At that moment, when swept by Espen’s coldness. Saying that I might never be able to speak again, I mentioned having a baby, and Hadel’s face brightened significantly.
‘Hadel genuinely never had a family. That’s why he must have been happier than an ordinary person.’
But it wasn’t true. No matter how much it seemed like the last moment, I seemed hasty. Of course, I was sure about the pregnancy, but still.
‘I kept pushing off sleep, lost my appetite, and so on.’
Still, it was true that I made Hadel expectant. I couldn’t lift my head.
Since I kept sulking with my head down, Hadel let out a soft sigh. Then, tilting his head slightly, he asked,
“Then why haven’t you come back as a phoenix?”
“According to Evelyn, it seems I’ve become accustomed to fire, and some kind of decision has been made in my body to replace the role of the heart.”
The term ‘heart’ is not quite accurate. Evelyn said it was more like an organ storing mana.
‘If it were a heart, I should be able to produce fire.’
During the confrontation with Espen, faint flames surged within me, and I thought I could finally produce mana. Still, it wasn’t a disappointing situation.
“I don’t store many flames, but still, it can’t be compared to the heart of a phoenix.”
“…….”
I tried my best to convey Evelyn’s explanation as it was. However, Hadel didn’t say a word in response.
‘What did I say wrong?’
Hadel’s continued silence made me uneasy. I fidgeted with my fingers and elaborated more vividly.
“In other words, I, with you, had too much contact…”
“Ah.”
When it came time to speak, it felt embarrassing. Hadel comforted me as I blushed. Then he inquired more.
“Does that mean the more contact with flames, the more likely a heart can develop?”
Though, by ‘contact,’ it meant a lot of physical contact. I nodded slowly.
“It could be, right? Of course, since I’m the only subject, I can’t give a definite answer…”
“I like it.”
Hadel’s lips touched my neck.
“It means I can monopolize you more.”
The tension of being embraced and the contact of kissing on the cheek were clearly different. I huddled my shoulders.
“H-Hadel.”
“Marian.”
As my eyes gradually got used to the darkness, Hadel’s face began to appear clearer. Softly curved eyes, delicately raised corners of the mouth.
“I missed you.”
His affectionate voice moistened my heart like spring rain.
Hadel, who was holding me, spoke quietly but with a forceful tone.
“I realized this time. There’s still a lot I need to learn to become a father. When that bastard jumped, I couldn’t even protect you.”
“That’s…”
It was because Espen had prepared too much. Honestly, how could a monster over 100 years old be easily defeated?
Before my comfort could continue, Hadel cut me off with a low sigh. Then, tilting his head slightly, he asked,
“Then why didn’t Cecile destroy the magic circle? We would have become ice there forever if she hadn’t.”
“I don’t know that. She might have found another way…”
Despite my comforting words, Hadel interrupted me with a gentle yet stern tone.
“Thank you for comforting me, Marian. But the fact that I’m insufficient to take responsibility for someone hasn’t changed.”
“Hadel.”
“So it’s fortunate. It’s enough to meet once I become stronger, once I’ve grown enough to take responsibility for our children.”
Hadel loosened the strength in the arm holding me and lifted his head, meeting my gaze precisely.
“I want to become a sturdy oak tree you can rely on.”
Hadel’s words shook my pupils. Though his voice was gentle when comforting me, each word carried a newfound strength.
‘Hadel is changing.’
Since entering the capital, I found myself thinking the same thoughts again. The man who quietly stayed in the north, slowly, silently, was becoming stronger.
Like the large oak tree he spoke of.
‘Impressive.’
Admitting one’s shortcomings and having the courage not to fear going further.
Looking at Hadel, my heart began to beat loudly. It was a different kind of affection that filled my chest from when I cuddled with my child and called it ‘my baby.’
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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