and coercion? What are they trying to do? I couldn’t know, and it was unnerving.

Then it happened.

“Excuse me, I will come in!”

After a polite knock, the door opened forcefully, and someone revealed themselves from beyond.

“Heeeek.”

I let out a strange groan at the sight of the person’s face.

I quickly closed my mouth.

An awkward silence filled the room.

(This is a time separator.)

Asphayren has three close confidants that he cherishes very much.

Courtier Lumel, guard captain Canis, and chief aide Chiara.

Readers had called these three ‘Lumel of Conscience,’ ‘Canis of Force,’ ‘Chiara of Intellect,’ collectively known as ‘Asphayren’s Trio of Confidants.’

“I am ashamed.”

And the man who had just startled me was one of the confidant trio,

‘Force’s Canis.’

“I’m really sorry for making you so surprised,”

Canis said, ruffling his short auburn hair, looking somewhat abashed. I quickly shook my head in a bowing motion.

“No, I was thinking about something else and didn’t hear you. I’m the one who was rude upon our first meeting.”

“Haha, it’s okay.”

I massaged my neck and heaved a deep sigh of relief inside.

When I saw Canis’s face, a scream almost involuntarily escaped me, and I was taken aback. I almost made the worst first impression.

‘It’s fortunate that I thought of an excuse in time.’

It was a flimsy excuse that I was startled because someone suddenly entered, but Canis naively believed it.

Lucky, but his naivety was worrying.

‘By the way, he looks exactly like the face I imagined while reading .’

From his rocklike solid body and tall stature to his refreshing facial features and cheerful auburn eyes, Canis really looked like he had walked right out of my head.

So, my shock at seeing him was inevitably unavoidable.

But as time passed, my astonishment subsided. I plucked up the courage to look up at Canis’s imposing face once again.

As our eyes met, he revealed his white teeth and smiled.
Then the right fist was placed over the left chest, and the other hand was brought behind the waist, followed by a bow, presenting the elegant salute of a knight.

“I shall introduce myself formally. I am Canis, leading the guards of Lord Asphayren Loarkin.”

“Hello. I’m really glad to meet you. Please take care of me.”

“Yes! I ask the same of you. Hahaha!”

We had a brief, cheerful handshake, completely dispelling any awkwardness.

But sadly, the warm atmosphere did not last long.

“Shall we go together now? The Lord is waiting.”

“Ah.”

I stiffened, smiling.

I had momentarily forgotten that I was (probably) smitten by Asphayren.

I subtly averted my eyes.

“…Do we really have to go now?”

“Yes? Of course!”

The answer was incredibly cheerful. Canis herded me out the door like a sheepdog pushing a sheep.

I tried to resist by subtly digging my heels in, but such resistance was futile against ‘forceful’ Canis.

“No waaay―!”

In the end, I had no choice but to be dragged along.

(This is a time separator.)

“We’ve arrived.”

In a dark green reception room adorned with strangely shaped plants, Asphayren, who was looking at some documents at a table in the center, looked up.

His gaze initially focused on Canis and then shifted down to me. Asphayren slightly narrowed his eyebrows.

“Why do you have a face like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse?”

“A cow being led to the slaughterhouse?”

Canis bent over to examine my expression, tilting his head seriously.

“It’s strange. You looked very happy just a moment ago. Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

‘Don’t ask! How can I say I’m scared of your Lord?’

Really clueless! My secretly clenched fist trembled.

Anyway, I had to reply. I shook my hands back and forth.

“No, no. I’m just at a loss as to how to behave in front of the Lord. Hehe.”

My insincere laughter and worthless flattery were cheap even to my own feelings. Asphayren opened his eyes thinly.

Fortunately, Asphayren gestured toward the seat opposite instead of probing further.

“Sit down.”

“Yes!”

Where Asphayren pointed was an elegant dark green sofa. To avoid offending him as much as possible, I quickly ran to the sofa and sat down.

‘What on earth is he going to talk about that he called me to this strange reception room?’

I fidgeted with my hands clasped, glancing at a plant on the table that looked like a large Venus flytrap.

Asphayren’s hot gaze, reaching to my forehead, was prickly. My heart thumped.

Such an uncomfortable silence lasted a while. Finally, Asphayren opened his mouth.

Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.

The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…

Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.

Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.

The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”

When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…

The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced