Even in the afternoon sunlight, the scenery of Wall Garden Avenue still looked gloomy.
Sidney gauged the distance to the Imperial Army headquarters building visible in the distance. About fifteen minutes on foot…
She lifted her gaze to take in the clear sky as the biting wind clawed at her face. At that moment, the coachman’s shout urging on the horses struck her ears.
“Hah!”
With this as a start, all kinds of sounds came rushing in.
The clop-clop of horse hooves hitting the ground, the rolling of carriage wheels on the pavement, and then dong, dong, dong… Logan’s voice buried under the temple bells signaling five o’clock.
“Don’t ever say you’ll handle things on your own again. Steve Deniro is far more dangerous and cunning than you think.”
After finishing his words, Logan furrowed his brow and took a deep drag on his cigarette.
Then, exhaling a long stream of white smoke, he flicked his fingers to discard the cigarette.
Those series of actions, along with his cold expression and tone, were tinged with hurt feelings and irritation.
It seemed like a complaint of ‘Why don’t you rely on me?’, making a spot in her chest tingle and a smile threaten to leak out. Sidney covered her mouth with her fist and needlessly cleared her throat.
“Ahem, just telling me to be careful without a proper explanation is… What happened with Lord Deniro?”
Logan tilted his head as if surprised.
“Weren’t you the one who hated personal matters?”
“That’s you, Captain.”
He neither denied nor confirmed it as he moved his feet.
As she matched his pace beside him, pushing her red hair blown by the wind from behind behind her ear, he asked with a face that showed he simply couldn’t understand:
“You asked knowing that’s what I think?”
Trying her best to sound nonchalant, as if discussing something everyday like the weather, she casually threw out the words:
“Well, I was curious how far things are allowed between an engaged couple.”
“We share the same house and bed, what’s there to allow or not allow?”
Logan Redford stopped and turned around. The warm sunlight seeping into his platinum hair created the illusion of a halo.
His melancholy blue eyes and sculptured features, though a face she had always seen, looked exceptionally handsome today.
It wasn’t just him that had changed. The self blushing in his eyes was also unfamiliar.
Logan Redford approached smoothly and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Startled, she looked up at him as he pointed to the imperial army gates and gently pushed her forward.
As she stumbled forward, she tried to protest, but Logan urged her on while bringing up an old story.
“Logan, this is…”
“There was a time when our unit was surrounded by the allied forces. A plan came up to draw the enemy’s attention with part of our forces while the rest escaped.”
“Bait troops.”
“Sacrificing the few for the many… quite a plausible load of nonsense. But as you know, no one would willingly jump into a fire pit knowing what awaits.”
Sidney neither agreed nor disagreed, lowering her eyes.
Whether they wanted to or not, she guessed someone must have become bait. But the reality Logan told her exceeded her expectations.
“That night, an academy classmate came to me with a plan. Instead of the soldiers who thought they were going on reconnaissance, he asked me to let him and the wounded soldiers break through enemy lines.”
“How could wounded soldiers…”
“As long as they could get on a horse… They were all out of their minds from pain medication and nonsense about an honorable death being better than a medical discharge.”
Insane. No matter how surrounded they were, the wounded soldiers volunteering to die should have been stopped.
How could a commander use sick soldiers as meat shields…
“Did the commander at the time, Lord Deniro… allow that?”
Logan Redford furrowed his brow painfully and let out a long sigh. Then he spoke in a dry, hoarse voice:
“That day, using the sacrifice shown by the wounded soldiers in that desperate crisis, we boosted the morale of our troops and achieved a great victory.”
The deliberately omitted subject was likely because Logan himself was still trapped in guilt over that situation that day.
Perhaps hating Steve Deniro was a form of self-loathing.
“…The worst, isn’t it?”
“That’s war.”
Logan turned away with a bitter smile.
Along with the crunching sound of footsteps in snow, Logan’s footprints were imprinted on the pure white snow.
Like Logan’s footsteps, stubbornly keeping to a solitary path while everyone else went mad on the battlefield.
Before heading to the battlefield, Logan’s impassioned speech…
Though it may have been nothing more than a pledge to care for his subordinates’ wellbeing over victory before his eyes, and to not repeat the mistakes of that day.
Those words to somehow survive on the brutal battlefield were a ray of light. Like a lighthouse illuminating a dark sea…
Sidney gazed into the distance as if embarrassed and said:
“I think I’ve met a good superior.”
[This is the timeline separator]Cloud Square is called the heart of Marseille.
This is because all of Marseille’s roads radiate out from Cloud Square.
For this reason, the buildings surrounding Cloud Square were given the address number 1.
White breath spread across Logan Redford’s lips as he looked up at the first stone building on Thierry Avenue, the busiest street in Marseille.
“1 Thierry Avenue, let’s go with this.”
Raon Lind, standing next to Logan, asked in confusion:
“What do you mean?”
