The two of them are going to have a secret meeting, as a reader who has read the entire main story, can I just turn a blind eye to it?

A person should have loyalty.

Our mother said not to live without affection.

In the end, I managed to get the side story with difficulty. Is everyone more interested in the secret meeting than the main story? Somehow, it was even harder to get the side story.

Yeah. It’s good that I got this, but…

Not having a place to put it was also a problem. This passionately vivid red cover was too eye-catching.

So I had no choice but to put a decoy book cover on it.

Just in case, to prevent the unfortunate event of other people peeking at the protagonists’ secret meeting. It was a reader-like behavior that perfectly took care of the privacy of the protagonist couple.

…Yes. Anyway, that’s roughly the reason. It’s absolutely not like the mindset of a teenager hiding an erotic book.

“Ahem. Hmm.”

Enough of that. Let’s focus on the book.

Feeling my feet going numb for no reason, I shook my feet and focused on reading again. Reading without realizing the passing of time, the sun was setting by the time I finished reading.

After hurriedly putting the book back on the shelf in case someone sees, I was absorbed in contemplation while looking at the setting sun.

…Yes. It was truly a beautiful and amazing secret meeting.

The amazing secret meeting between the princess and the demon king ignited my desire to read.

Come to think of it, dating isn’t the only thing I need to learn, right?

In that sense, I also purchased other books of similar genres together.

Getting and delivering the books was Siena’s responsibility. In the first place, it was Siena who informed me that there was a secret side story to the ‘Princess and Demon King Series’, so there was nothing to be awkward about.

“The goods will be reliable, right?”

“Kukukuku. Of course, my lady. These are the most popular ones these days.”

I received the books as if it were an illegal smuggling deal, and took off all the medicinal herb book covers I had and put them on the new books instead of clothes.

Seeing the shelves filled with hot love stories disguised as medicinal herbs, it felt like my stomach was full even without eating.

Not knowing that these books would bring about a great disaster in the future.

“I heard you’ve been reading a lot of books lately.”

“What? Cough. Cough. Cough…”

I choked on Dante’s unexpected question.

Dante, who was drinking tea with me, was surprised and handed me a handkerchief along with water.

“Are you alright, lady?”

Flailing my hands to receive the handkerchief, I nodded my head vigorously.

“Ahem. Khm. I just swallowed wrong. By the way, wh-why are you suddenly asking about books?”

“…I was going to tell you to let me know if there are any books you want to read.”

Tell him if there are any books I want to read?

I smiled awkwardly. The book I most wanted to read these days was a romance novel called ‘The Relationship That Only Meets at Night’.

I’m curious as to why the muscular male protagonist and the pure and pitiful female protagonist only meet at night.

“I will. Thank you for your consideration. Ah, but did you hear about that?”

I hurriedly changed the subject along with my gratitude.

It felt like Dante’s gaze kept glancing at the books I was reading.

The masterpieces I’ve been reading several times these days were piled up on the bedroom desk.

…I must be crazy.

It seems I’ve become overconfident because the replacement book covers look quite plausible. No matter what, I should have put them back on the bookshelf.

It was when I was trying hard to pull my attention away from the desk.

Meow.

Choco, who was taking an early nap on the cushion, stretched and got up from his spot.

“Oh? Choco, you’re awake?”

At my call, Choco quickly turned his head towards me.

Cheep. Cheep!

…That guy strangely chirps more like a chick whenever he sees me.

Choco, who was chirping, now looked at Dante.

Dante also stared at Choco without a word.

Haaah!

The next moment, Choco, with his back arched round, charged at Dante with all his might while making a biting gesture.

“Huh, Choco, no…!”

However, contrary to the expectation that he would bite at any moment, Choco, who ran while making a biting gesture, danced around at Dante’s feet.

Then he jumped up, curled up on Dante’s lap, and licked his own paw.

…What’s this. Was the biting gesture for propulsion?

I awkwardly sat down, feeling like I was the only strange person who stood up to stop him for nothing.

But it’s nice to see.

A handsome man and a cute animal. There can be no better harmony than this. I rested my chin on the table and smiled contentedly.

“Choco, do you like daddy more than mommy?”

