Perhaps it was because of his always stiff attitude and nasty tone of voice, but it wasn’t always based on bad intentions, so today, it felt a little pitiful.
“I heard that Sir Jasper’s wife is about to give birth soon. That’s why he must be more sensitive. If he hurries even a little, he might be able to see the moment the child is born. The birth of the first child, how precious would that be?”
Jade said that while carefully observing the frozen corpse of the monster.
“But you’re not being selfish. We have things to do…. Who is maintaining the freezing magic?”
“I’m using multiple magic stones. I’m periodically replacing them, and I plan to repeatedly replace them on the way as well. You say I’m not being selfish?”
Rigel asked obsessively for an answer. Jade chuckled.
“I’m on your side for this matter. This kind of research will accumulate and someday allow people to completely escape from monsters. That’s definitely a good thing. It’s not selfish.”
At those words, Rigel blushed. When a shy blush rose on his paper-white skin, he really looked like a young boy.
“Let’s just ride slowly until we leave the Jisen Kingdom. After that, we can move separately. This is definitely a part that Sir Jasper has to endure. I’ll explain this part well to the other mages and the commander-in-chief.”
Jade scratched his cheek, thinking about how to coordinate this matter. Everyone was desperate to return home quickly, so they wouldn’t be favorable.
Still, those things were worth bringing back to their home country.
Then, out of the blue, Rigel muttered.
“You’re not on good terms with Sir Leon right now. How are you going to talk to him?”
He shuddered. It was such an accurate point.
“…Who says? That’s not true.”
“Don’t you avoid him whenever Sir Leon comes to find you here?”
“That’s just….”
Because I’m a coward.
He just swallowed the hesitating words behind his tongue. Seeing the hand sweeping down his cheek, Rigel let out a very small sigh.
“That person… seems to have something to say to you, Lady Jade. Why don’t you try having a conversation?”
“A conversation is only worth having when it has meaning. We’re not that kind of relationship. We’re a relationship where if we part, we’ll never see each other again.”
“Does everything need to have meaning to be valuable?”
Pondering Rigel’s words, Jade shook his head.
“No. Even if it has no meaning at all, the stars twinkle, and the river reflecting that light is beautiful. I used that as an excuse because I don’t have the capacity.”
“Then have a conversation.”
“It’s not your business. Why do you care so much? When you dislike Sir Leon.”
The voice that tried not to sound aggressive was just cool. But even after asking himself, Jade seemed to have quickly lost interest and was poking at a part of the monster’s muscle.
Rigel wanted to turn that face towards him. The gaze that had never once been directed at him.
Today, that was unbearable for some reason. Maybe it was because she took his side for the first time.
Or maybe it was because he knew the heart in the words she swallowed. That gray-eyed knight.
Rigel spoke slowly.
“Because I wish my feelings, even if they have no meaning, would have value. I like you, Lady Jade. Did you know?”
Only then did the shocked-looking eyes turn back. Seeing those eyes, Rigel burst into laughter for the first time. That laughter, unlike usual, had no sensitive corners at all.
“Are you going to say this also has no meaning, so it has no value?”
“Wha, what did you say?”
“I said I like you.”
Saying that, Rigel calmly recorded the number and location of the magic stones.
In fact, that calmness had a pretended side to it, so the white fingertips of the mage trembled slightly, but Jade didn’t notice and just cried out while clutching his head.
“You, you! You’re a mage!”
“I know. But I can still like you. It’s not forbidden or anything.”
What does it matter? It’s not like I said I was going to overthrow the country or anything.
At that nonchalant tone, suddenly all his strength drained away. Jade crouched down again and buried his forehead on his knees.
“Do you think it has value?”
“Ha….”
Where on earth are feelings without value? Even if it’s one-sided, even if it will never be connected, it definitely has value. It’s not something for others to judge.
Jade recalled the various help and warm gloves Rigel had given him. Then his mouth opened on its own.
“I’m sorry.”
“Is that your answer to my confession? It’s the worst.”
“I’m sorry for not noticing until now. But you too, seriously… I really had no idea at all….”
“I’ve been thinking this for a while, but you’re more conservative than I thought. Do you know that? The way you don’t think about other paths at all. I think we had a conversation like this before too.”
Jade grumbled in response. Yeah, I think I’m like that too….
“Even if I pretend not to be, it shows that I grew up trapped in a frame. It’s the worst.”
“So, even if it has no meaning, try having a conversation at least once. It might have value.”
“I don’t want to….”
