Atia, who had finished her targeted 100 reps first, opened a water bottle next to her and took a sip.
The water tasted as sweet as honey after exercise.
It felt like finding an oasis in the desert.
“Kehe—”
Atia, who had just finished her burpees, shook her wrists and ankles and stretched her neck.
Casus stopped moving and sat down.
Thump.
“Huh? Duke, you haven’t completed 100 reps yet.”
Atia looked at Casus with sidelong eyes.
“What are you talking about? I did complete them.”
“Huh?”
“To be precise, 103.”
“Really?”
“You started much later than me.”
“I finished faster.”
Casus swept back his slightly wet black hair with his large hand.
Atia’s pupils dilated.
His posture, leaning back leisurely, was magazineworthy even without a photo shoot.
‘No, I told him to exercise and he’s posing for a photo shoot here!’
Annoyed at her wandering gaze, Atia turned her head.
“Should I show you again if you can’t believe it?”
Casus raised an eyebrow and asked Atia.
Then, without waiting for her response, he resumed his burpee test.
His massive frame seemed to fill the floor.
Casus’s thick, solid biceps looked like those of an important athlete preparing for a significant competition.
Atia opened her mouth as she tracked his movements with her eyes.
‘Fast.’
Burpees were more about precise posture and breathing than speed.
Yet!
Casus was doing it all perfectly.
‘He’s really good?’
His learning speed was incredibly fast.
His waist angle was also very stable.
Atia’s heart raced.
It had been a long time since someone had made her heart beat like this.
Casus finished 120 burpees in a flash and sat down.
‘Amazing.’
Just how much stamina did he have left?
Atia, who had conducted over 200 consecutive burpees without even panting, swallowed.
Casus was not an opponent to be taken lightly.
“Did you see?”
“Yes, you’re quite good.”
Atia managed her expression, pulling up the corners of her mouth.
“It’s a pity there’s no upbeat music that goes with this kind of exercise.”
“Music?”
“Yes, exciting music.”
“Does music make you perform better?”
“Well, it certainly boosts the mood?”
Atia danced a shoulder dance, excited.
Unaware, Atia started humming.
Casus looked at the visibly happy Atia and gave a faint smile.
“Is there no chance of noise between floors here?”
Atia stopped humming and looked toward the ceiling.
Casus followed her gaze.
“Noise between floors? Are you worried it will echo up there?”
“Yes, just in case. I don’t want any fatigued servants to suffer due to the noise while they are resting.”
Indeed, there had been some trial and error during the initial operation of the fitness center in her previous life.
The fitness center was so loud that complaints showered in from the surrounding area.
“Even if it’s a fitness center, let’s live a bit quietly!”
“I’d rather hear the noisy boars.”
Until she exercised with Kesha after possessing Atia, it had been fairly okay.
But being with Casus ignited a sense of competition.
For some reason, the decibels seemed to rise significantly.
So Atia worried that she might cause inconvenience to other residents of the mansion.
“Heh.”
At her words, Casus chuckled.
Atia looked at him as if asking why he was laughing.
“This is the first floor, and all the rooms above are empty. Plus, this is my mansion, so no need to worry unnecessarily.”
“Really?”
Only then did Atia smile in relief.
Casus found it intriguing that she would worry needlessly yet still consider others first.
Most people wouldn’t bother with such trivialities.
The more he knew her, the more interesting she became.
“Shall we move to the next exercise?”
Atia stretched out her arms and yawned.
“No, wait here for a moment.”
“What?”
Casus rose from his seat and walked toward the door.
Atia called out, reaching out her hand.
“Duke! Are you running away because it’s tough?”
“What are you talking about? I’ll be right back.”
Leaving those words, Casus disappeared out of the room.
‘Well, that’s that. Maybe he’s taking a break somewhere else?’
Atia thought, opening another cold water bottle.
Shortly after.
The sound of multiple footsteps came in from outside the hallway.
Atia twisted her neck and threw her gaze toward the door.
“Here.”
It was Casus’s voice.
Behind him, people carrying instruments like violins and flutes followed.
Atia stared at them with wide eyes.
The musicians began to take their positions in the room.
Then they unfolded their music sheets.
“What is all this…”
How on earth did he summon all these people?
Atia opened her mouth and laughed dryly.
Casus glanced at her.
“I told them to play lively music.”
“What?”
At his signal, the musicians began to play a lively tune.
It was a decent song to listen to while exercising.
Though it did get a bit sensual and luxurious.
Atia barely held back her laughter, licking her lips.
‘Wow, I’m touched. He didn’t have to go this far…’
It was just an offhand comment.
She had never dreamed he would bring an entire band.
Atia ascended back onto the mat, enjoying the luxurious music.
“To positions!”
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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