As Floyd came out in front of the bench and spread his arms, Dennis and Jewelry ran and hugged Floyd. Floyd lifted both children at once, one in each arm.
“My lord, what brings you to Lily Palace?”
“I came to visit. To see you two as well.”
“We haven’t been caught playing here by dad yet. Thank you for keeping it a secret, my lord.”
Hexten already knew the children came here to play, but Floyd nodded as if he didn’t know.
“I always keep my promises to you.”
Roxiana looked up at Floyd and the children in his arms with a somewhat surprised feeling. Even though Hexten was Floyd’s knight, it was the first time she saw those children act so informally with the ruler of a country.
In the Kingdom of Kanta, there were also several knights who brought their families into the palace, but their children didn’t dare raise their heads in front of the king. Not just in Kanta, but in any other country as well.
After listening to the children chatter for a while, Floyd put them down and said,
“I have something to talk about with the princess here, so run along. Be careful not to touch the pond water. Just play on the grass picking flowers if you can.”
The children glanced at Roxiana as they returned to where they were playing. Roxiana turned her gaze from Floyd, and Floyd sat down beside her.
“It seems the children come here to play often. Don’t they bother you, Princess?”
“Not at all.”
“That’s good. I was worried they might be annoying since they’re such mischievous kids.”
The children played moderately, were moderately noisy, bickered moderately, and laughed a lot. Every time the children laughed loudly, Roxiana felt warmth in her heart while also suffering from a piercing longing.
Perhaps coming out to the garden every time the children came was also for a self-destructive reason, Roxiana thought. Punishment, pain, suffering, and anguish inflicted on herself for surviving alone while her family had all died.
Watching Dennis struggling to climb a tree, Roxiana opened her mouth.
“Your Majesty is truly cruel.”
“Me? In what way?”
“You ordered this place to be decorated entirely with Adelia flowers.”
She had been puzzled by how busy Lily Palace had become recently, but later saw that everything was being changed to items engraved with Adelia flowers. From statues to framed pictures on the walls, carpets, sofas and cushions, bedspreads and curtains, there was no place without Adelia flowers engraved.
So that Roxiana could not escape the scent of Adelia flowers no matter where she collapsed, Lily Palace was filled with Adelia flowers to the point it could be called Adelia Palace.
“If you call me cruel for that reason, then the truly cruel one is you, Princess. Watching an innocent person who died unable to rest in peace. Do I look like such a ruthless man to you?”
“It’s what I want.”
“Just because someone wants something doesn’t mean we can give them everything. Especially if it’s an act of self-harm.”
Roxiana pressed her lips tightly shut.
There was no use talking to Floyd.
What a stubborn person. Even if I’m harming myself, it’s my own body, what does it matter to him.
“But it seems you’re keeping your promise to me well. You’ve gained some weight and come out to the garden often.”
“……”
“In Torkan, there’s a Festival of Stars held in December. It’s a very splendid and joyous festival, so when the festival period comes, you should go out to the city once. It will be fun.”
It will be fun?
How can I have fun when my family is all dead, when I was thrown into a well? Could you have fun if it were you? Could you laugh even after seeing your parents’ corpses with your own eyes?
Suppressing the urge to scream, Roxiana obediently nodded. Her lifeline hung on Floyd. She was prepared to do anything Floyd wanted for that, so going out to see a festival wasn’t a big deal.
She must have been gripping her skirt without realizing it in an effort to contain her anger. Floyd lightly tapped Roxiana’s tense hand with his index finger.
“Relax, Princess. I won’t eat you.”
“Just eat me instead. Chew me up from fingertip to toe, leaving nothing behind.”
Floyd slightly furrowed his brow at the resentful words, then smiled.
“We’ll see. I’m not hungry enough to eat you right now.”
“……”
“But I think I’ll be feeling thirsty soon. You should drink plenty of water too, Princess.”
At those words, Roxiana turned her head to look at Floyd. The voices that only Roxiana could hear had been saying similar things more often recently.
-Roti, store up lots of water.
-It’s getting dangerous now. We’re having a hard time holding on too.
-We’ll be leaving soon. Call for us when you go to the water. Don’t touch that water if you can’t hear our voices.