“It was sincere advice I gave you because you didn’t call me selfish. Well, if you don’t have a conversation, all the better for me.”
I’m happiest when that commander-in-chief frowns unpleasantly.
Rigel muttered while glancing back. Behind Jade, who had her head bowed deeply, the door opened, but she probably didn’t notice.
Those handsome gray eyes frowning from a distance were delightful.
To think that this is all I can do.
Rigel laughed bitterly inside and grabbed Jade’s shoulder in a friendly manner as if it were nothing. While glaring at the knight’s eyes that contorted even more unpleasantly, he spoke to her.
“Get up. The floor is dirty.”
“I don’t want to. You just added more worries to me. I took your side!”
“It hurts more that confession is a worry. And what worry is it when you haven’t even thought about it? Don’t mind it. It was just… an example that it can have value even if it has no meaning.”
Jade gloomily muttered without a single tear. What do you mean it has no meaning? Don’t say that….
She didn’t know that the door closed behind her. Only Rigel knew that fact, but he kept his mouth shut.
Perhaps this is the first and last time that the attention Jade gives to Rigel is greater than those around her. It’s not because she is indifferent or mean, but because the depth of their emotions is very different.
So not informing her that the commander turned his body after seeing them was a very trivial revenge for feelings that would not be reciprocated.
“Hurry and get up. I won’t say this kind of thing ever again. I was already folding it on my own anyway. You’re so stubbornly dense, just like your magic skills that only stare at the flames.”
Normally, it would have been a provoking tone, but today, she just became even more sullen.
“I’m sorry….”
“If you’re going to keep muttering like a drunk, take this paper and play with the pen at least. There’s a lot you can help with now that you’ve detected the nucleus, Lady Jade.”
“It was only once, what’s the big deal? It’s probably a coincidence….”
Jade sniffled and took the paper. Rigel began to call out the locations of the magic stones one by one in a nonchalant voice.
[This is the timeline separator]And so, the final arrangements were made.
As Jade said, the path out of the Jisen Kingdom wasn’t far, so everyone would move together until then, and after that, they decided to split the group into two.
Jasper kept spewing complaints, but when the commander-in-chief also agreed, he could only shut his mouth with gloomy eyes.
The subjugation force of the El Cion Kingdom left the land of the Jisen Kingdom, receiving great cheers from the residents of the Lund Territory.
The way back was smooth. The monsters that had inhabited the surroundings had already been cleared, so there wasn’t even a minor threat, and reaching the border wasn’t difficult.
Unlike the subjugation that usually took place in the El Cion Kingdom, they had spent a long time on the land of the Jisen Kingdom, so most people were isolated from most news except for important communications.
People who became lonely began to rely more on those around them and shared a deep intimacy.
As a result, unexpected results also appeared.
There was a fierce sound. And the sound of something wet touching.
“Oh my….”
With someone’s long sigh, Jade hurriedly turned her gaze to the sky. As she was in charge of overseeing the mages, she decided to try to stop them, stuttering.
“Be, Belita. Uh, you know. Even if it’s break time… in a carriage with at least a tent… wouldn’t that be better?”
“I’m busy.”
Answering coldly, Belita once again bent the man’s head back. The knight, who was as tall as a pole, fell into the woman’s arms in a pure and pitiful manner.
So here’s what happened. The knight who fell off his horse and was injured during the first battle in the Jisen Kingdom was able to receive quick treatment thanks to Belita riding her horse to him.
As soon as he woke up, that knight shed tears upon seeing Belita’s face.
“You are so beautiful….”
He was greatly moved by Belita risking danger and riding all the way to the position. After that, they continued to earnestly exchange glances and gestures, and finally, when the time came to return, they reached a point where they could not hide their feelings for each other.
Some knight calmly threw a large blanket over them sitting on the horse. Then the sound subsided a little.
“……”
“Ahem.”
The El Cion Kingdom was not to the degree of being sexually promiscuous, but it was also not a culture that was overly pretentious. In the first place, isn’t it a place where night parties flourish?
They knew well that if they excessively suppressed and avoided something, problems would arise under the surface.
Even so, they did not prefer to blatantly and intensely show it like Belita and the unnamed knight – it seemed to be Michel.
“Blake, do you like that kind of thing…?”
When Jade asked, having moved far away from the loving couple, Blake shook his head firmly.
“I don’t really like that kind of thing. I like subtlety. That thrill when fingertips lightly touch while dancing and spinning. That kind of thing!”
I don’t get it.
Shaking her head back and forth, Jade was momentarily startled when her eyes met Axel’s.
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.”
