Don't Touch My Thorn (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
I slowly reached out my hand and placed it on his dark chest.
His body heat met mine and gradually merged together.
I had to stay perfectly still like this for over an hour.
Since physical contact was the most confirmed method to affect the curse, I decided to start with this.
Of course, it was better than sharing a bed, but the problem was that an hour passed far more slowly than I’d expected.
Standing still and touching a man’s firm chest for a whole hour.
It sounded nice, didn’t it? After all, Idrish was devastatingly handsome. But precisely because of that, it wasn’t easy at all.
The room was quiet, and I could clearly feel his heartbeat beneath my palm.
Idrish had always possessed a strange ability to make anyone standing before him nervous, which only made things worse.
Now, I couldn’t even tell whether the pulse beneath my hand was mine or Idrish’s. My mouth was dry, and my palm was damp. Once, after the full hour had passed and I finally pulled my hand away, Idrish’s chest glistened with my sweat.
Ugh, how embarrassing.
The most mortifying part was Idrish’s gaze, fixed intently on me the entire time. It was so intense it made me want to jump out of my skin—standing before him felt like standing bare naked on a blazing beach, my whole body prickling.
The black mark on Idrish’s chest churned violently.
“Um… Idrish.”
Ugh, our eyes met.
I turned my head toward the window and continued.
“What’s your favorite food?”
“Why ask something like that?”
Well, because it’s awkward! I just needed to say something—anything—to distract myself from focusing so much on my hand. And talking about food is usually the most effective way.
“Oh, I just wanted to know more about you, Idrish? Though honestly, I think I already know the answer. You like meat, right?”
All the food served in this White Tiger mansion was meat.
“Yeah.”
Idrish readily admitted he was a carnivore. Was that to be expected, since he was a tiger shifter?
“Do tiger shifters die if they eat plants?”
“Of course not. We just don’t enjoy it.”
“Hmm, so it’s just pickiness, then. Now I see who Rodrio takes after.”
Idrish frowned, looking displeased.
“I like meat too, but eating nothing but greasy meat every day makes me crave fresh greens. Or fruit would be nice. Ah, back in the forest, I used to pick fruit and eat it every day…”
“There’s a grapevine in the back garden.”
“Really? Then why didn’t you tell me sooner!”
I placed both hands firmly on Idrish’s chest—an unspoken gesture of sincere dedication to breaking the curse.
“Can I pick those grapes and eat them?”
“Go ahead.”
“Yay!”
As soon as I left this room, I decided I’d go pick grapes. I’d probably need a basket and a knife. And since the sun was harsh, I should bring a hat too.
Plucking each glossy, deep purple grape one by one, then washing them in running water…
“Stop wiggling your fingers.”
Idrish’s words snapped me back to my senses. Apparently, I’d been moving my hand without realizing it, lost in imagining eating grapes.
Then, suddenly, I noticed the black mark was barely moving at all—unlike before.
Had the effect of my touch worn off?
I pulled my hand away and placed it back again. Still, it wasn’t shrinking nearly as much as it had earlier.
What’s going on? What are you? Why do you move quickly sometimes and slowly other times? Hmm… Could it be the difference between when I’m focused and when I’m not?
Worried, I placed my hand back in position. The movement remained sluggish.
I tried removing and reapplying my hand several times, searching for a pattern, but found nothing. Eventually, I gave up and resolved just to pass the time.
“But when did you first become certain I was a shifter?”
“The night the intruders came.”
He meant the night I’d first transformed into a human and saved Idrish as he lay dying.
You figured it out so quickly. Kids like you, always so sharp…
“Tch, I was clearly unconscious then—when did you even see me? Was it the hair you saw that made you realize I was a hedgehog?”
“You can’t determine someone’s shifter form from hair alone.”
“You can’t…? But back then, I was sure that only hedgehogs had perfectly red hair…”
“But some shifters artificially change their hair color. Occasionally, even other shifters can have red hair.”
“Then how did you know?”
While I was deep in thought, Idrish looked at me strangely.
“But why do you ask that? You sound like you know absolutely nothing about shifters.”
Well… because I really don’t.
Of course, it made sense—I’d suddenly dropped into this world with barely any knowledge. But from Idrish’s perspective, it must’ve seemed like a ridiculous question.
“To be honest, I really don’t know anything. One day I woke up in a forest, with no memories of anything before that.”
“You lost your memory?”
“Yes. I woke up just shortly before coming to this mansion. So when I first sneaked into this place, I honestly believed I was a hedgehog! I wasn’t hiding it on purpose—I only realized I was a shifter right before you figured it out yourself.”
