The butler tilted his head in puzzlement. Was it really for the stoat, or was Hadal just using it as an excuse to order what he wanted?
‘It could be.’
The butler nodded, pondering. Hadal wasn’t particularly fond of sweets. It wasn’t really fitting for his stature to indulge in them.
‘Maybe he’s been restraining himself, and now he’s using the stoat as an excuse to indulge a bit.’
Realizing this made all of Hadal’s recent behaviors make sense, including the sudden request for a cookie jar in the middle of the night.
‘I should bring a really big cake.’
With that thought, the butler’s steps to the kitchen were light and cheerful.
Thanks to the butler’s misunderstanding, the cake served that evening was exceptionally large and sweet.
Munching on the large chocolate decorations on the cake, the stoat looked delighted.
“Is it good?”
Hadal, propping his chin and watching with a pleased expression, asked. The stoat then swiftly turned away.
‘Seems really angry.’
He thought feeding it something delicious would appease it, but the raw fish incident must have had a big impact.
‘It’s all my clumsiness.’
He forgot that this baby stoat hadn’t learned to be independent. Perhaps the big fish was too much for it.
‘Should have started with small minnows.’
It was his mistake to think it would instinctively know how to eat a large fish.
But the stoat managed to devour the entire big cake, fittingly into its small body. He wanted to press its belly but restrained himself, knowing it disliked it.
The stoat’s anger lasted quite a while. Now, at bedtime, it chose the floor over the bed.
“Are you going to sleep there?”
Without the cushion, which was moved to the office, it was just the bare floor. But the stoat remained resolute.
“Kyu!”
It must be cold. Hadal worried, but soon shook his head.
‘It’ll probably sneak back up later.’
“Then, good night.”
“…….”
The stoat didn’t respond, just hung its head. Hadal sighed softly and turned off the bedside lamp.
‘Feels somehow empty.’
Lying in bed alone wasn’t usually uncomfortable for Hadal, but tonight he felt a peculiar emptiness. The reason was obvious enough.
‘To think such a small creature would take up so much space in my heart.’
It hadn’t been long since he had taken it in. Just as Hadal was feeling awkwardly out of place with a grim expression, he heard soft, little footsteps. The small animal, which had claimed it would sleep on the floor, was now curled up like a snake at his bedside. It was the stoat.
“Cold?”
He got no response. Raising his upper body, Hadal examined the stoat. Its tiny eyes were tightly shut, its body gently rising and falling with its breath.
It had come here in its sleep.
‘Do stoats sleepwalk?’
He remembered how it had crawled into his shirt while asleep.
Worried for a moment about sleepwalking in a stoat, Hadal then realized that the only place it seemed to go in its sleep was his arms. That shouldn’t be a problem then.
‘…I’m getting sleepy too.’
Though he didn’t think being at his bedside would make it warm, Hadal carefully picked up the stoat and placed it near his neck.
“Sweet dreams.”
After wishing it well, Hadal hesitated for a moment before mustering the courage to lean down towards the stoat.
Kiss.
His lips touched the stoat’s small head and then withdrew. The stoat smelled of his soap – strangely gratifying.
‘My stoat.’
It was the first living being he had allowed to stay close to him. Listening to its much faster heartbeat, Hadal closed his eyes. In his blurring vision, something like a floating thread appeared.
‘Pink… hair…?’
Soft pink hair, like cotton candy, captivated his sight. Then, a face, pale as moonlit jade, lay before him with eyes closed.
‘…Who?’
He thought, almost unconsciously, how dreamlike and beautiful it was. And with that thought as his last, Hadal drifted off into a deep sleep.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
