“Huh?!”
Eliza jumped up and fluttered her arms, but I clenched my fist firmly.
“I’ll go with that one.”
“Absolutely not! This one is Anrikki, the longest-lived festival lizard. It’s said he has the temperament of a fighting dog that never lets go once he bites. After chewing on wood for decades, his jaw is toughened, and his eyes are devilish. There’s a rumor that those who shoot him up will eventually be tracked down, and he’ll cut off all their fingers. It’s not just a groundless ghost story.”
Eliza blocked our way and desperately shook her head.
“Anrikki?”
I furrowed my brow. However, Eliza, unable to read my expression, nodded vigorously.
“He’s infamous for having a filthy temperament, so give up, miss!”
“No way… That’s obvious…”
Only then did Eliza, sensing something unusual, roll her eyes nervously.
“You reversed Kirian, didn’t you?”
“Eek!”
Eliza, as if shocked, shrank back and anxiously looked around, then whispered.
“Miss, can you keep it a secret?”
While Hiss had burst into laughter long ago, I managed to suppress the corners of my mouth that were struggling to smile. I raised my eyebrows with a stern expression.
“Think about it if you hand over that Anrikki lizard.”
Eliza embraced the lizard cage as if to plead.
“Can you reconsider? I didn’t make up that nickname. I’m just a victim of it.”
“Then who made it up?”
Eliza sniffed.
“The butler. I just stuck with it because it was fun.”
“Hmm.”
I hummed a little tune.
“Well, first tell Kirian about the nickname the butler personally made for him, then tell the butler that you heard it from Eliza.”
Eliza, pale and horrified, eventually retreated hesitantly.
“Miss, to have such wicked thoughts…”
Wiping away a tear that had trickled down, Eliza took a deep sigh. At that moment, as if trying to reassure her that it was just a joke.
“Really, I’m proud of you.”
Eliza eventually opened our door and took out Anrikki, the old lizard.
“If the miss threatens me like this, I have no choice.”
Instead of receiving Anrikki, the other lizards were taken as small ones.
Hiss also received a mixture appropriately, and Eliza pointed to a pile of gloves arranged in a corner of the makeshift shop.
“Don’t regret it after getting bitten; take some gloves too.”
As I was about to take the gloves, Eliza snatched them from my hands.
“Lady, wear this!”
Eliza handed me thick leather gloves suitable for hunting rather than thin fabric gloves.
“The lady’s fingers are weak, so they need special care.”
“Ah…”
I glanced at the thick gloves with a trembling gaze but soon received the gloves.
Since I got Anrikki, I guess I can concede on the gloves.
Moving slightly away from the center of the festival, Hiss first took out a lizard from the box.
Watching Hiss carefully handle the wriggling lizard, I nervously asked, “It must be your first time; shall I help?”
Hiss, with the lizard’s mouth open, shook his head. “It’s okay. It seems manageable.”
Slightly awkward but with precise gestures, Hiss, with green powder in the lizard’s mouth, firmly pulled the lizard’s tail.
“Kkiik!”
The flapping lizard flew quite a distance, spewing green flames.
“Wow!”
I found myself exclaiming without realizing it.
“It flew really high!”
To prevent it from falling, I quickly picked red powder from the pouch.
Choosing the smallest lizard as an experimental subject, I awkwardly but successfully squeezed the lizard’s mouth shut, and the lizard squawked loudly through the barely closed gap.
Feeling a bit sorry, I determinedly pulled its tail, thinking that I shouldn’t lose to Hiss, who was trying this for the first time.
“It’s okay! It won’t die!”
Comforting the lizard, I let go of its tail.
“See you next year!”
“Kkiik!”
The small lizard, spitting out a small flame, bounced up and disappeared beyond the horizon. Shortly after a few bounces, it landed with the sound of flames extinguishing. After looking at us for a moment, the lizard quickly ran towards the forest.
I scratched my head.
“It’s strange. It used to work well.”
Suddenly, I remembered. Before shooting the lizard, Kirian used to pull each one with a sturdy rubber band like taming them.
Back then, I thought I was good at shooting flames that burst out continuously, but apparently, that wasn’t the case.
I suddenly missed Kirian. As I was wandering, the Duchess with two large buckets on Kirian’s shoulders appeared.
At the Duchess’s signal, Kirian, perhaps trying to conjure spring water, staggered toward the forest with determination.
He must be busy as usual.
I waved my hand for no reason, pretending to twist my wrist.
“Ahaha. It’s been a while, so I might have lost my touch.”
“The first time is always awkward.”
Hiss encouraged me with a reassuring smile, and then he raised the next lizard. Once again, the lizard, drawing large tracks, flew away, leaving behind beautiful flames.
I felt a surge of determination and immediately chose the next lizard.
“Let’s make it a competition, hitting each other with the ones who shoot farther.”
“What if I don’t feel anything at all?”
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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