“A shifter who didn’t even know they were one… You’re really foolish.”
“I am not!”
I slapped Idrish’s bare chest. He quickly covered the spot where my hand had struck, looking offended.
“A-Are you insane?”
After finishing today’s task—“weakening the curse”—I immediately went to look for the grapevine. The untended vine was tangled haphazardly over a tall wall.
“At this rate, the fruit won’t ripen properly.”
Sure enough, only unripe grapes hung pitifully on the vine. It seemed I’d need to prune away the useless leaves if I wanted to eat any grapes.
Since it wasn’t something to start rashly, I postponed tending the vine for now and headed toward Rodrio instead.
“Cecilia!”
“Rodrio, you’re already awake?”
“Of course. Unlike you, I don’t sleep in.”
I almost explained that I hadn’t slept in—I’d been massaging Idrish’s chest since morning—but decided it wasn’t appropriate to say to a child, so I just smiled.
“Well, Rodrio is such a mature little boy.”
“I’m not a little boy.”
“Right, right.”
Rodrio looked briefly satisfied with my reply, then leaned forward to peek behind my back.
“What are you looking at?”
“I was wondering if Idrish was coming.”
“Oh… Idrish is a bit busy today.”
In truth, I’d invited him to come along, but he’d refused. Since the day Rodrio first woke up—when Idrish had briefly shown up—he hadn’t visited Rodrio even once.
“No, it’s because Idrish doesn’t care about me at all. He’s just not interested in me.”
A lonely glimmer appeared in Rodrio’s eyes.
“That’s not true. Idrish was so worried when you wouldn’t wake up.”
“No way. Idrish worried about me?”
Rodrio shook his head firmly. But then, a faint glimmer of hope slowly crept into his eyes.
“Really?”
“Really?”
“Of course! When you were first hurt, he carried you like this, and his expression was so sad. Tears were streaming down his face.”
The tears part was a lie—but he must’ve been crying inside, so it wasn’t a complete falsehood!
“But thinking back to the day I woke up, he didn’t seem worried at all. He just said ‘good you’re awake,’ but that was it.”
“No, I heard him! Every night, he’d cry out your name in his sleep: ‘Rodrio! Oh, Rodrio! Please wake up!’”
Rodrio blinked his clear, sea-water-like eyes slowly.
He seemed to be thinking deeply with his small head. Then, suddenly, his lips pressed firmly downward.
Was he holding back tears?
“I see… Honestly, I didn’t know Idrish cared about me that much. I thought neither he nor the head of the house cared about me at all—so I figured they wouldn’t mind if I just disappeared.”
Rodrio spoke softly and calmly, unlike a child. Yet to me, his hurt, disappointment, and resignation were painfully clear.
“What are you talking about? Lord Tesmilion feels the same way! He begged the physician, ‘How can I save my precious grandson? Please, save him!’”
I found myself adding to the lie without even realizing it.
In truth, Tesmilion had been even worse than Idrish—he hadn’t visited even once since Rodrio’s initial injury, except that very first day. What a heartless old man. He’d acted as if the world had ended when Rodrio first collapsed, yet…
Apparently, only the identity of the attacker mattered—not Rodrio’s well-being at all?
Both Idrish and Tesmilion were the same—occasionally showing up to peer through the window like they were observing an animal in a cage!
They ought to say things like, “My little brother! My grandson!”
Yet both were equally stoic.
At my lie, a faint pink smile appeared on Rodrio’s face.
Right. Making a sick child feel better helps them heal faster.
“Then why doesn’t Lord Tesmilion come visit me? It’s already been several days since I woke up…”
“There’s a reason for everything. Idrish and Tesmilion told me honestly. It’s a secret—should I tell you?”
“Yes!”
Fine. Since I’ve already lied, I might as well go all the way. After all, neither Idrish nor Tesmilion will ever come, so Rodrio has no way of knowing it’s a lie.
“Actually, they wanted to tell you, ‘Thank you for staying alive. We love you.’ But they’re so, so shy they couldn’t bring themselves to say it. So they asked me to pass it on for them. Rodrio, you’re our treasure, and…”
“Did I really say that?”
Those last words weren’t spoken by Rodrio. Mid-sentence, goosebumps prickled my spine, and I froze in place.
When I turned around, Idrish was already there.
You said you wouldn’t come—why show up right when I’m in the middle of lying?
But I held my ground. This is all for your little brother. It’s a white lie—don’t you understand?
I glared at Idrish, who had just entered the room.
Kiss it! Don’t you dare say my words were all lies in front of poor Rodrio!
“What.”
Idrish asked me curtly.
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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