“Wow…”
Two picturesque handsome men stood facing each other.
The public was entranced by this spectacle.
So was Atia.
Casus was in no position to get angry or command him to leave.
“So, the Crown Prince intends to put me in a difficult position.”
The sharpwitted Casus realized that all this was his scheme.
Even sending spies onto the roof was part of it.
“Nice to meet you, Your Highness. I wanted to see you anyway.”
Casus, hiding his true feelings, lifted an eyebrow in response.
“If I had known the Duke’s festival would be this fun, I would have come earlier.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s quite amusing to watch the Duke’s territory grow day by day.”
A thorn was present in Owen’s words.
No matter if he was the Crown Prince.
No matter if he looked down on the Duke of Wellington.
To come into someone else’s territory without permission.
This all had to be the Crown Prince’s mischief.
“Do you need my help?”
Owen casually extended his hand, wearing a relaxed smile.
Casus barely managed to control his frowning expression.
The Crown Prince had always been arrogant.
Since the first time they met.
“…”
And the Crown Prince knew well.
That he could not be killed here.
“It’s fine. I can handle my own affairs.”
“Oh?”
At Casus’s answer, Owen brushed his chin with a leisurely expression.
Casus decided to take this as an opportunity. It would be good to express his opinions on the absurd systems of the royal family.
“Your Highness, I had something to discuss with you. Please join me in the Duke’s residence.”
“No.”
Owen shook his head, refusing to comply with Casus’s invitation.
“I’d like to, but time doesn’t allow it. I’ve enjoyed the festival enough, so I’ll formally invite you to the palace soon. We can talk then.”
Owen squinted one eye.
“And, I caught a glimpse, but your Duchess is quite beautiful.”
At the term ‘Duchess,’ Casus’s face turned menacing.
Owen detected Casus’s subtle change in expression and chuckled as if amused.
“Your expression tells me she must be quite a woman.”
Casus wanted to grab the Crown Prince by the collar and beat him then and there, but he managed to keep his emotions in check.
Acting emotionally here would only put him at a disadvantage.
He couldn’t allow himself to be led around by Owen.
Had this not been a festival, he might have drawn his sword on the Crown Prince.
Casus, with furrowed brows, was solely focused on thinking, ‘How should I kill that guy?’
“Then, I’ll take my leave.”
Owen smiled cunningly and squinted one eye again.
(This is a time separator.)
The festival finally came to an end.
Casus led the elderly man who had interrupted the pilgrimage not to the Duke’s residence, but to a castle.
Inside a room below the gray stone stairs, a dim crimson light flickered.
The elderly man with a frail body sat on a chair.
He looked as though he had lost his mind.
He kept mumbling that he needed to find his daughter.
Atia narrowed her eyes as she looked at the elderly man’s feet and knees, which were bereft of flesh.
“Ah, that must hurt.”
“……!”
When the physicians applied medicine to the wounds, the elderly man clenched his fists tightly to bear the pain.
Atia gently massaged near the elderly man’s neck, who looked as though he might pass out soon.
Casus tried to stop Atia when she began to touch the neck of the elderly stranger, but she raised her hand to signify it was fine.
Born and raised in the land of Confucianism, Atia thought of her late grandfather upon seeing the elderly man who practiced geomancy.
The tension in the elderly man’s neck and shoulders seemed to slightly relax.
“Now, now, don’t tense up. Speak slowly. What happened?”
After drinking water that the Duchess herself had offered, the elderly man coughed as if choked.
“Cough! Cough…!”
“Slowly, slowly. No need to hurry.”
At Atia’s nod, the physicians patted his back.
The elderly man momentarily lost his words with a defeated expression, then took a deep breath.
“People in black robes have kidnapped her… my daughter… please save my daughter.”
“Where did you meet them?”
The elderly man spoke with a voice that still seemed fraught with agitation.
“I’m an ordinary merchant living with my daughter. After finishing work as usual and coming home… some guys wearing black masks took my daughter hostage and made unreasonable demands.”
“What demands?”
“When I came in, my daughter was already unconscious, and they said if you want to find your daughter… go to the Duke’s pilgrimage path and ask. Then the Duke will find her…”
“Tell me everything you can remember.”
Whether his memory of the event was a severe trauma, the elderly man spoke again with an uncomfortable expression.
“The man was very large. I’ve been doing business here for decades but his accent wasn’t from here. He had a scar on his eye, and also… when I desperately grabbed his arm, I think I saw a tattoo of a black snake pattern on his wrist.”
“A black snake pattern?”
“I did as they asked… but what should I do now? My only daughter, is she still alive?”
The elderly man’s eyes were already red.
Recalling the situation was visibly painful for him.
“After that… I don’t know what they did to me but I passed out. When I woke up, my daughter was gone and I was lying on the floor. Then I realized that what I experienced wasn’t a dream.”
Droplets formed on the floor as the elderly man hung his head.
“Do you remember their voices?”
“Yes, how could I forget.”
The black snake pattern was mentioned in the original work to be related to the royal family.
Initially, it was the royal side who fired the poison arrow.
The Crown Prince appeared in front of the Duke as if to boast.
This was the royal family’s ploy to tarnish Casus.
‘Do they think it’s fine even if I know?’
How could they so openly give themselves away?
Casus was also in a position where he couldn’t recklessly meddle with the royal family.
On the other hand, Casus didn’t seem to trust the elderly man.
Atia lifted the corners of her mouth to reassure the elderly man.
“Then let’s find your daughter together.”
The elderly man slowly shifted his gaze toward Atia.
The Duchess looked fragile at first glance, but she emanated a peculiar atmosphere.
Having dealt with numerous people over his long years of trading, the elderly man sensed that the Duchess was not ordinary.
It was the elderly man’s unique, sharp intuition.
“Um, um…”
The elderly man opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
Cold Male Lead Became My Clingy Husband (Female-Dominant)
Feng Bai Su transmigrated into a matriarchal novel, becoming the sister of the female protagonist and the Seventh Princess of the Feng Ling Kingdom.
After working herself to death in her previous life, finally reincarnating as a princess, she only wanted to be a lazy fish who could eat, sleep, and play.
Until she met the male protagonist from the book, Wei Jing Mo, and he took a liking to her!
Wei Jing Mo is the top young man in Feng Ling City, talented in both appearance and ability, from a prestigious family, with a cold and otherworldly appearance, a figure like the bright moon in the hearts of noble ladies. It was thought that only the most powerful and talented noble lady in Feng Ling City would be worthy of such a brilliant young man. Who knew that this young gentleman would secretly admire the infamous Seventh Princess?
Short scene 1:
Feng Bai Su looked at the young man crying like a pear blossom in the rain before her, and couldn’t help but doubt her life.
Wasn’t the male lead described as a cold and otherworldly figure in the book?
Then who was this poor little thing crying with swollen red eyes and tear-stained face?
Short scene 2:
Wei Jing Mo stared intently at Feng Bai Su who was about to go out, wanting to say, “Be careful on the road.”
Before he could speak, Feng Bai Su suddenly bent down and bit his cheek.
Her peach blossom eyes were full of disdain: “Tsk! You’re so clingy!”
Wei Jing Mo: “…”
A talented fox spirit female lead with a flirtatious appearance but actually abstinent VS A cold-looking but actually naive and clingy little jealous male lead
