“If it’s her temptation, I’m willing to fall for it at least once.”
“What did you say…?”
A vein bulged on Shallen’s forehead.
Could he really say such a thing even knowing that Kasallin had carried his child before marriage and then miscarried?
No. He would surely think of her as an ominous woman and be disappointed.
“I really didn’t want to say this much—”
It was just as Shallen was about to open his mouth.
“Your Majesty! So you were here. I’ve been looking for you for quite some time!”
The sound of several horse hooves heavily pounding the ground echoed through, and Sir Antonio’s urgent voice came through the thick trees.
Parnes lightly frowned and turned to look at him.
“Why did you come all the way here? Didn’t I tell you I would return soon?”
“No. Right now, that’s not the problem. Something terrible has happened.”
Antonio swallowed dry saliva with difficulty through his parched throat and continued speaking, trying to remain calm.
“Currently, Lady Kasallin’s whereabouts are unknown.”
[This is the timeline separator]A little while ago.
The sun that had been painting the sky red was hiding behind the mountain ridge, and the forest was quickly growing dark.
Seeing dark clouds gathering from the other side, it seemed like rain would fall.
The few lodges built across the deep valley were houses prepared for nobles to rest during the hunting competition that lasted several days.
Kasallin, who had reached the lodge where the ladies stayed under the escort of knights, spotted Rose pacing at the forest entrance and approached her.
“Your Majesty the Queen. Why are you out here?”
“Your complexion is bright. Was your outing with His Imperial Majesty enjoyable?”
Rose glared at Kasallin with disapproving eyes, then forcefully took her hand.
“Quietly follow me.”
“Wait. Where to…?”
“It’s all because of you, sister. Today His Majesty couldn’t catch even a single bird, let alone a deer, because of you. Do you know how upset he was? While other gentlemen and even noble ladies each caught some game and returned, how humiliated must he have felt as a king?”
“How is it my fault that he couldn’t catch a single bird at the hunting competition?”
When Kasallin asked as if she didn’t understand, Rose raised her voice with a venomous expression.
“Are you really asking because you don’t know? It’s because you’re acting frivolously like Emperor Parnes’s mistress!”
“What did you just say?”
When Kasallin’s face hardened fiercely, Rose reflexively flinched.
However, she soon remembered that she had no reason to bow to a mere servant and began pushing Kasallin toward the inner forest.
“Anyway, it’s your responsibility, so go catch at least a small animal. You need to give His Majesty something to improve his mood. Hurry up and go!”
“Rose, don’t do this. It’s dangerous.”
In fact, Rose already understood with her head that this wasn’t something that could be resolved by confronting Kasallin.
But recently, knowing that Shallen often had other thoughts made her anxious.
Somehow, she would secretly follow Kasallin’s retreating figure with her eyes, and mention Kasallin’s name at the end of every sentence.
She wondered if perhaps the reason stemmed from an emotion called lingering attachment.
So she even had extreme thoughts.
‘If only sister Kasallin would quietly disappear, everything would be perfect.’
The thought that maybe Shallen was hoping for more than a servant relationship with Kasallin.
Ugly affection developing, old memories reviving, and eventually having different feelings – this fear burst forth, and Rose unknowingly put too much force into her hands that were pushing Kasallin.
Coincidentally, next to Kasallin was a steep slope that extended endlessly down the mountainside.
Normally, she would have easily steadied her swaying body and more.
But unfortunately, Kasallin, whose physical condition was poor, happened to step on a pile of wet fallen leaves and slipped straight down.
“Oh, sister!”
Rose was startled and quickly reached out her arm, but there was nothing at her fingertips except cool air.
Two women’s sharp screams that sounded like one person’s simultaneously echoed through the forest, and once her body gained momentum, it was gradually pulled deeper down the dark hill.
Kasallin, who had rolled and fallen to an unknown place, clutched her throbbing head and shouted asking if anyone was there.
But what answered her cries were only the crows’ sharp calls and eerie wind sounds.
The place where Kasallin had fallen was quite far down a steep hill, terrain that a person couldn’t climb up.
She had to find a path she could safely take around.
However, in the mountains where darkness had deeply settled, it was nearly impossible for someone unfamiliar with the geography to find their way completely.
Kasallin walked endlessly looking for a path through the merciless downpour, but no matter how far she went, only the same scenery appeared with no signs of people.
Because the day was overcast, the moon wasn’t visible either, so she couldn’t even estimate what time it was.
Kasallin’s once quick steps gradually slowed as the rain grew heavier.
Because she had been caught in the rain again before her body, which had been unwell for several days, could fully recover, her head hurt as if it would split and her mind was foggy.
‘This is really serious.’
Rainwater pooled and muddy water splashed over her shoes, and damp leaves tickled her legs.
Kasallin could no longer continue walking and staggered before sitting down.
「You must come along to the hunting competition. Stop that pathetic act of pretending to be sick.」
Why would Shallen’s words cross her mind at a time like this?