“Oh, daddy?”

I asked Choco, but the answer came from Dante.

“Since we adopted him, I’m the mommy and Dante is the daddy.”

“Is that so?”

“Ah. Do you perhaps dislike it? Then, from now on, I’ll be care…”

“No. I like it.”

A small laugh followed the resolute answer.

Hmm. He’s handsome.

As I was having an eye-pleasing therapy with a good-looking handsome man and animal, a thought suddenly occurred to me and I opened my mouth.

“Come to think of it, I heard that His Majesty the Emperor’s obsession with an heir has intensified?”

“…Did Barhan tell you?”

“Yes. He told me.”

Dante’s mood turned oddly chilly. He seemed to think that Barhan was unnecessarily burdening me.

“For your information, I asked. His Majesty the Emperor has started sending letters to me as well.”

“He’s sending letters to you, my lady?”

“Yeah. I’ve already received about four.”

It seems that he changed his target to me because he kept ignoring Dante even when contacting him.

Just in case, I asked Barhan if the duke was in a similar situation…

That was the answer that came back with a sigh.

I don’t know why this damn emperor is acting like an heir-obsessed man as if he’s possessed by a ghost who couldn’t see our heir. Why is he behaving like that?

But now that it’s come to this, I thought it was a golden opportunity to ask about the child.

“What do you think about having a child, Dante?”

“…I.”

He seemed to have a complicated mind.

Actually, I was the same. My mind was complicated about the heir issue.

A child.

“Honestly, I don’t want to think hastily about the child issue. I want to think about it when we are ready.”

Yes. This was my thought.

No matter how much the emperor nags about a child like an in-law from the Joseon Dynasty, I didn’t want to have a child that I was being chased for.

To be honest.

“I want to be a good parent, but I’m not confident yet. But the child issue is not something I can decide alone, so…”

“I have the same thought. If Serpina doesn’t want to have one, it’s okay to do so.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Really.”

Dante, who answered firmly, stroked Choco’s head gently with a lonely face.

Purr purr purr.

In tune with Choco’s purring sound of pleasure, he continued.

“My child will be born inheriting the curse like me.”

…Curse. The word I had momentarily forgotten hit my head with a thud.

“Thinking about you raising the child alone without me… It worries me too.”

It was a calm voice, but each word was bitter.

Somehow, I felt gloomy.

I had been trying to forget about the curse, but from time to time, I think about Dante’s short lifespan like this.

Was this how Dante felt when he thought I was terminally ill?

I shrugged my shoulders deliberately, pretending to be nonchalant.

“Then let’s think about our child issue slowly. Haha. If the emperor knows we’re this relaxed about it, he’ll go crazy with impatience. Right?”

“Yes. I guess so.”

“But why is the emperor so obsessed with us having a child?”

“He probably needs a family to protect the North and the Empire from the demonic creatures while making sacrifices. If the Richter lineage is cut off, a new family has to take that position instead, but whoever takes it, there will be strong opposition.”

…Oh my, crazy.

What kind of selfish reason is that?

“The Richter bloodline has also been stronger than ordinary people for generations. From the imperial family’s perspective, it would be a pity to lose that card.”

“Ugh. That’s really unpleasant.”

Dante responded with a faint smile to the unhidden disgust. I also laughed and giggled, stretching out my hand and tapping Choco’s nose bridge.

“Anyway, for the time being, let’s just be satisfied with being Choco’s mom and dad.”

“Sounds good.”

Meow, meow!

Choco also seemed to like it, meowing while wildly waving his paws in the air. The baby panther, who was throwing air punches, suddenly got up from his spot and ran off somewhere.

He seemed to be looking for something, wandering around here and there.

He’s probably looking for the fishing rod-shaped toy.

Where did I put that?

While pondering for a moment, the place Choco arrived at was the desk.

…Huh? Desk?

Somehow, an ominous feeling began to creep up. I looked at Choco and the secret books piled up on the desk with shaky eyes.

“Wait! Choco, get down from there…!”

And as always, ominous feelings are never wrong.

Meow!

With a lively meow, Choco’s butt lightly pushed the books.

At the same time, the stacked books came crashing down with a thud.