Escalion, who had been bowing his head for a while, raised his upper body. His lowered golden eyes were filled with a fierce look.
He raised his hand and grasped the longsword at his waist.
“I’ll go scout the surroundings.”
“Now?”
“If there’s any chance it’s nearby, we need to deal with it. We can’t let it cause trouble down to the lower part of the forest. It might even be the one you encountered last time.”
“W-wait a moment!”
Belladonna hurriedly grabbed Escalion, who was about to turn and depart. She firmly held his thick forearm with both hands.
“It didn’t harm me at all. It could just be passing through!”
“Either way, it could be a threat to you in the future.”
“But it wasn’t now! Let’s just go back, shall we?”
She was still concerned about the bear cub she had seen earlier. It was incredibly young, and she couldn’t bear to let it lose its parent.
At her insistence, Escalion furrowed his brow in contemplation.
“We can go down carefully, right? We didn’t come here to hunt, and it bothers me to harm something just for passing through this area.”
Finally, he nodded.
“Alright, we’ll just go down this time.”
After briefly uttering those words, Escalion embraced Belladonna, helped her down from the rock, and then led the way.
“I suppose I’ll have to reconsider coming up here every day. I didn’t know there was a new risk factor. It’s quite far from the bear’s habitat.”
“That’s a bit disappointing.”
Oh yeah!
Contrary to her words, Belladonna inwardly cheered.
Somehow, thinking that she wouldn’t have to do this strenuous physical training anymore made her feel grateful to the bear.
Belladonna carefully descended the path they had climbed, holding Escalion’s hand.
At that moment, Escalion, who was walking a step ahead, bent his upper body and listened intently. Belladonna looked up at him with a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“I heard a sound.”
Escalion, with a serious face, looked around and quickly parted the bushes beside them. Discovering something there, he muttered a curse.
“…Damn it.”
What? What’s there?
Curious, Belladonna peeked out to see what he was looking at.
“That’s…”
Bear tracks…?
Large footprints had left deep marks on the ground.
They were enormous, almost the size of Belladonna’s face at a glance. If I were hit by a paw that size, would that be the end of me?
Escalion frowned and spoke.
“This doesn’t make sense. What reason would a bear have to come down here in this season?”
“Oh? Escalion, over there!”
At that moment, a bit far away across the lush trees, she saw the baby bear from earlier rolling around.
Belladonna gripped Escalion’s clothes tightly and lowered her voice.
“Isn’t it cute? It’s the bear we saw earlier!”
“What in the…”
Unlike Belladonna, who found it simply adorable due to a vague trust in her husband’s presence, Escalion’s face quickly turned serious as he looked for an escape route.
To flee without harming the bear, they needed to find a way out quickly.
“Lower your voice and hide.”
As Escalion lifted her and hid behind a tree, Belladonna inwardly prayed.
Little bear, don’t come down here anymore, go back up to where you usually live!
There aren’t any traps in this forest, right? Strangely, similar thoughts from before kept lingering in her mind.
Just then, there was a loud rustling sound, and a large mother bear emerged from between the trees on the opposite side.
Grrrr…
At the threatening sight of the slow-moving bear, Belladonna’s eyes widened as she held her breath. Escalion also tensed up, his whole body stiffening.
So the mother bear really was nearby? But that bear… Isn’t it the same one I encountered last time?
The dark fur color, the specific wound near its front paw, and the subtly familiar features were not unfamiliar.
Seeing it, she felt strangely glad rather than afraid.
What’s this? Why am I feeling glad to see a bear I don’t even know…?
“…”
Escalion, who had his arm around Belladonna’s shoulder, quietly exhaled.
Worried that he might suddenly rush out to harm the bear, Belladonna tightly held his waist.
The mother bear slowly approached the baby bear and picked it up by the scruff of its neck.
The baby bear, suddenly deprived of its freedom, could be seen flailing its two front paws.
Belladonna swallowed hard. Just go back…! Then none of us will get hurt!
As if hearing her thoughts, the mother bear turned its body, showing them its backside.
Phew! Fortunately, it seems to be going back… Belladonna relaxed, letting out her tension.
At that moment, just before disappearing between the trees, the mother bear turned its head and looked exactly in Belladonna’s direction.
‘Huh?’
Belladonna’s eyes widened at the bear’s behavior, as if it knew she was hiding not far away.
Oh, that’s almost like…
The mother bear briefly turned its body, slowly nodding its head up and down as if showing the baby bear to Belladonna, then completely turned and vanished between the trees.
“…”
As the mother and baby bear disappeared, Escalion relaxed. He looked down at Belladonna with a wry smile.
“Did you really know that bear? I almost thought it was saying goodbye at the end.”
