Kesha, sensing that she might have to leave the room for some reason, quietly closed the door and left.
Thump.
Next to Atia, who was coughing, Cascus’s affectionate touch approached.
“Should I call the physician?”
“No need… You know it won’t help. Cough! It will only spread more rumors…”
Seeing the pale Atia, Cascus felt like his internal organs were crumbling.
As if her breath was getting lighter and would never come back.
Cascus, who was cooling Atia’s body with a towel, hugged her in his arms and kissed her on the forehead.
“Don’t be in pain. I beg you.”
In Cascus’s embrace, Atia slowly opened her lips with dry lips.
“…Ah, I don’t have much time left. Please take care of my husband and the unborn children….”
She relaxed all her strength and leaned against his chest, closing her eyes.
Surprised, Cascus opened his eyes wide and shook Atia slowly.
“Madam?”
She lay motionless, not breathing, in a limp state.
As if she were dead.
“Madam!”
Desperately calling her, Cascus saw Atia smiling up at him with a smirk.
Cascus let out a long sigh with a face of relief.
“Please don’t do that.”
“Did you think I was dead?”
Whether Cascus found her expression amusing or not, Atia playfully wrinkled her nose.
“Ah… Is it time for jokes now?”
“You mentioned unborn children. You should have noticed then.”
“Don’t joke like this. I’m serious, now.”
“Yes.”
Even though Atia wasn’t feeling well, she wanted to tease Cascus because he was by her side.
Her body, which had trembled at his affectionate touch, seemed to have improved somewhat.
It felt warm.
More comfortable and pleasant than the luxurious bed in the palace.
His distinctive smell relieved the pain.
What should I say?
It was like the clear dew and grass scent after the rain.
A very pleasant fragrance.
“But… it wouldn’t be bad to close my eyes next to the Duke.”
At Atia’s words, Cascus bit his lips tightly.
“Sigh, don’t talk about dying in front of me.”
“Huh? Sigh? That’s what you say when you train a dog.”
Cascus gently placed his index finger on Atia’s lips like a small bird and quietly silenced her.
“No more strange sounds from now on.”
Atia blinked her big eyes like a round ball. Even though her body had been aching with a fever, she felt no pain now.
After coughing lightly, Cascus spoke in a small voice.
“And… more than a dog, you’re…”
“What?”
“…more.”
Cascus stammered, and Atia raised her eyebrows with an innocent expression.
“What? What did you say? I can’t hear you.”
“It’s cute.”
“…”
“More than a dog.”
Blushing, Cascus looked away.
Atia’s eyes widened like saucers.
“Wow!”
“Why are you like that?”
“I just got goosebumps all over my body.”
Atia showed the goosebumps on her arm to Cascus.
“Because the Duke said such things.”
“Cough……”
Atia was scared, but at the same time, her heart was pounding. No, to be honest, she found it amusing and burst into laughter.
‘I must be crazy, really.’
Atia had to cool her hot cheeks by pressing the back of her hand against them.
‘Is the Duke of Wellington, known for his cold-heartedness, really hugging me?’
Atia was worried that he might hear her heartbeat.
“Sir, tell me honestly. Is there anyone else in your heart?”
“What?”
Cascus blinked his thick eyebrows.
Awkwardly smiling, Atia lowered her head.
“Oh, no, nothing.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Uh, well, because you seemed different from usual, I thought, maybe, someone else.”
“It’s me. Your one and only husband in the world.”
Cascus grabbed Atia’s small chin and sealed her lips with a light kiss.
“And also the person I cherish the most in the world.”
Atia’s eyes and mouth opened wide simultaneously.
“Ah! Please stop. Are you trying to make me lose my resistance and lead me to death?”
Shivering, Atia shook and trembled.
Seeing Atia embarrassed, Cascus found her even more lovable. He wanted to cherish every aspect of Atia, even her embarrassed moments.
Atia laughed with a chuckle, spitting out saliva.
‘She must have received the anesthesia needle incorrectly on the island. Otherwise, she wouldn’t say such things….’
Although not used to her husband’s unfamiliar words, Atia’s body was sincere.
Because she didn’t think of escaping from his chest.
His firm chest provided a perfect pillow, sighing deeply and giving a sense of security to Atia.
After a few seconds of silence, Atia opened her mouth.
“It’s probably because of my current state.”
“?”
“Later, if I get sick… I might change. No, I will change. Into a completely different appearance than now.”
Atia’s voice gradually diminished.
Will Cascus still like her if she becomes completely different, with bulging muscles and overflowing muscles?
Now she’s comfortably nestled in his arms, but in the future, she might be the one embracing him.
“People change. What’s the problem?”
Cascus’s pleasant baritone voice sweetly settled in Atia’s ears.
“Well….”
In the past, whenever Atia went to exercise, she received envy from men.
Even men known for their strength turned into puppies in front of her because she was different.
Every time Atia effortlessly surpassed their goals with a leisurely expression, those who had only eaten and exercised felt a great sense of self-loathing.
She was once banned from entering the gym.
When asked for the reason, it was because she shattered the will and mentality of all the gym-goers.
Even men who praised Atia’s body in front of her actually saw her as a competitor.
Although it was good to run towards breaking a black spell, Atia worried that Cascus might not accept her changed appearance.
She wasn’t concerned about these things before, but now she was.
“Your Grace.”
“Hmm?”
“What if… hypothetically. What would you do if my body became big and strong like Your Grace? If I had rough washboard abs and shoulders as broad as yours?”
“What…?”
Cascus laughed awkwardly with a perplexed face.
On the other hand, Atia continued with a serious expression.
“No, for example… What if I’m not delicate and cute like now? What if I have rough washboard abs and shoulders like you?”
“I have rough washboard abs?”
“Yes. Here they are.”
Thump.
Atia placed her hand on Cascus’s abdomen and spoke.
The firm and well-defined abs felt solid under her fingertips.
“It’s so well-made that I could wash clothes on it.”
“Pfft.”
Cascus burst into laughter.
“Seriously… Why is everything you say so funny? I couldn’t even imagine. Describing the stomach as a washboard.”
Atia looked at the laughing Cascus with widened eyes.
‘Huh? Is this funny? Feels like I’ve become a comedian on a variety show.’
Brushing Atia’s hair behind her ear, Cascus whispered softly.
“I actually like it.”
“What?”
Atia raised her eyebrows.
“If you’re similar to me, then I can put my laundry on you. That would be perfect.”
“…”
Atia suppressed a laugh around her lips.
“I don’t care how you look. Whether your face becomes a washboard or you suddenly turn into a shrimp, or if you become an apple pie and start talking to me.”
“Oh, wait. A shrimp? An apple pie?”
“So don’t worry too much. I’m ready to accept you no matter how you look.”
“…Really?”
Atia forgot the fact that she was in pain just a moment ago.
“Would you mind if it’s an imitation?”
Cascus’s eyes squinted.
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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