“I’ll tell you. Do you know how long it’s been since I had a drink?”
The bartender, looking at me with pitiful eyes, wiped the counter.
“It’s been 14 years.”
“Oh, how did you know?”
I glared at the bartender, suppressing a hiccup.
“You! Sneaky.”
“Why?”
In a trembling voice, the bartender mumbled.
“You’re clever.”
Hiccupping again, I smiled broadly, and the bartender nodded as if impressed.
“You came last week and talked about the same thing. The week before that too, and the week before that.”
I furrowed my brow.
“Did I?”
The bartender sighed, rubbing his head with one hand. But his other hand diligently refilled my empty glass.
“Do you know how frustrating it was for me?”
I started lamenting about my life again.
“I mean, seriously. I’m an adult in mind. Everyone is enjoying themselves with champagne and wine at parties. You don’t know how frustrating it was for me to watch that while sucking my thumb.”
“I don’t know.”
I waved my hand in the air.
“So, I was unhappy. I ran away from that house myself. Understand?”
“Yes.”
Taking the mop again, the bartender tossed it into the trash.
“Everyone seems to be doing well without me. That’s fine then.”
Thud. My heavy head fell onto the counter.
“I don’t particularly want to go back.”
“Gasp!”
The bartender’s exclamation of shock echoed.
“Well then, just say it! Why hit your forehead so hard!”
I lifted my head slightly.
“Sorry. Did I startle you?”
Seeing the bartender’s pale face, I felt a twinge of guilt. Despite grumbling, he seemed genuinely concerned for me.
“It’s okay. It didn’t hurt much.”
“The counter is dented!”
Uncertain about how to react to the assertive bartender, I pondered for a while. Whether to get angry or shed tears.
In the end, I burst into laughter.
“Yeah, life is meant to be lived alone.”
“You’re drunk, really drunk.”
The more the bartender stuck out his tongue, the louder I laughed.
“Ante!”
Just then, Numbers 1 and 2 entered the bar. The bartender hesitated.
“Oh, welcome. Let’s take her away quickly.”
Numbers 1 and 2 surrounded me.
“Ante! Are you okay?”
“Where does it hurt?”
Their genuinely concerned questions touched me unexpectedly.
“I really only have you guys now.”
I hugged Numbers 1 and 2, tears streaming down my face.
“Nothing is necessary anymore. Now, I am Madeleine Papon.”
“Ante…!”
“This is touching!”
While we embraced and cried, the bartender, his tongue back in his mouth, picked up a broom.
“Why is this week so similar to last week?”
The bartender tapped us lightly with the broom.
“Let’s get out of here. Before the other customers leave.”
With Numbers 1 and 2 almost dragging me, we left the bar. From behind, I could hear the bartender muttering.
“Looking at the smooth back of the hand, you’d think she’s in her twenties and started drinking 14 years ago as a little kid… She must have been abused when she was young to end up like this. Sigh, it’s really pitiful.”
The bartender was making a tremendous misunderstanding.
I knew. In fact, I was genuinely happy back then.
So, perhaps it was even more challenging to acknowledge. That they were living well without me – the Duke, the Duchess, and even Kieran.
Even though two and a half years should be enough time for a person to forget, I still found it painful to think they were happily moving on.
“Quit whining so pathetically.”
I sniffled.
Now, I really needed to organize my feelings. No more visiting the café, no more reading magazines, and definitely no more bothering the bartender.
“Snap!”
“Squelch.”
As I pulled Numbers 1 and 2’s collars firmly, a pig squeal sound burst out. Whether it made sense or not, I pulled them even harder, declaring boldly.
“We’re going to work really hard from now on. Got it?”
Once I was sure that the Marquis Mansion would not cause harm to the aristocrats, I intended to completely forget about them.
Crossing the sea to a different continent, I moved to a place where the story of the Istira Marquisate was not mentioned in any newspaper, and no noble had any connection with the empire’s nobility. I was determined to move to such a distant place to enjoy the independent life I had truly dreamed of.
“Let’s go! Toward a strong and joyful independence.”
I hummed a song and dragged Numbers 1 and 2 along.
I heard a whispering sound from both sides.
“But why is Ante singing an independence song while crying?”
“I don’t know, maybe she doesn’t want us to be independent.”
Even in the dark forest, Kieran moved without hesitation.
Until a year ago, monsters used to attack relentlessly, but now the Daneb Forest was silent. In the eerily quiet forest, the only sound I heard was the rustling of fallen leaves beneath my feet.
Finally, the destination was below the cliff. The place where Reyna’s dress had turned into a Nangma and where the body of a woman, horribly damaged by monsters, was found.
Everyone gathered, and in a dismal tone, I said that it was Reyna, tragically disfigured.
My Ex-Girlfriend Is The Regent In The Female-dominant World (Male lead transmigrates to the matriarchal world)
Two years ago, Gu Sui picked up a homeless woman in ancient costume from the street.
Apart from occasionally claiming to be a princess from a female-dominant country due to illness, her figure, appearance, intelligence, and martial arts skills were impeccable.
Naturally evolving from roommates to girlfriends, as time went on, Gu Sui found it increasingly difficult to tolerate her queen syndrome.
“Mu Jiulu, can you stop controlling me inside and out? Let’s break up.”
Gu Sui made a breakup call, and since then, he couldn’t find any trace of her.
A year later, Gu Sui, who was planning to move, woke up the next day and found himself in a different place.
“Young Master, today is the day you choose your Wife-master through martial arts competition at Jade Dew Pavilion. Please get up quickly.”
Gu Sui: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
As the only son of a general’s mansion in a female-dominant dynasty, the young empress personally issued a decree allowing Gu Sui to select his Wife-master through martial arts competition. Whoever could defeat him could marry him.
Gu Sui: “……”
He didn’t inherit the original owner’s martial prowess, so anyone could defeat him! And what the hell is a Wife-master?
Forced to come to Jade Dew Pavilion, the densely packed women below made Gu Sui’s agoraphobia act up, and his face was full of resistance.
Until he saw the Regent sitting on the second floor, with a smile on the corner of her lips, her eyes wicked and nonchalant.
Hmm… she looked a little familiar.
It turned out that the Regent also found him a little familiar.
Mu Jiulu fiddled with her bone clasp, her deep gaze locked on the man who was out of place in this world.
“Finally, I found you.”
Male transmigrates into female-dominant world
One-sentence summary: What goes around comes around, taking turns in the crematorium