She let out a hollow laugh without knowing why and was slowly letting go of her fading consciousness when it happened.
The sound of horse hooves kicking the muddy ground grew closer, and someone’s voice penetrated her muffled ears.
“Kasallin. Pull yourself together. Can you recognize who I am?”
The voice mixed with rough breathing was urgent and agitated, but seemed to be trying hard to stay calm.
The large hand shaking her shoulder was as damp as if it had wandered in the rain for a long time like herself, yet trembling mercilessly.
“It’s okay now. I’m here.”
Kasallin saw the face of the person who had come to find her beyond her darkening vision.
A pair of golden eyes resembling beautiful sunset light were gazing at her with strong energy.
.
.
.
A particular rich fragrance she had smelled once before tickled her nose.
When she briefly closed and opened her eyes like a lamp nearing the end of its life flickering, Kasallin was riding on a horse, completely covered by Parnes’s fur cloak and fully embraced in his arms.
The lightly swaying body and occasional low sighs heard from above her head explained the entire situation instead.
“…Damn. Even with the child’s body in this state.”
Whose curse was it directed at?
Kasallin lazily closed and opened her eyes inside his cloak while trembling from the cold.
“Are you conscious?”
“…What happened?”
“That’s what I want to ask. How did someone who was going well to the lodge end up collapsed with a corpse-like face in a mountain valley far from the hunting area?”
Because of the heavy headache felt at her temples, his words weren’t well understood.
However, she could tell that being in his arms was warmer than ever.
With the rushing sense of relief, Kasallin sobbed unusually unlike her usual self.
Parnes quickly stopped his horse with a flustered breath, then clumsily stroked Kasallin’s head.
“Don’t cry. Where does it hurt?”
“I’m not crying. It’s rainwater.”
“Stop trying to act strong. Troublemaker. I probably lost ten years of my life because of you today.”
“…I’m freezing to death.”
Kasallin coughed.
Parnes touched her forehead with his hand, then clicked his tongue as if annoyed.
“Your whole body is burning up, why didn’t you say anything!”
Realizing that her condition was quite serious, Parnes urgently entered a nearby cave.
The rain didn’t seem like it would stop soon, and in this darkness where he couldn’t ride fast, if he forced himself over the mountain, Kasallin might really die.
Parnes seated her on one side and gathered dry kindling and discarded cloth pieces from inside the cave, lighting a fire with flint.
Having traveled battlefields endlessly following his father since his crown prince days, he was accustomed to such emergency situations.
Therefore, he knew all too well what to do next.
“Kasallin. You can’t keep wearing wet clothes.”
“Then, then.”
Kasallin muttered while chattering her teeth.
Parnes, kneeling on one knee, carefully embraced her slender shoulders.
[This is the timeline separator]Well past midnight.
It was none other than Shallen who was alone, breathlessly running through the forest where he couldn’t see an inch ahead.
‘How did things turn out this way?’
Shallen, with a pale face, panted heavily with breath rising to his throat while searching every corner of the forest for something.
However, he couldn’t find even a shadow of the person he was looking for.
“Kasallin! Come out while I’m asking nicely! You’re hiding and avoiding me right now. That’s it!”
When he threw back his head so his Adam’s apple protruded and shouted toward the sky, several crows scattered, flapping their wings.
The forest that had been so full of fresh greenery and clear energy during the day had become only ominous at night, as if consumed by a witch’s curse.
“Damn it. Cursed.”
Shallen nervously rubbed his coldly cooling cheeks while recalling the recent incident when he received a report from Rnel’s captain of guards that Kasallin’s whereabouts were unknown.
Even when Parnes rode off somewhere on his horse, and soldiers scattered in all directions to find the missing person, he thought it wouldn’t be such a big deal.
She was originally a healthy woman, and she wasn’t someone who would lose her way just from being a little sick – this was Shallen’s complacent thinking until just a moment ago.
But when the day had completely ended and voices calling Kasallin’s name from various parts of the mountainside still didn’t cease, he began to think that something had gone very wrong.
「Do you think I’m faking illness right now?」
So those words were true then.
Not knowing that, he had pushed her into the rain to find a ring that wasn’t even lost, and not only did he not allow her sick leave, but he also forcibly dragged her to the hunting competition.
Shallen was caught by an unfamiliar feeling of an uncomfortable throbbing in a corner of his heart.
He thought it might be okay to express a little apology to Kasallin.
A very little.
But that was exactly where it ended.
Formally apologizing to Kasallin, or feeling tormented by regret – these were emotions that the ‘current’ Shallen couldn’t realize.
‘She must be collapsed somewhere in the mountains, just waiting for me to find her.’
He had to search the forest all night and find her before Parnes did.
Then he would become the savior who saved Kasallin’s life, and her gaze toward him would also change somewhat.
With such foolish belief, Shallen moved forward.
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
