Kasalyn, her face red as if about to explode, covered it with one hand, not knowing what to do.
“Don’t you really understand my feelings? You always treat me like a child and just joke around.”
Silent, Parnes gazed at her slender neck with a thirsty look.
Parnes silently gazed at Kasalyn’s slender neck with thirsty eyes.
A tightly drawn bowstring released an arrow with a swish. The arrowhead embedded itself in an unfortunate tree trunk, scaring off two red deer nearby that bolted deeper into the forest.
“Damn it.”
Shallen cursed rashly.
The retreating figures of the red deer, not looking back, overlapped with the image of Kasalyn who had just disappeared into the forest with Parnes. Kasalyn, who always adhered to propriety above all else, had not even made a gesture of refusal to Parnes’ proposal.
During the time she was romantically involved with him, she had been a woman of strict morals, not even holding hands in the presence of a single person, maintaining her composure.
‘In other words, she’s lost her senses to that scoundrel Parnes…’
Shallen extended a hand to his attendant.
The attendant, cradling a quiver, quickly handed him a sharply whittled arrow.
“Your Majesty…”
Rose watched Shallen, who was hastily drawing the bow as if venting his anger on someone, with an anxious look. She believed it was unlikely, but to her, Shallen seemed not merely angry about Kasalyn but rather jealous.
Reflecting upon it, Shallen had always been like that. Pretending to reprimand the maid as a king, educating her under the guise of propriety, but if one looked closely, the direction of his emotions was subtly different. He couldn’t stand seeing Kasalyn close to another man, as if she were his possession, as if she had an obligation to live humbly and devotedly as a maid within the confines of the royal family forever.
‘No, that’s an excessive thought. His Majesty Shallen would never think of Sister Kasalyn in that way.’
Rose approached him with her characteristic bright and pure smile, unchanged since their wedding day.
Failing to catch any prey was distressing for her husband, and supporting him was her duty as a wife.
“Your Majesty, something seems off about this hunting ground.”
“What?”
“The animals are all jittery as if they’re drugged. Surely the palace has orchestrated this so people won’t catch much.”
“Now that you mention it, it does seem so. There’s no other reason why we wouldn’t be able to catch anything.”
“Exactly. Your Majesty has been renowned as the best hunter since your crown prince days.”
Encouraged by Rose, Shallen wiped the sweat beading on his forehead and took a deep breath. He felt belatedly embarrassed about getting so worked up over a woman named Kasalyn, forgetting his surroundings.
“Well, I did once catch a pack leader wolf single-handedly at the age of nine, but it’s not something to brag about.”
“Wow. Really? That’s amazing.”
Thanks to Rose, his pride, crushed by Parnes, was somewhat restored. Shallen resumed scanning the area for prey but then froze.
Squinting his eyes, barely visible in the distance across a brook, were Parnes and Kasalyn, leisurely strolling down a forest path. The two, seemingly oblivious to the hunting contest, were peacefully observing the small birds flitting from tree to tree.
“Give me that arrow!”
Shallen, his neck flushed red with heat, snatched an arrow from his attendant. He immediately nocked the arrow and aimed in Kasalyn’s direction, firing it.
Of course, he targeted a tree a little distance away from her.
With a thud, the arrowhead buried itself into the tree bark, startling Kasalyn who reflexively turned her head towards the source of the sound.
At that moment, Shallen roughly pulled Rose, who was beside him, into a deep kiss.
He didn’t even know why he was doing it. He just wanted to.
‘She must have definitely seen this.’
Hoping to see Kasalyn’s face filled with jealousy, Shallen slyly lifted his head. However, Kasalyn, seemingly oblivious to their presence, was moving farther away with Parnes.
At that moment, Shallen felt a heavy, sticky emotion churn unpleasantly in his stomach.
「What if one day she decides not to be with you?」
「I swear, Kasalyn leaving me is an impossibility. Not now, not ever.」
The thought of Kasalyn leaving him had never crossed his mind. It was simply unthinkable. Kasalyn adored her sister Rose and was a woman loyal to the Kingdom of Kan, above all else. Moreover, she wouldn’t easily break a bond that had lasted for 10 years.
‘I’m overthinking this…’
Unable to calm down, Shallen hastily drew his bowstring, aiming at a bird perched on a branch. The sharply honed arrow missed everything and flew aimlessly into the air, eventually plummeting to the ground.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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