Logan Redford stared intently at the first and second floors, where one of Marseille’s most famous restaurants was located in Cloud Square, and said seriously:
“We’ll make a counter for small investors on the first floor, like Marseille Bank.”
By small investors, he meant taking small amounts of money from commoners.
No matter how much you gather dust to make a mountain, how could they afford the enormous rent with the profits earned from that capital?
Raon Lind blinked and stammered:
“You’re not saying you want to put Hilpin Investment Company on the first floor of the building with the highest rent in Marseille, are you?”
“Of course not. We’ll use the entire building.”
Raon Lind objected carefully with a serious face:
“Lord Logan, the annual rent for this building could buy the building across from Marseille Bank on Wall Garden Avenue. So let’s stick to the plan and set up the investment company on Wall Garden Avenue. You originally wanted an image of a trustworthy company like a bank, right?”
“I was quite a good superior, so now I want to try being a trustworthy husband.”
“Pardon?”
Sidney’s embarrassed face overlapped with the old red brick exterior wall of the building.
Saying such ticklish things… She’s so odd. He unconsciously brought his hand to the nape of his neck when Raon Lind caught his eye.
With a half-dazed, idiotic expression. Logan clicked his tongue shortly and Raon quickly composed his expression.
“So, you want to make a good impression on Lady Warden, no, Lady Marien… Ahem, it’s truly a good idea.”
“What part of it is good?”
Who’s trying to impress whom? Insolent fellow. Logan tapped the hilt of the sword at his waist with his index finger, urging him to speak.
Raon Lind glanced around as if checking the mood and continued:
“It’s good to show everyone who enters this square. If we spread rumors that the new Viscount Redford is cleaning up the loan shark business to be reborn as an investment company, and the reason he’s pouring an absurd amount of money into using the entire building at 1 Thierry Avenue is to become a good husband…”
“Is that necessary?”
“Yes, it’s necessary for Lady Marien to properly know how much effort Lord Logan has made. It’s not like Lord Logan is the type to explain every little detail.”
“I was planning to tell her after the wedding.”
So that Sidney Warden’s secret would no longer be a sin, to create a Redford family befitting her.
As a means to that end, he established an investment company that could gather nobles while rebuilding the Kingdom of Agnes, which had been reduced to ruins by war…
He thought it would make quite a nice wedding gift.
Logan frowned arrogantly with his arms crossed.
“Then I’ll spread rumors separately after Lord Logan speaks directly. It will help Lady Marien’s position and attract investors.”
“Do as you please.”
As he was about to walk to the carriage, Raon Lind blocked his path with a serious face and asked:
“I’m asking just in case, but you’re not planning to end it with just words this time too, like when you only gave her a ring for the proposal, are you?”
Only ‘just’ a ring?
“There was a bouquet of lilies too.”
“That’s a relief. So, was Lady Marien moved?”
How exactly was Sidney supposed to be moved by just having a ring put on her finger?
When Logan glared at him with eyes that said ‘What nonsense are you talking about’, Raon Lind awkwardly smiled and changed the subject.
“My wife says that rather than just handing over plucked flowers, the effort of tying them nicely with a ribbon is important.”
Crazy, of course I tied them nicely with a ribbon. Did he think I just carried the lilies as they were? As he was debating whether to listen to more of this:
“On top of that, a man’s sincere gaze and affectionate words… that’s what moves a woman.”
How is he supposed to expect to be moving while talking about an investment company? And how does one do a sincere gaze and affectionate words?
By the way…
“How do you move your wife?”
It was a question born of simple curiosity. Like a single stone creating ripples on a calm lake, Raon Lind’s face gradually turned red.
Then with an expression overflowing with happiness, he hesitated but explained in quite some detail:
“Well, ahem, my wife tends to be unexpressive and keeps her distance from me… But at those times, she comes into my arms with tears in her eyes.”
For a moment, Sidney’s face, sobbing in pleasure last night, flashed through his mind. If Sidney were to come into his arms moved by her heart rather than carnal desire…
Logan stared up at the red stone building with dreamy eyes and murmured:
__________
Men In The Royal Harem All Yearn For Her (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The men (young empress, young empress dowager, crown prince) in the harem all yearn to become her consort.
Synopsis:
The female protagonist is a wildly popular heartthrob with a natural halo.
The male protagonist is a crazily obsessed and self-abasing loyal dog.
Qiu Shu, the top scholar’s daughter, is pure, elegant and incomparably enchanting, captivating countless admirers.
Being favored by the eldest prince, the most handsome man in the capital, and becoming his wife in a single move is truly the pride of a poor student.
However, what they don’t know is that the seemingly bright and splendid female protagonist lives in a battlefield of jealousy every day.
The cute and adorable young empress is unusually attached to her.
The gentlemanly and upright young empress dowager has an ambiguous relationship with her.
Even her aloof and proud eldest prince is actually a gloomy and petty jealous husband.
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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