“Why are you looking at me like that? Are you angry because of the divorce talk? That’s really all…”
“Are you sure it’s just their thoughts?”
“What are you saying! Divorce, does that make any sense?”
“Chloe…”
Hugrey tightly embraced Chloe.
“Hugrey, shall we go somewhere else?”
Feeling embarrassed about such an affectionate display in the reception room where all the servants were watching, Chloe spoke while squirming in Hugrey’s arms.
“No, just a moment. Let me hold you a little longer.”
However, Hugrey didn’t seem to care at all where they were right now. Chloe had no choice but to bury her face deeper into his chest while in his embrace. As if she wouldn’t be seen by others if she couldn’t see them.
How much time had passed? Finally, Hugrey loosened his arms around her. Only then did Chloe lift her face to look up at Hugrey.
“The servants have already left, Chloe.”
Hugrey smiled at Chloe.
It seemed they had all read the atmosphere and withdrawn on their own.
“Hugrey, how did you come? I thought you’d come next week because you had a lot to do in Roizen.”
“I finished quickly and came. I felt like I should, and it turns out I was right to come. The old tigers are plotting to take you away from me.”
“Don’t worry about it, really! It’s nonsense. I only have you, I don’t understand why they’re saying such ridiculous things about divorce and remarriage.”
Hugrey didn’t reply again.
‘What is it? Is he really worried about divorce and remarriage? Does he think I would consider divorce or remarriage?’
Only then did Chloe start to feel a bit puzzled and displeased by Hugrey’s attitude.
“It’s rather unpleasant that you’re really concerned about such talk.”
“4.5”
“What do you mean? 4.5?”
“If you average the number of marriages of tiger shifter kings so far, it’s about that. Even male kings averaged 4.2, but females were 4.9. It means female tiger shifter queens married almost 5 times during their reign. And my mate happens to be a female tiger shifter queen.”
“Huh!”
Chloe couldn’t help but scoff at his words. Just because other tiger queens married 5 times, does that mean he’s going to condemn her too? What does he think her heart is!
“Listen here, Mr. Ulpaz!”
“Of course, I don’t mean you’re like that. But knowing the mating habits of tiger shifters, and hearing the elders’ suggestions of remarriage, how can I not be anxious?”
“Who on earth calculated those numbers?”
Chloe asked, fuming. She had never heard of such statistics before.
“Hugrey Ulpaz.”
“What?”
This is ridiculous. He said he was busy, but was he busy calculating such useless things?
“Why did you do something like that?”
“You should try being a wolf married to a tiger shifter.”
“What a foolish wolf! Numbers are just numbers! To me, all men in the world except you look like flour dough! They look like lumps of flour with raisins stuck on for eyes, nose, and mouth.”
“…Really?”
Hugrey suddenly smiled brightly. It was a smile that made Chloe wonder if he had deliberately said things like 4.9 and 4.5 just to hear these words from her.
Oh, I spoke too honestly. Chloe slightly regretted expressing too blatantly that Hugrey was handsome, but it was already spilled milk. She had been genuinely thinking of other men as flour dough, so it just popped out when she got excited. Why is it that she can never hide her feelings of liking him?
“Well, I mean… it’s true that you’re handsome, Hugrey.”
“Hmm… you seem really weak to appearances.”
Chloe’s face heated up. It must be red now. She couldn’t refute his point because it was true. In fact, she had first fallen for him because of his looks. After that, the more time she spent with him, the more she came to love everything else about him, not just his appearance.
“I guess I’ll have to do my best not to become like flour dough to prevent your remarriage.”
Hugrey said with a laugh.
‘That’s not it. Even if you become like mud dough instead of flour dough, I’ll still love you.’
But this time, she deliberately swallowed her true feelings. Surely even if Chloe said this, Hugrey would only tease her again. And if Hugrey tried not to become like flour dough, it wouldn’t be bad for her. She would love him even if he became mud dough, but it would be better if he stayed beautiful like now.
“But did you really finish all the accumulated work before coming?”
Chloe deliberately changed the direction of the conversation.
