“It’s because it’s you that I suggested we kiss! No matter how urgently I need to replenish my magic, I wouldn’t say that to just anyone!”
“Well, well, throwing around such words without self-awareness.”
Cedar’s face turned as red as a tomato. Just as I was about to retort further.
Smack. His lips touched mine. It was the first time he approached first before I whined about kissing.
I looked at him with wide eyes, and he averted his gaze, seeming very embarrassed as he replied.
“…It’s for emergencies. We need to regroup soon.”
Emergency.
I fiddled with my lips using my fingers. My lips felt somewhat tingly.
‘It feels like something was left unfinished.’
Even with this brief contact, the magic was definitely transmitted.
It was a much more efficient charging method than just holding hands or being held in his arms.
‘But something still feels lacking.’
Above all, even if I charge like this, doesn’t it all disappear after 30 minutes?
After pondering for a moment while touching my lips, I honestly asked Cedar.
“Then will you recharge me every 30 minutes?”
It wasn’t much of a remark, but Cedar’s face turned completely red as he became flustered.
“Th-this woman, really.”
I think he shouldn’t be embarrassed anymore.
‘Then I’ll take the initiative.’
I stretched out both arms and wrapped them around Cedar’s neck. It felt like the scorching heat from him was transferring to me. I smiled brightly and said.
“If possible, I’d like you to charge me more.”
Better to have too much than not enough.
I pressed my lips against his without hesitation.
[This is the timeline separator]After rejoining the knights, Cedar moved busily.
He set off signal flares to call an emergency meeting of the four knight orders, and led the knights back to the fortification.
His body carried out the tasks without mistakes as if on autopilot, but his mind was in a daze as if dreaming.
He didn’t even notice the knights, who now all knew Nelly’s true identity, gazing at him with fond eyes.
It was because his heart was in turmoil.
Since the opponent was army ants, he ordered the knights to remove their armor and change into tough boots and clothes that the army ants couldn’t easily bite through.
After finishing all his instructions, Cedar let out a long sigh and rubbed his face.
‘It’s like I’ve been bewitched by some magical beast.’
The one constantly occupying his mind was none other than Nelly.
More precisely, it was Nelly boldly wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him without hesitation.
Recalling that image made his face flush hot again.
‘I thought she was just a child.’
Everything happened so suddenly that he still felt dazed.
‘I thought it would be good enough just to have my confession accepted.’
Because Grisha boldly pursued her, and because the two of them looked very affectionate the entire way here, he thought they had formed a different kind of romantic relationship than with him.
So he just confessed his feelings, hoping she would at least understand his emotions.
But not only did she accept his confession, he immediately embraced her and exchanged several kisses. That wasn’t all.
[If just kissing feels this good, wouldn’t more intimate contact feel even better?]His mouth corners relaxed at the suggestive words, but Cedar quickly came to his senses.
He had been caught off guard by her too many times to simply be happy that she said such things.
‘No. No. I can’t get swept up just because the other person is wielding it. She’s probably just saying things without knowing what they mean.’
She might simply be thinking of it as a way to regain the magic she thought she could never get back.
Completely different from him, who was attaching meaning to her every kiss, breath, and word.
‘Ugh, she really seems to be thinking that way. She even said with her own mouth that her body was the goal.’
Thinking that way, his pounding heart calmed down as if by a lie, and gloom washed over him.
Suffering from emotions that went back and forth, Cedar eventually fell into self-loathing and rubbed his face dry again.
‘How did I end up…’
Clearly, when he first married that woman, he had no interest in her at all.
Occasionally, looking down at her sleeping face, he thought he’d like to see her eyes open just once, but that was it.
‘But to be shaken so mercilessly like this.’
He never imagined she would become someone who could toy with his heart like this.
What was even more chilling was that even though his heart didn’t move according to his will, it didn’t feel unpleasant.
‘Is this love?’
The emotion of love showed him how arrogant he had been all this time.
Before falling in love, Cedar thought that being swayed by love was something that only applied to fools who couldn’t even control their own emotions.
Just like his father.
“…”
Recalling Duke Granite and Lady Briar made his heart sink coldly again. But there was no time to be gloomy.
The sound of dozens of horses galloping could be heard from afar.
The leaders of the four knight orders that Cedar had summoned with the signal flares had arrived.