“I guess so…”
Still lost in thought, Belladonna replied. The wound near the front paw kept circling in her mind.
I’m sure I’ve seen it somewhere before…
At that moment, a forgotten memory flowed into her mind. Belladonna blinked, tracing back to an old memory.
“Escalion, wait a moment. I think I really do know that bear…”
“What?”
“A long time ago… When that bear was about the size of a cub, I helped it when it was caught in a trap!”
Belladonna exclaimed. As she spoke, the memory became clearer.
In her previous life as a farmer’s daughter in Astania, she had helped a baby bear caught in a trap while climbing the back mountain to cut firewood.
It looked so pitiful, whining with its front paw caught, that she worked hard to help it…
“I was definitely in Astania then, I wonder when it came all the way up to Griblata?”
“That can’t be…”
Escalion, who was about to speak to the seriously muttering Belladonna, stopped mid-sentence.
It was completely unbelievable that she would recognize a bear she had seen as a child, especially encountering it in Griblata, so far from Astania. But he remembered the bear that had strangely lingered around Belladonna when he went to search for her after she had been kidnapped.
The image of the bear circling around her unconscious form as if protecting her, then scurrying away when Escalion approached, kept floating in his mind.
Rationally, it was an impossible story, but impossible things often happened to his wife.
Finally, Escalion shook his head and changed his words.
“…Well, there is a mountain range crossing the empire, so it’s not impossible. It seems my wife is now friends with bears too.”
He soon chuckled, shrugging his shoulders as if finding his own words ridiculous.
“Tell your friend not to come down here again. We don’t know what might happen if we encounter it next time.”
“I sent the message in my heart, but I’m not sure if my friend understood.”
Belladonna turned her body regretfully, grasping Escalion’s outstretched hand.
“Are we going down now?”
“We should. We’ll have to do your stamina training somewhere a bit safer.”
Thank goodness… Relieved that she wouldn’t have to do this strenuous walk again, Belladonna followed behind him.
Let’s hurry down! She put strength into her legs as she stepped on the ground.
“Bella, be careful. The path is a bit slippery.”
“Yes!”
But just as she answered vigorously, her shoe slipped on the dirty branches mixed with melted snow.
At the same time, her knee buckled, and she lost her balance in an instant.
Huh…? The scenery in front of her flipped upwards, and for a moment, she saw the bright sky before it disappeared.
Falling backwards, Belladonna lost consciousness.
Thud!
[This is the timeline separator]Drip. Drip. Drip.
A regular and peculiar water sound was heard.
It was an unfamiliar place. No, it might be a familiar place.
Opening her eyes, Belladonna looked around the empty blue space, feeling a familiar sensation as if she had been here before. Where is this?
{Hello.}
As she was looking around with cautious eyes, an unknown voice flowed into her mind. Belladonna turned around, startled.
“…!”
Not far from her stood a figure that looked exactly like her. Belladonna slowly approached her, as if looking into a full-length mirror.
Is that… me?
{It seems today is the last day, doesn’t it? For both you and me.}
“The last day?”
Belladonna looked at herself speaking incomprehensible words. Though the appearance was exactly the same, the atmosphere and manner of speaking were slightly different.
Looking closely, this isn’t me but…
{I wanted to say a final goodbye, so I brought you here, though it might be a bit forceful. In return, your husband might have been very surprised, so comfort him well when you go back.}
“Are you the Holy Lady? What do you mean by a final goodbye?”
Belladonna uttered with a confused face. The Holy Lady looking at her sighed and raised her hand to her chin.
{Hmm, let’s see… Where should I start explaining? It’s quite troublesome that you lose your memory every time you return.}
Every time I return? Then this isn’t my first time here?
Belladonna looked around the blue space again, which somehow didn’t feel unfamiliar. Just where is this place…
{Ah! Shall we start with this? First, this little one was happy to greet you.}
“Huh?”
She thought she had turned her gaze away for just a moment, but when she looked back, the Holy Lady was somehow holding a baby bear in both hands.
The Holy Lady raised the bear’s front paws and waved them as if greeting. On the front paws being waved in her grasp, a familiar wound was visible.
“That bear is…!”
{Now you remember? This little one was very happy to see you again.}
“It’s the bear I saved when I was young, right? In Astania!”
{Ding dong dang! Last time you completely forgot and said some disappointing things to this little one, but now it seems you remember?}
The Holy Lady replied with a bright smile.
Again with ‘last time’? Just how many times have I been here? Belladonna exhaled frustratedly.
Her memories seemed to be on the verge of returning, leaving her with mixed feelings.
{Oof.}
The Holy Lady bent down to place the baby bear on the ground and took a step closer to her. Belladonna looked at her as she approached.
Clear blue eyes with a slightly transparent light were directed at her.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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