“Yes, I finished quickly, so I’d like some praise.”
“…”
“You said earlier we should go to another room? Shall we go now?”
At those words, Chloe flinched even though all the servants had already withdrawn and no one was around. She understood the meaning of his words all too well and was worried someone might have heard him.
“Let’s go.”
Hugrey took her hand and pulled her along.
“No, it’s still broad daylight!”
“Since when did we care about day and night?”
“Hey! Mr. Ulpaz! This is the reception room, you know.”
“Since when did we care about the place?”
“Could you please be quiet?”
“You’re going to make all sorts of noises and be loud anyway.”
Chloe glared at Hugrey, feeling her ears turning red now too.
“Don’t you have any shame at all?”
“I tend not to do shameful things.”
“Ha!”
Chloe rolled her eyes at his brazen attitude, but found herself at a loss for words again. She tried to think of things he should be ashamed of, but nothing particularly came to mind. Whatever she might say, he wouldn’t be ashamed at all, and only she would end up feeling embarrassed for bringing it up.
“It’s not even that time yet, why is this person so…at all times…”
In the end, Chloe could only grumble to herself.
“Chloe, it seems you still don’t know me well.”
Hugrey suddenly stopped walking as he was pulling her toward the bedroom, holding her hand, and looked at her.
“…What?”
“During mating season, my body hurts if you’re not around, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see you when it’s not mating season. Basically, I always want you. How could you not have known that until now? You couldn’t not know…”
“I get it, I get it, so let’s hurry to the room.”
I know too well! How could I not know! After all the time we’ve spent together. But there’s no need to say it so seriously like this in the hallway where everyone passes by.
Chloe pulled his hand, conscious of the gazes of the servants they encountered while passing through the corridor. This man seems to have no sense of shame at all, so she’ll have to be careful on her own.
“You don’t have to be so impatient, we’ll soon…”
Chloe finally stood on her tiptoes and covered Hugrey’s mouth with both hands. Impatient! How does he always express things his own way?
When she glared at him as if annoyed, he laughed out loud. She could feel his breath on her hands covering his mouth.
“Hup!”
Chloe gasped in surprise at her suddenly lifted body. Hugrey, who had been laughing while looking at her, picked her up and headed towards the bedroom.
“You’re fast when you’re a tiger, but too slow when you’re human. I’m in a bit of a hurry right now.”
In the end, Chloe had no choice but to bury her face in his chest. So that she wouldn’t see anyone who might see them. Since she couldn’t cover their eyes, she could only cover her own.
[This is the timeline separator]On a fully risen morning, Chloe opened her eyes to the sunlight seeping through the curtained windows and looked at Hugrey sleeping soundly beside her.
After carrying her to the bedroom yesterday, Hugrey, who had no intention of letting her go until dawn, seemed to have continued sleeping since falling asleep around daybreak without waking up. It was hard to believe he was the same person who had come all the way from Roizen without resting, but seeing him sleeping like this made him seem human after all.
Chloe wanted to brush away the few strands of hair that had fallen on Hugrey’s forehead, but she was just admiring his face without touching anything, afraid he might wake up.
A neat forehead, thick straight eyebrows, long dense eyelashes resting on closed eyes, a straight nose, plump red lips… He’s really beautiful.
The beautiful man, who was surprisingly her husband, had embraced her more persistently than usual after carrying her to the bedroom yesterday. As if trying to engrave himself into her. As if trying to imprint his pheromones on her multiple times so they wouldn’t fade away.
He had always been like that, but yesterday he seemed particularly obsessed with her. And Chloe knew the reason. Although he had seemed to accept her explanation and let it go, Hugrey was concerned about her situation as queen to the point of calculating the average number of marriages for tiger shifter kings.
What should she do? How could she alleviate his anxiety?
She didn’t want to trouble Hugrey. She wished he wouldn’t feel any insecurity about her. He was the most precious person in the world to her, so she hated the idea of him suffering even a little because of her. The position of Tigrium’s queen. The identity of a tiger shifter. These weren’t things she had wanted.
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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