Aeli blankly stared at Lutis.
At that, Lutis slowly turned his head, slightly avoiding her gaze.
Seeing his reaction, Aeli realized that she had not misheard and gaped her mouth open.
“No, wait… what?”
What… what are you quitting? As if asking if what she just heard was true, Aeli questioned him. Lutis glanced at her, tilting his head, then took a quick look at the child who was just pushing cake into his mouth.
Lutis said,
“…After returning to the capital mansion, I sent a letter to the Imperial Palace.”
“What was the reply?”
“…”
“No… all that aside, is it really okay for you to just quit as you please?”
“…”
“…Lutis?”
There was no answer.
Recalling that this was his reaction whenever he was being stubborn about something, Aeli asked in disbelief.
“You… don’t tell me you just unilaterally informed them?”
“…”
I knew it, oh my god.
Judging by how he avoided her gaze when asked what the reply was, even if the Imperial Palace had sent a response, there was a high chance he had ignored it.
‘No wonder he never went to the Imperial Palace even once despite being the Knight Commander…!’
Aeli was shocked by his bold actions that surpassed her imagination.
It was around the time when flowers bloomed that he returned, and now it was when the autumn leaves were turning, so quite some time had passed since Lutis came back.
Then, during that period, it was as if he had ignored all contact from the Imperial Palace.
“…”
It didn’t seem like the Imperial Palace would easily let go of the Sword Master.
Since there was no way his request to quit would be accepted, then did that mean Lutis had essentially been absent without leave all this time?
Trying to recall what punishments there were for imperial officials who were absent without leave, Aeli was at a loss.
Since no one had ever done such a thing before, there was no way she would know.
“Still…”
“…”
“Still, seeing that they haven’t said anything yet, it doesn’t seem like there’s a big problem.”
Even if there was a problem, they probably couldn’t let it show outwardly, so there was a higher chance that she just didn’t know, but Aeli, interpreting it in her favor, rubbed her forehead.
She felt that doing this would be at least a little beneficial for her mental health.
Considering that Lutis had made contributions in the war and had worked hard for several years, Aeli sighed deeply, almost as if hypnotizing herself into overlooking it to this extent.
She made a gesture of resting her forehead on her interlocked hands with her elbows propped on the tea table.
‘Yes… there are only so many knights in the Imperial Palace. Surely they can’t be lacking manpower to replace one person?’
…In fact, they were lacking. Putting other things aside, it would be stranger if there was a replacement for the Sword Master, the First Knight Commander.
Although there were other Sword Masters in the empire besides Lutis, most of them had long retired from the front lines.
Even so, the person with the smallest age gap with Lutis was Marquis Byeongyeong, who had entered his forties… He would be busy defending his own territory.
“Mommy?”
“…”
“…?”
“…Ah, yes. Adi, did you call me?”
As Lutis looked at her with concern and Aeli became serious, the child rolled his eyes at the rapidly gloomy atmosphere that had descended.
He even stopped eating the cake he had been enjoying and asked,
“…Did I do something wrong?”
“…”
“…”
“I, I’m sowwy…”
When there was no answer, as if truly believing it was his fault, the child apologized meekly. Aeli shook her head.
The real culprit was someone else, yet an innocent person was feeling dejected.
“No, it’s not because of Adi. It’s Lut- …Daddy’s fault.”
“…Daddy?”
“Yes. He says he doesn’t want to work so he just skipped.”
“…Daddy?”
“…”
“…For now, Adi, why don’t you finish your snack?”
Aeli turned the attention of the child, who was looking at Lutis in disbelief, with a gentle voice.
When she tapped the back of his hand, telling him to finish eating the cake, the child finally started munching again.
Aeli also told him to drink the juice in front of him so that he wouldn’t choke. Then, she twisted her face this way and that and let out a dry laugh.
“Haha, yes. Absent without leave…”
He ignored the emperor’s words. As she twisted the corners of her mouth like a deranged person, Lutis looked at her and opened his mouth.
“…If there was an urgent matter, they would have sent someone. But since there are no signs of that, you don’t need to be so disturbed-”
“…”
Is that even something to say right now? With her forehead resting on her interlocked hands, Aeli raised her eyes.
She couldn’t see her own appearance, but the look in her eyes peeking through her black hair was probably fierce.
“…”
As Lutis closed his mouth, Aeli sighed and straightened her posture.
For now, he said they could just send a letter later, so let’s put that aside.
Instead, Aeli decided to ask a different question. Something that had been bothering her greatly for the past few months.
“…By the way, what’s with your way of speaking?”
As far as she remembered, Lutis’ speech wasn’t this formal.
Aeli clicked her tongue lightly and blinked. She had seen him occasionally use this kind of speech since he inherited the duke position, but he never did it in front of her.