She didn’t know what was happening with the water or what danger was approaching, but she ignored it thinking it couldn’t be anything good. But how could this man be saying the same thing as them?
Feeling Roxiana’s gaze, Floyd turned to look at her as well. Meeting Roxiana’s eyes, he smiled gently.
“Don’t worry. I’m just saying this in case. I’ll solve it somehow before then.”
“How… did you know?”
“Hm?”
“That the water is dangerous……”
Can this man hear those voices too?
Could it be that this man has the same power as me?
“Of course I know. It’s happening in my country. Do I look like such a good-for-nothing who has no interest in my country and only likes alcohol?”
For some reason, it felt like they were having different conversations even as they talked. Not realizing that she was showing interest in something not good, Roxiana asked again.
“What’s happening in this country?”
Floyd stared at Roxiana with a strange look, then explained what had been happening. Water being polluted by magical beasts, people dying, magical beasts too quick to catch easily, and people who settled in the forest.
“The people living in this area are those who settled here trusting only in me.”
It wasn’t a boastful statement. As far as Roxiana knew, the people of Torkan had settled here trusting only in Floyd.
The Hwinasel region where Torkan is currently located was a good place for people to live with nice weather and fertile land, but it was almost taken over by magical beasts due to several rifts forming. At one point, the Hwinasel region was called ‘Land of Death’, ‘Land Abandoned by God’, ‘Cursed Land’.
Even people who had been holding on because it was hard to leave the place they had lived for generations started leaving one by one, and when the Kingdom of Gania, which owned this region, declared that they could no longer manage this place and would abandon it.
He appeared.
Floyd Ratean. Once called Floyd Pelur, the illegitimate son of King Joseph V of the Kingdom of Gania. An ominous man cast out for receiving the curse of fire.
His fire burned magical beasts, and he who was once called cursed came to be called the Red Tiger who annihilated magical beasts.
People who had shunned, ignored, and feared him began to admire him, and kings of various countries tried to bring him to their countries by any means.
However, Floyd did not succumb to the countless temptations and declared the Hwinasel region as his own land, changing his name from Floyd Pelur to Floyd Ratean.
Countries that needed Floyd’s power to deal with magical beasts that could emerge at any time accepted Floyd’s occupation of the Hwinasel region and naming it ‘Torkan’, and the Emperor of the Empire bestowed upon Floyd the title of Grand Duke.
The king’s illegitimate son, who had always been forced to wander with nowhere to accept him, thus became the ruler of a country.
It was a story famous enough to always appear as a subject of minstrels’ songs. Roxiana had once listened to the story of ‘The Red Tiger who Annihilates Magical Beasts’ with bated breath. From her second older brother, Ian.
‘Yes, this man is the protagonist of that story.’
Roxiana examined his profile with a fresh feeling.
Reddish-brown hair grown carelessly covering his eyes, deep eyes under thick eyebrows, a prominent nose and stubborn-looking lips.
In the story, he seemed like a man without blood or tears, solemnly and heavily wielding his sword in silence, but the real him was different. Floyd seemed to laugh easily, get angry easily, be hot-blooded, and like children.
Now, he was showing concern on his face. He seemed to be a person who couldn’t hide his inner thoughts well.
“I had no intention of establishing a country here.”
“Then why…?”
“I just needed a place to live quietly by myself, no, with the fellows who helped me. This region was perfect for living quietly. Because it’s a place no one covets due to its many rifts.”
But people trusted Floyd and his knights who mercilessly killed magical beasts. People started gathering one by one to the abandoned land and to Floyd.
“At first it was annoying and bothersome, but what could I do? I couldn’t leave people who gathered to survive to die. As a result, the population grew, and somewhere bestowed upon me the title of Grand Duke and recognized this region as a country. I was put in a situation where I had no choice.”
Floyd shrugged his shoulders.
“I never learned statecraft, and though I was born in the royal family, I didn’t properly learn etiquette. For such a person to sit in the ruler’s seat and try to play king is maddening. Whenever problems like this arise, I feel like I’m going crazy not knowing if I’m making the right decisions.”
Roxiana blinked at his honest words. It was the first time she had seen someone reveal their vulnerabilities so openly.
She didn’t think it was bad. He must be confident enough to show his weak side. No one would think him weak just because he showed his vulnerabilities.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
