It was too gigantic to be called human, and it was alien. Drool was flowing profusely from its long mouth, capable of easily chewing a person’s head.
‘A demon.’
It was the first time she had encountered the imaginary monster spoken of among Kun and the knights. Shocked by its appearance even more gruesome than expected, Cloe unintentionally sank down.
‘Escape…’
She had to run away and call for reinforcements.
The survival instinct, the realization that she had to live, lifted her tired legs. At that moment, the demon’s body roared, breaking into the barracks. The inside was completely sealed off.
“Kyak!”
The raging demon, completely losing its sanity, charged forward in a frenzy.
A man descended from a black horse.
The wind, gusting against the direction, was strong enough to obscure the view. The rapidly changing scenery within the blink of an eye was evidence of how fast he was running, but his mind was still impatient.
‘Cloe…’
Kun, looking towards the barracks where she stayed, which seemed almost invisible, raised his head.
Indeed, today was not the day for her to go outside. He had to watch over her from the moment her fortune turned bad.
Order, laws, regulations.
What did those things matter when it came to him coming out to protect her?
He strongly pulled the reins. The impatient owner’s heart, not knowing the pace of the horse that refused to run faster, was cruel.
‘Please, Cloe.’
The malicious voice of Cedric, who cursed him, came to mind.
‘If you get defeated, I’ll make sure to kill you, just like your parents…’
The inhalation and exhalation, which were coming and going violently, seemed to stop abruptly, as if his breath was cut off. The worst possible situation tormented him.
No, it couldn’t be like that.
His precious Cloe wouldn’t disappear so meaninglessly. He had finally obtained the long-sought illusion after years of yearning and longing.
Now, he could see, touch, and feel it to his heart’s content. Only now could he pour out his emotions and enjoy the lovely reactions of his beloved.
‘Just let her live.’
The mind that should have been complicated was surprisingly clear, to the extent that it was terrifying. With only one wish in mind, he ran and ran.
Hoping for a miracle, he cursed his own incompetence.
And when the barracks finally came into view, what greeted Kun was a scream that seemed to tear his eardrums apart.
Thud, thud.
The ferocious demon abruptly stopped at a certain distance before it could pounce on Cloe. The place where the demon stopped was none other than where Calis was.
“Kraaak!”
The demon screamed at Calis and then struck her abdomen with its large tail.
Not satisfied, it approached the fallen target boldly. This time, it displayed its fangs venomously, gnashing the air meticulously.
‘Why, why me!’
Calis was bewildered. He didn’t understand why the monster, which should have targeted Cloe, was now charging at him. The fear of impending death was greater than the pain in his side. With all his might, Calis raised his sword, swung it menacingly at the approaching enemy, and shouted,
“Darn it! What, what’s this? Go away! Go away!”
He intended for the monster he had summoned to defeat Cloe. Since monsters were naturally drawn to a more noble lineage, he firmly believed that it would attack Cloe instead of him. After the monster dealt with Cloe, Calis planned to use the medicine Cedric had given him to personally slay the monster.
However, due to the injuries inflicted by Cloe in the previous battle, Calis couldn’t summon any strength. Moreover, the monster he had summoned was unexpectedly massive, causing him to become terrified and unable to steady his hands.
‘Why on earth!’
At the moment when he was resenting the perfectly skewed plan, a pungent scent wafted from his jacket. It was much more intense than the fragrance sprinkled on the floor of the barracks.
His gaze shifted downward diagonally. Soon, the inside of the pocket, stained with a reddish hue, caught his attention.
Oh no. After sprinkling the medicine in the central square, he had closed the lid, but it seemed to have leaked.
It was only natural for the monster to be attracted to the faint scent rather than the noble lineage’s blood. The reason the monster attacked him was that Calis had the medicine on his clothes.
He started trembling as he began to undress. Due to his shaking hands, he repeatedly failed to unbutton the jacket.
The good-natured monster, eagerly waiting for its prey to squirm, was certainly nowhere to be found.
As the monster with lowered head, drooling viscous saliva, widened its mouth to devour Calis, who was standing dumbfounded after taking off the jacket, Calis threw the vest towards Cloe.
The direction from which the faint scent emanated in the narrow space was clear.
The monster hastily changed its course.
“……!”
Perhaps angered by the repeated changes in the prey’s position, the monster became even more ferocious.
Cloe had arrows nocked in her bow, fearing that the monster or Calis might attack her.
Survival was only possible once. Since the jacket seemed to catch the monster’s attention, she just needed to take off the jacket after the attack hit.
‘Just once…….’
Overcoming her fear, Cloe opened her eyes wide. In front of her, the monster, lost in reason, was rushing at an increased speed.
‘Extend your stance to the shoulder width. After nocking the arrow, keep your shoulders level by lifting them evenly. Then, place your hands at the chin, and fix your gaze on the target.’
The voice of her kind teacher, who taught her archery, echoed in her mind. Guided by the affectionate voice, she quickly adjusted her posture.
The monster’s heart was located in the head. If an impact occurred in the head, it would stagger for a moment.
Closing one eye, she made the other side’s field of view clearer. She adjusted the direction of her hand so that the sharp point was aimed at the head.
‘Is it difficult to hit the target?’
‘Yes. I couldn’t shoot the arrow accurately into the center of the target.’
The irritating voice echoed in her mind again.
This time, a man’s face appeared, advising Cloe, who couldn’t shoot the arrow accurately toward the target.
‘Then try to capture the target properly with your eyes.’
‘Of course…….’
‘And think of that damn target as a little mouse.’
‘…What?’
Cloe’s finger, holding the bowstring, slipped off.
“Imagine shooting the bow towards the ugly face of Calis Arhen. Picture that ugly face distorting upon impact, and shoot.”
“…….?”
“I guarantee it. That method is more useful than you think.”
The arrow has already left her side. The sharp tip is heading towards the head of the monster.
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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