His body ached as if it had been beaten black and blue.
It was because he had overdone it the previous day.
And he had every reason to.
Even after defeating 1,500 straw scarecrows, he didn’t rest for a moment as he didn’t calm down and continued to swing his sword.
“My, my lord…….”
A startled servant opened his mouth and bowed his head.
The floor was filled with broken dishes and decorations that had been thrown and smashed.
“That woman… where is that woman now? Where is she! Bring her before me immediately!”
“My lord, you overdid it yesterday.”
“Overdid it? It seems like you’re overdoing it with your talk right now? I find your tone irritating.”
It started again.
The servant thought that taking care of the misfit of the Wellington family might be one of the most extreme jobs in the Fel Empire, and changed the direction of the conversation.
“I’m, I’m sorry… His Highness, Duke Heidegger, has come to see you.”
“What?”
Leo calmed his excitement at the news that Heidegger had come.
“Why would my father…?”
“He said he stopped by while he was out.”
Leo quickly straightened his clothes.
He brushed his messy hair while looking into the mirror.
He gestured to the servant, who was bowing his head among the broken debris.
“Clean this up.”
Leaving that message, Leo left the room.
[This is the time separator]From behind the figure of Heidegger, who had finished his meal alone and was standing in front of the garden’s iron fence, a familiar voice was heard.
“Father.”
Heidegger slowly turned his head.
Unlike his elder son, Casus, Leo called Heidegger “father”.
The rebellious grayeyed youngest son, with black hair, seemed to have hurriedly straightened his clothes.
Heidegger could see what had happened just by looking at him once.
“It seems like you’ve been training quite hard. Considering you just woke up.”
“Ah……”
“You seem to have overdone it.”
“I’m sorry.”
The close yet distant Heidegger was a more challenging entity for Leo than his brother Casus.
Leo knew that his father, Heidegger, was a legend in the Fel Empire.
As such, his father, who visited the duke’s house after a long time, still felt like a big existence to Leo.
“You’ve grown a lot since I last saw you.”
“…….”
The conversation between the father and son, who met after a long time, was incredibly awkward.
Leo, not knowing what to say, rolled his eyes around.
Then, late, he noticed the beast inside the fence that Heidegger had been looking at.
It was hidden behind his large frame and hadn’t been visible.
“What are you looking at?”
A sentence spit out awkwardly.
The answer to Leo’s question was shocking.
“I was looking at Cerberus.”
“What?”
Leo, thinking he had heard wrong, tilted his head and asked again.
Looking closely at the fence, there was a creature that looked like a black dog gnawing on a bone.
Judging by how eagerly it was gnawing, there was no doubt it was a dog.
Leo felt confused seeing the cage that had suddenly appeared and the animal inside while he was lost in his thoughts.
“Cerberus? Is that the dog’s name?”
“It’s not a dog.”
“What?”
“Isn’t it cute? It’s a good thing we didn’t kill it.”
“Huh?”
Leo blinked and approached the fence.
Cerberus, the Blackie, who had stopped gnawing on the bone, started barking at the unfamiliar shadow.
“Woof! Grrr.”
The creature, who had been quiet in front of Heidegger, began barking as soon as Leo appeared.
“Grrr.”
“The name is… Blackie or something.”
Unlike Blackie, who was about to start barking roughly, Heidegger reminded himself of the creature’s name with a calm tone.
Leo’s pupils trembled violently.
The animal trapped in that cage is not a dog!
It was actually Cerberus, that Cerberus!
Leo had never seen Cerberus in the flesh before.
He’d only seen illustrations in books, it was the first time seeing it up close.
The black skin, the sturdy tail curled at the end, even the overall figure was exactly as in the illustrations.
Why is the superior beast Cerberus trapped in a cage?
“As far as I know…….”
“Cerberus rejects human touch.”
It seemed like Heidegger had read Leo’s thoughts and spoke in a low voice.
“Yes, but why is it here like this…….”
“That child did it.”
“That child?”
“Your sisterinlaw.”
What on earth was happening?
“The one I caught seems to be a young one, it didn’t want to die. So, it made a proposition to me.”
“A proposition….?”
“Your sisterinlaw proposed to tame that creature. Your brother gave her three days, but she managed to do it in less than a day.”
“…….”
Leo felt like he was losing his mind.
Clutching onto his remaining sanity, he looked at Cerberus with unfocused eyes, which made Heidegger curl up the corners of his mouth.
“I was also surprised. It was a sight I’d never seen in my life.”
This made Leo even more surprised.
Heidegger’s gentle expression.
This was not the father he knew, who was always somewhat dark.
‘What on earth happened while I was asleep?’
Thirteen years of life.
It was the most confusing moment that had come to Leo.
Leo brushed back his black hair.
He reached through the bars to confirm whether it really was Cerberus.
Cerberus’ savage and crimson eyes turned to Leo.
It was the moment their eyes met through the iron bars.
“Grrrr.”
Bang!
It happened in an instant.
The black beast lunged toward the iron bars to bite Leo’s hand.
If it hadn’t been for Heidegger swiftly pulling him back, Leo’s wrist might have fallen to the ground.
“Be careful.”
“Gah…….”
“It seems to be selective with humans.”
Heidegger said, pulling Leo’s arm back.
The iron bars were stripped of their coating due to Cerberus’ sharp claws.
Leo opened his mouth with a surprised face.
The black beast, still agitated, did not stop baring its teeth at Leo outside the cage.
“Grrrrr.”
“…….”
“Grrrrr!”
The creature that had been quiet when with Heidegger, threatened with bared teeth as soon as Leo appeared.
Leo bit his lip in displeasure at the creature that seemed to dislike people.
“I dislike you too, even if you’re the one trapped.”
“Grrrr! Woof! Woof!”
As the black beast barked, Leo kicked at the innocent lawn in frustration.
“What? What will you do if you bark? Will you break through the bars?”
“Grrrr!”
“What? Come out, come out.”
“Grrrrrrrr!”
There was no backing down between the black beast inside the bars and Leo outside. As the two provoked each other in a state of high excitement, Heidegger took Leo away from the black beast’s sight.
Because it seemed like it would break through the bars any moment.
Trudging.
The father and son, meeting after a long time, walked through the garden without a word.
The awkward silence carried on the wind.
Suddenly, the adolescent second son and Heidegger, walking together, initiated a conversation.
“How have you been in the meantime?”
“Just… I’ve been well. Without any lacks.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Yes.”
“Do you need anything?”
Heidegger knew his sons were afraid of him.
He was an awkward father who didn’t know how to be intimate with his sons, even when he tried.
From a very young age, he conquered the empire, always busy living.
He didn’t spend much time with his sons.
Losing their mother at a young age, and not being able to see their father often, they must have been very lonely.
The fact that he hadn’t created many good memories with his parents.
He was sorry for that.
He should’ve spent more time with them, being together more.
It seemed like it was too late.
“What I need……”
Leo opened his mouth after some thought.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
