“Eric?”
“Alicia.”
Eric sighed, looking at the ceiling, after lifting his hand from Alicia’s face.
Then he opened his mouth with a complicated expression, looking back at her.
“Alicia. I really want to express myself properly, but the situation doesn’t allow for it.”
“?”
Seeing Alicia’s puzzled face, Eric awkwardly smiled as if he were dying.
‘If only it hadn’t been the Deputy Master’s words.’
Recalling yesterday’s events, Eric sighed, wondering if this was some kind of involuntary celibacy he never wanted.
(This is a time marker.)
The Deputy Master finished purifying the magic and treated Eric’s wounds.
“Hm. You’ve improved significantly. You should be able to return to daily life soon.”
“I’m ashamed. Corpses of spirit masters are being found, and I haven’t been able to properly investigate.”
“It can’t be helped. Don’t worry. There will be separate instructions on that matter soon.”
“Ah.”
Was the task being passed to someone else?
Pride wounded, Eric closed his mouth.
Noticing Eric’s feelings from his expression, the Deputy Master gave a helpless smile.
Sighing, Eric shook his head to clear his thoughts and spoke.
“Deputy Master. There’s no significant difficulty in moving now. May I go home?”
“Although you have improved, it’s better for me to keep an eye on you if you stay here.”
“I still want to go.”
Being isolated from the outside world and only inside the Deputy Office, he was dying to know the situation outside. He wanted to know about the case, and how Alicia was doing.
“Hmm. There shouldn’t be any problem.”
Scratching his long beard, the Deputy Master seemed to consider.
With a pale face, Eric waited for the Deputy Master’s permission.
“Well, alright. You might be more comfortable resting somewhere else.”
“Thank you. Then, today…”
“Why are you in such a hurry? Did you hide a honey jar at home?”
It wasn’t a honey jar, but something sweeter.
Eric grinned awkwardly.
“There are many people worried because they can’t visit me here.”
“Is that so?”
“My parents too.”
The Deputy Master gave Eric a hard look and chuckled.
“So, you want to see your fiancée, is that it?”
“Not necessarily.”
“What do you mean, not necessarily? So it is.”
“Hm.”
With a flushed face, Eric avoided eye contact.
The Deputy Master, however, chuckled as if looking at an adorable grandchild.
“Then there’s no point in my refusing.”
“Thank you.”
Eric’s face instantly brightened.
However, the Deputy Master’s expression was serious.
“But let me say, I’m sorry for disappointing you.”
“?”
“You haven’t been completely drained of your magic. Just to be safe, you should be cautious. That said—”
“Yes.”
Sensing something crucial from the Deputy Master’s solemn expression, Eric’s own expression turned grave.
“Skinship is forbidden.”
“Choke.”
Eric choked at the Deputy Master’s unexpected words.
“What, uh, what?”
The Deputy Master frowned at Eric’s flustered face.
“Is it that difficult to refrain for just a few days?”
“No, it’s not that, I just never expected to hear such a thing from you.”
“Man, it’s for medical reasons.”
“Sure, I suppose so.”
With a troubled expression, Eric turned his head. He was suddenly curious.
‘But what does ‘no skinship’ mean exactly? How far is forbidden?’
Seeing Eric suddenly get serious, the Deputy Master chuckled as if he knew what Eric was thinking.
“I understand young people have been apart for quite a while.”
“No, you don’t need to be that considerate[—].”
“Touching on the surface should be fine.”
“The surface?”
“Like, a simple kiss is fine, but French kissing[—].”
“Ah, Deputy Master, please!”
“Why? You would be curious.”
“No, I’m not curious. I’ll just hold back.”
The idea of having this conversation with the Deputy Master was absolutely unacceptable.
Eric firmly refused, and the steward chuckled, patting his shoulder as if to comfort him.
“By the way, it’s your call.”
“?”
“No, it’s nothing. Thanks to you, it’s going to be interesting.”
Smiling ambiguously, the steward stood up from his seat.
“Rest well for today. Don’t worry, I’ll send you home tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
“Make sure you rest up. You need to recover quickly before he returns.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Never mind.”
Without answering Eric’s question, the steward left the room with an inexplicably cheerful step.
(Time marker)
“······Alicia?”
Eric quietly called out to Alicia, who was motionless.
Relieved for some reason, Alicia had already fallen asleep in Eric’s arms.
“Good. This is better.”
Eric gave a small smile and laid Alicia next to him.
“Uhhuh.”
Eric also carefully lay down on the bed after a moment of shifting and looked at Alicia.
Her eyes were still swollen from crying and her face was flushed, but seeing Alicia comfortably asleep brought a natural smile to his face.
(Time marker)
Knock, knock, knock.
“My Lord, Miss, the meal is almost ready.”
The butler knocked and then carefully opened the door after waiting a few minutes.
“Oh my.”
Eric and Alicia were hugging each other, their faces relaxed in sleep.
The butler smiled contentedly.
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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