“By the way, there’s a rumor that Kamun Jajak was seen at Maria’s mansion. Is that true?”
“It is.”
“How is that possible? I clearly killed him.”
The pleased smile that appeared on Duke Kuran’s face disappeared in an instant. He stared at his nephew with a sharp gaze.
“How, you ask? Isn’t it obvious? I turned him into a monster. But why did you kill Kamun Jajak when Maria likes him so much!”
“I remembered Lady Romin’s death, and she said she would tell Ruelala about it. I had no choice but to deal with him.”
Bader, who shouted in protest, took a moment to catch his breath before speaking in a calm voice, making an effort.
“But even if Maria likes him, how can you let a dead person live? Do you know what people are saying? They say that the Kuran Kingdom is ruled by monsters.”
Duke Kuran turned his gaze towards the garden, speaking as if it were inconsequential.
“It’s not entirely untrue. Thanks to the monsters, we easily broke away from Helane.”
“Uncle! Is this the time to say such things? Even Father is being suspected. Just because he’s a bit mentally unstable, there are those who claim the king is a monster. Because of that, people who support the queen are rallying together.”
Suspicion.
Bader seemed to speak as if he were emphasizing the absurd suspicion about the king being mentally unstable, but this was indeed a fact. While those other than the duke remained unaware, not only those who served the king but also those who roamed the castle sensed something strange and spread the word.
However, only Bader, who saw the king up close, believed that his father’s unusual behavior was merely a mental disorder.
Is it that he wants to believe it so badly? Or does he truly believe it?
Duke Kuran suppressed a laugh that seemed about to burst out and soothingly said,
“Gart said he would handle it. Do you think I would leave the throne to that coarse, untainted one?”
“I didn’t know that the purity of blood was so important to Uncle. I thought that, at this opportunity, Uncle wanted to overthrow both Father and the queen.”
“Bader.”
“Yes.”
Duke Kuran looked at his blunt nephew and managed to produce an affectionate smile.
“To me, whether you are my brother, nephew, or Maria, you are all family sharing the same blood. I wished that after your father’s death, you and Maria would have divided and managed this kingdom well if Maria became the queen.”
Bader’s lips twisted as if expressing discomfort.
“As the queen Maria, who appears on the surface, and the shadow governing the guild, represented by me?”
“Becoming the king is Maria’s rightful position, but that’s not all there is to it. You should know too. The king of the Kuran Kingdom is no more than a figurehead.”
“Yes. The actual ruler is Uncle.”
“It’s not such a simple matter, you know. What do you think will happen to this country if I’m gone?”
Bader stared at the duke as if puzzled.
“Why are you suddenly saying that? Uncle being gone?”
Duke Kuran looked at Bader for a moment.
Unidentifiable enemies were tightening their grip.
In that case, wouldn’t it be better to honestly tell everything to Bader rather than keeping him on guard and showing hostility towards him? It seemed better to let him know part of the truth than to keep him wary like this.
Having made up his mind, Duke Kuran gestured for his nephew to come closer.
Bader approached, showing a suspicious expression at the duke’s gesture.
There was a rule in the duke’s inner chamber.
That was never to go beyond the designated area in front of the curtain and enter inside.
However, for the first time since this inner chamber was established, the duke allowed me to come closer.
With a stern expression, Bader entered cautiously, aware that his uncle had always managed demons here. However, as the duke seemed to be trying to tell him something about that method, Bader became uneasy about what kind of trap it might be.
“Hmm?”
However, when Bader approached his uncle’s side and looked where his gaze lingered, there was only an ordinary garden.
The strange thing was that half of the garden was dyed in black.
“What do you see?”
“I see a garden.”
“It’s not just an ordinary garden. Do you see the flowers flaunting their colors brightly over there?”
“Yes. They are colorful, but they just look like ordinary flowers to me. What am I supposed to see? Except for the black flowers, nothing seems out of the ordinary.”
“This garden is connected to the higher-ranking demons that protect the Kuran Kingdom. Unless there’s anything unusual, it bears the color of death, which is black.”
Bader’s eyes slightly widened and then returned to normal.
“So, does that mean there’s something wrong in the area monitored by the higher-ranking demons because the flowers are showing their colors?”
“Yes. After establishing the Kuran Kingdom, I realized one thing—it’s not easy to manage demons. So, I confined them to a designated place and appointed supervisors to watch over them.”
Duke Kuran extended his hand with a ring on it.
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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