The season surrounding Growen Castle was an awkward springtime.
After a light spring rain, gentle sunshine appeared, yet a slightly chilly breeze made people’s necks tense.
Yerpi was the same. Shaking off the past that had delivered her such great shock was no easy task.
Thus, she suffered for a while. Seeing her like this, Raymond spoke.
He said there would come a day when she’d be fine even if they met again.
His advice—to bury it until then—had proven more effective than struggling to forget.
The hope that the days ahead together would outnumber those already passed made her heart flutter.
There was also belief that this certainty would become reality.
But half of it was right, and half was wrong. In peaceful Growen Castle, a small, fiery little dragon was faithfully trailing behind Yerpi.
A peaceful afternoon.
Yerpi and Raymond were walking together through the garden. Fragrant blossoms filled the air, while tiny birds and butterflies fluttered around them.
The path they walked hand in hand, and the sunlight falling upon them, felt sweet.
Whenever their eyes happened to meet, their cheeks flushed.
Even if they unconsciously looked away, their racing hearts kept them aware of each other.
And when their gazes met again, the moment grew even more intense.
Gradually, Raymond drew closer. It was the instant Yerpi instinctively closed her eyes.
[What are you two doing?]“……!”
Suddenly, Dante, who had been nestled in Yerpi’s arms, lifted his head.
Dante, whom they thought had been asleep, stared back and forth between Yerpi and Raymond with bright yellow, alert eyes.
Startled, Yerpi hastily stepped back from Raymond’s side.
“It’s nothing.”
Her ears and neck flushed red. Raymond, too, awkwardly averted his gaze and cleared his throat.
“I thought you were asleep.”
[I woke up because it’s too hot. Can’t we stop walking and go inside now? The sun feels too strong here.]Dante grumbled in response to Raymond’s muttering, then urged them both to head indoors.
Though the spring sunlight seemed ordinary, it clearly affected Dante, who was especially sensitive to heat.
Yerpi and Raymond exchanged glances. They had wanted to savor the newlywed-like sweetness a little longer.
It was Raymond who acted on it. But before he could even speak, the suggestion was shot down.
“I’ll call a maid to take you in first—”
[No! I’ll protect Yerpi myself!]A shrill, chick-like cry burst from Dante’s mouth.
Clutching tightly around Yerpi’s neck, Dante glared at Raymond with reproachful eyes.
His fierce demeanor was so strong that Raymond was momentarily speechless.
This was Dante’s anxiety, which had started ever since Yerpi disappeared.
At first, they thought it a temporary condition, hoping time would heal it—but it wasn’t.
Dante now insisted on staying with Yerpi all day long. Upon waking, his first act was to check whether she was there or not.
Yerpi sighed inwardly.
‘I love Dante too, but…’
Sometimes, a grown woman simply wanted to experience moments a child shouldn’t see. Yet even before that, she worried about Dante’s blind attachment to her.
Raymond seemed to feel the same, choosing not to force Dante’s behavior.
He was merely troubled by it each time. Yerpi could only smile helplessly.
“Let’s go in together.”
“All right then.”
[Hehe, okay!]Dante smiled, satisfied. Raymond, though baffled by the child’s antics, couldn’t help but chuckle.
Soon, Raymond pulled Dante out from Yerpi’s arms and hoisted him high onto his shoulders for a piggyback ride.
[Three-second warning! Put me down!]“Stop monopolizing my wife.”
Dante pretended to resist, but clearly liked Raymond’s shoulders and quickly settled in.
This was the rare moment Dante left Yerpi’s embrace. But even then, it meant nothing if Yerpi wasn’t beside Raymond.
Thus, the afternoon faded away.
After thoroughly finishing dinner in Yerpi’s lap, Dante, now bathed and utterly weary, lay limp.
Yerpi laid him on the bed and read him a story.
How long had passed? Even breathing echoed in the bedroom. When she looked down again, the child was deeply asleep.
Yerpi carefully set the book aside. By now, the clock was nearing the hour.
Then, the bedroom door creaked open cautiously. Through the narrow gap appeared Raymond’s figure.
Yerpi nodded, and Raymond slipped in silently.
“Dante is… asleep.”
“Yes. He’s in a deep sleep. He stayed in the bath quite long.”
Which meant, of course, that he wouldn’t wake easily. Relieved, Raymond reached out his hand.
Yerpi took it and carefully rose from her seat. The two slipped out of the bedroom, barely breathing.
Even as they walked down the corridor, they made not a sound. Their destination was the lakeside outside the building.
Yerpi glanced around and sighed. It was a little over two hours past midnight—the only brief window they could spend together.
Even this much time couldn’t be extended, for fear Dante might wake and miss her.
But in this moment, Raymond could finally voice his complaints.
“That brat—whose genes did he inherit? He clings to you more than to me.”
Even as he grumbled, his arms faithfully held Yerpi close.
The warmth of his touch was intense. So was the look in his eyes.
They were the eyes of a man who treasured every second they could be together.
“It’s because he’s still a child.”
Yerpi excused Dante helplessly, yet her slender arms had already wrapped around Raymond’s neck.
Their eyes met, drawing closer, until their lips finally touched.
They continued what they hadn’t been able to do during the day.
Lost in passion, Yerpi clung to Raymond, unaware that her back was pressed against the damp grass.
The world flipped upside down, revealing a deep blue night sky. Above her, Raymond had taken his place.
Sweet moments stretched endlessly. Yet time, especially when thick with emotion, always slipped by faster.
Side by side on the grass, they gazed up at the night sky. Clusters of stars formed a shimmering Milky Way.
The radiant starlight was beautiful. Staring up at such a sky stirred deep thoughts. Noticing Yerpi’s complicated expression, Raymond asked.
“What’s wrong?”
“I feel guilty toward Dante. The shock of my absence must have been severe.”
In the current situation, she didn’t know what was truly best for the child. Simply being by his side wasn’t always the answer.
Yerpi’s lips trembled. After a moment, gathering courage, she spoke.
“There’s actually something I need to confess.”
Raymond’s gaze turned serious at her words. Yerpi began to tell him the story she had kept hidden until now.
Raymond already knew well about Charlotte’s past, but she had never told him about the King of the Seasons who ruled over Growen.
“Since then, I haven’t been able to see the King of Autumn.”
At first, she had worried about the Autumn Domain. With its guardian king gone, she feared unforeseen problems might arise.
Yet the land of Autumn remained bountiful as ever. Relieved, she now faced a new question.
‘What exactly are the Kings of the Seasons?’
According to the world’s legends, they were spirit beasts who directly served the dragon.
But this world had been created by Charlotte, so those legends were likely distorted. Then perhaps—
“In truth, they might not be the ones who actually govern the seasons.”
Yerpi quietly nodded at Raymond’s words.
They may have merely occupied their respective domains, without truly controlling the seasons themselves.
Yet no one had questioned it, so their true nature had never been uncovered.
“I think we should first find out what they really are. Perhaps… it might even help solve Dante’s issue. I have a very strong feeling about this.”
It was less a guess than a powerful conviction. Though evidence was lacking, the void left by the Autumn King’s departure had become proof enough for Yerpi.
“You’re suggesting we go to the land of Winter?”
“…Yes.”
After all, Winter’s domain was the only place she hadn’t yet visited.
Raymond hesitated at her words. Finally, he spoke, concern in his voice.
“That land belongs to prisoners. It’s the coldest, gloomiest place within Growen’s territory.”
“Still, it’s okay. You’ll protect me, won’t you?”
At her confident words, Raymond’s pupils widened.
There were realities where certainty in anything seemed impossible. But if there was one thing she could trust, it was her partner.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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