But now, whether he was talking to the child or to her, the way he spoke was really…
As Aeli’s gaze deepened, Lutis avoided eye contact and spoke as if embarrassed.
“In the past, I only used it when working in the knights or during mansion duties, but…”
“…”
“After using it every day while out on the battlefield, it became a habit.”
In other words, it had become a habit.
Aeli stared at Lutis’ face and narrowed her eyes.
She didn’t like how he had been acting strangely meek and subservient since seeing her at dawn.
She had an inkling as to why he was behaving this way, as there was a precedent.
‘He’s being cautious, just like Adi was…’
No matter how much she told him not to go, it was useless, and in the end, it was something that would only improve once the person involved opened their heart and accepted it.
All she could do was wait for time to resolve it. Aeli thought so and took a deep breath.
“…Your Grace.”
It was then.
A maid who had walked over from afar and stopped near Lutis and the child bowed and opened her mouth.
“The boy you ordered to keep an eye on earlier has regained consciousness. The doctor is examining him now and told me to inform you.”
“Gasp…!”
Hearing the maid’s report, the child, who had been eating cake, gasped and lifted his head.
Lutis, who had given a slight nod to the child who immediately looked up at him, said,
“Go now.”
It was almost like news from the heavens.
[This is the timeline separator]“Perhaps because he is still young, his recovery is good despite his nutritional state. The external wounds have mostly healed, so as long as they are disinfected to prevent reopening, there should be no problem.”
“…”
“Also, since he hasn’t consumed food for a while, his stomach may be burdened, so please prepare liquid meals for him for the time being. The nutritional issue still remains, so that aspect needs attention as well.”
“…”
The doctor said that if permitted, he would prepare a list of necessary nutrients and ingredients and deliver it to the head chef.
The boy still had his head bowed without a word, constantly showing signs of being wary.
Lutis glanced at the boy and replied. He said he understood and told the doctor to leave.
After the doctor left,
“…”
“We meet again. How are you feeling?”
“…! Ah, th-thank you? For saving me?”
At Lutis’ question, the boy trembled and shouted.
His voice was so loud that the child, who had been trying to sneakily climb onto the bed where the boy was lying while watching Lutis and Aeli’s reactions, stumbled.
Aeli, startled, supported the child’s back and straightened him up.
“Gosh, you scared me…”
Where did he learn to say such things? The child made a surprised expression, saying he lost ten years of his life. Lutis and the boy’s gazes were fixed on him.
Naturally, the boy, who was not familiar with the imperial language, was not surprised by the child’s expressiveness. To the boy, who couldn’t see Aeli, it must have looked like the child’s body was strangely bent and frozen in midair, which would be puzzling.
On the other hand, unlike the boy, Lutis, who could see Aeli…
He looked at the child, who said he felt like he had lost ten years of his lifespan despite being only five years old, with a dumbfounded expression.
‘Hmm… but that’s something I used to say often.’
Only Aeli, who felt guilty, kept her mouth shut.
As the culture of the East was completely different from the Empire, she couldn’t help but be curious and learn about various things, and quite a few expressions had stuck with her.
‘…Well, that can happen.’
Since she didn’t say anything wrong, Aeli decided to act confident.
When she gulped and put on an innocent expression, Lutis stared at Aeli intensely.
It seemed he also had an inkling, as he had lived with Aeli for quite some time.
However, the way he looked at her seemed somewhat choked up, unlike in the past, making her feel strangely uncomfortable.
Eventually, Lutis shifted his gaze and slowly opened his mouth.
“From what I can see, you’re a bear beastman.”
“…!”
At Lutis’ words, the boy, who was startled and turned pale, touched the top of his head.
However, all he felt was stiff hair, so a puzzled look soon appeared on his blank face.
Seeing the boy’s reaction, Lutis slightly frowned and said,
“When you ran into us while escaping from the slave auction, your ears and tail were out. That’s when I found out, so it’s natural that they’re not visible now.”
“Ah…”
“It was not suitable to entrust a different race to the orphanage in my territory, and your condition was not good, so I brought you to the mansion. You’ve been lying down for over a week.”
As if surprised that more time had passed than he expected, the boy looked up at Lutis with wide eyes and touched his own body.
He seemed to find it curious that his condition had improved despite lying down for so long.
Lutis, who had been waiting silently for the boy to adapt, asked,
“I heard that young beastmen are specially protected. Especially bear tribes, whose numbers are smaller compared to other places.”
“…”
“Why were you alone, living on the streets, and almost sold by a slave trader? Explain…”
Lutis, who was about to get to the point by asking for an explanation, suddenly stopped speaking.
Lutis’ eyes, which had opened a little wider as if startled, looked at the boy.
“Sn… sniff…”
The boy had started crying in the middle of listening to Lutis’ words.
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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