The center of the four knight orders was held by Marquis Kranz, the oldest and the commander of the White Tiger Knight Order.
Marquis Kranz, who had passed sixty this year, was a man with a bear-like build, also famous for always actively standing at the vanguard.
This time too, as if he had led the charge, his whole body was covered in dirt.
Fiddling with his broom-like beard, the Marquis asked Cedar in a pressing tone.
“Why did you call an emergency meeting? It hasn’t even been half a day since we started driving the magical beasts.”
His piercing eyes blazed with the intention to fold Cedar in half if he had called for something trivial.
But Cedar hadn’t set off the signal flares for nothing. Cedar spoke in a serious tone.
“We’ve discovered army ants.”
As soon as Cedar’s words fell, looks of dismay spread across the faces of the other three knight commanders.
“A-army ants?”
“They haven’t shown themselves for years.”
Army ants were that dangerous of a magical beast.
Not only were they difficult for knights to subdue, but if they descended upon civilian homes, the damage would be immeasurable.
Likewise realizing the gravity of the situation, Marquis Kranz asked Cedar in a much more solemn tone than before.
“So what did you do with the army ants you discovered?”
“We burned all the marching individuals to death.”
“That means the queen ant is still alive somewhere.”
Someone with extensive knowledge about magical beasts chimed in about the ecology of army ants.
“A queen ant produces 2,000 worker ants per hour. Considering that the characteristics of magical beasts are similar to animals…”
“Time is of the essence.”
Two thousand per hour. If not dealt with quickly, the damage could increase exponentially.
“We’re completely revising the operation!”
Marquis Kranz halted the initial plan of slowly driving the magical beasts from the outside of the forest inward, and immediately switched to searching for the army ants.
“Ants are safest when burned, so prepare plenty of torches!”
If not a magician, there’s no choice but to physically set fires.
‘Nelly needs to bring magic stones.’
For some reason, it seems she won’t bring them, thinking she can just get charged from him when needed.
While taking care of her overall life, Cedar knew more about Nelly than she thought.
‘I should tell Nelly to bring them.’
It was just as he was thinking that and turning around. The subordinate who had received the messenger bird in Cedar’s place when he was away carefully said to Cedar.
“Um, a message came from the Granite Duchy while you were away, Commander.”
“What is it?”
“It says Duke Granite is very ill.”
“…Father.”
Complex emotions flashed across Cedar’s face before settling. He always became tongue-tied when talk of his father came up.
‘Very ill, they say. Has the time finally come to prepare my heart?’
Cedar raised his head and scanned the entire knight order.
His brother Grisha, who should hear this news together, was nowhere to be seen.
“Where did the magician go?”
“He said he was going back first. I thought he’d be at the fortification, but I don’t see him. Should I have someone search for him?”
“Hmm.”
It seems he heard this news before me.
‘If so, he must have returned to the mansion.’
Cedar turned his head and said in a gruff voice.
“We will carry out the operation.”
“What? But it could be the Duke’s last moments…”
“I can’t leave the command in this situation where army ants have appeared.”
“Commander.”
The subordinate’s eyes shone with admiration for Cedar’s sense of responsibility as a leader.
Cedar just pressed his lips tightly together. His heart was much more complicated than his subordinate thought.
‘If Father is really critically ill, Grisha will be there to watch over his last moments.’
And he will announce the successor at that place.
Even knowing that we’re in the middle of an important operation, they sent this news with that intention.
So Cedar deliberately decided not to be there for the last moments.
‘The title of Duke originally belonged to Grisha. It’s right to return it to him.’
Since he thought it wasn’t his to begin with, he was quick to give it up. Cedar, who was nodding and accepting his decision, suddenly stopped walking.
‘I should ask Nelly’s opinion too…’
He might be willing to give it up readily, but his wife Nelly’s feelings could be different.
Cedar, who naturally considered Nelly’s feelings as if it were a given, realized he was including Nelly in this important decision and chuckled.
‘I’ve become quite the henpecked husband.’
It was amusing, but strangely, it didn’t feel bad.
‘Rather, this is…’
As Cedar, who had been looking serious, suddenly started to raise the corners of his mouth, his subordinate asked in a puzzled tone.
“Commander, you seem to have a fever. Should I call Sir Jack?”
“…It’s fine.”
Cedar covered his burning face with his palm.
This was an illness with no cure.
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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