Vika gritted his teeth and blew air toward his forehead, as if feeling hot.
“It’s not a gift. It’s charity, kid.”
“But it is a gift.”
Feeling guilty toward Vika, I reached out toward Romi.
“Lord Vika, you must be tired. Please hand Romi over to me.”
But Romi, apparently very fond of Vika, clung to his side and showed no intention of letting go.
“No. I won’t go. Reading Grandma Vika’s memories is fun!”
“Grandma? Kid, I’m still a young Dark Elf in my prime.”
“You’re 150, right?”
At moments like this, Romi was unmistakably Sikar’s bloodline—she never knew how to beat around the bush.
“Your math is poor. I haven’t even reached 150 yet.”
Vika looked as if he’d met his match. Sikar glanced at him dismissively and asked,
“So what’s in this ‘gift’?”
“It’s not a gift. It’s charity. Why would I ever give someone like you a gift?”
In the past, Sikar would have immediately read Vika’s memories, but now he refrained from rifling through others’ minds to correct Romi’s habits.
“Just tell me what’s inside this charity.”
“It’s seeds of crops that grow well with just water, no fertilizer needed. I couldn’t get many, but this amount should be enough to grow at the manor.”
“Then we should take this to Blackswan.”
At that moment, a good idea suddenly struck me.
“Right! Lord Vika, come to Blackswan with us too!”
Sikar lifted the corners of his mouth, seeming to agree.
“Perfect timing—I’m short on hands. Come help out.”
“No. I’m busy.”
“Busy? You’re unemployed.”
“I meant I’m busy enjoying my free time, Duke.”
Just then, Roen and Jeremi arrived belatedly. I gestured toward Roen as if urging her to come quickly.
“Lady Roen! Lord Jeremi! Come see who’s here!”
Roen ran over, pushing through people, her face beaming with overwhelming joy.
“Good heavens! Lord Vika!”
Vika merely nodded slightly toward Roen, but Roen clapped her hands like a seal, making quite a commotion.
What amazed Roen most wasn’t Vika himself, but his skin.
“How have you not aged at all? In fact, since I last saw you, your skin has become even more supple!”
Vika glanced at Romi as if making sure Sikar heard, and said,
“Well, I suffered a lot while staying with the Duke. Now that I’m resting comfortably, my skin elasticity naturally returned.”
Roen grabbed her own cheeks as if realizing the secret.
“So that’s why I aged terribly while I was away on expedition!”
By then, the wedding ceremony had just concluded.
Kian had wished for Reidox to officiate, but since Reidox was both the bride’s father and the kingdom’s chancellor, the High Priest took on the role.
“Now the procession will begin again.”
After the wedding in the hall, Kian and Lucy had to make another procession before the citizens.
The two rode atop a small carriage, circling once around the outdoor area where the citizens gathered.
Meanwhile, we took food from the outdoor cafeteria, sat down, and enjoyed our meal.
Kian should come quickly to see Vika. I felt impatient.
Fortunately, Kian, having finished the procession, spotted Vika from afar, chuckled lightly, and walked over.
“Good heavens! Lord Vika?!”
Lucy also looked surprised, her eyes widening as she spoke.
“Lord Vika!”
Vika slightly lifted the corner of his mouth as he looked at Kian and Lucy.
“Humans truly grow up fast. You’re full-fledged adults now.”
“You came at just the right time, Lord Vika.”
“I merely wished to honor my loyalty. Isn’t this what loyalty means?”
Kian laughed heartily, and Lucy also smiled broadly, seemingly touched.
I stood up to congratulate Kian and Lucy on their marriage.
“Congratulations on your wedding.”
“Thank you for coming, Mother.”
Roen and Jeremi immediately bowed upon seeing Kian and Lucy.
“Congratulations on your marriage, Your Majesty the King. Your Majesty the Queen.”
Hersia’s group and Seo Yeon’s group also bowed as they approached Kian and Lucy.
“Congratulations on your marriage, Your Majesty the King. Your Majesty the Queen.”
Kian and Lucy smiled gracefully and elegantly.
“Thank you all for coming. Please enjoy your meals.”
Everyone kept their heads bowed until Kian and Lucy left their seats.
Now it truly felt real—Lucy had become Queen.
That adorable little troublemaker, now such an elegant queen…
At that moment, I saw hope for Romi too.
Perhaps our Romi might grow up to be just as elegant.
“Romi, doesn’t Her Majesty look very elegant?”
“Yeah. But she’s scary. When she’s angry, she grabs a sword and slices scarecrows!”
I’d momentarily forgotten Romi could read memories.
It seemed unlikely Romi would turn out that way.
I just hoped she’d live kindly, without tormenting other children.
After the wedding, Vika reluctantly came to the manor due to Romi’s threats.
The manor, now that Vika had returned, felt completely full again, as if a strangely empty space had been entirely filled.
Since Vika’s room remained unchanged, we guided him to his room and returned to the bedroom to put Romi to sleep.
Since Romi’s attention today was entirely on the wedding, Sikar was telling her the story of how we got married.
“So your father told your mother: ‘Marry me. I fell in love with you at first sight.'”
“Liar. You said, ‘Marry me or die.'”
Sikar looked offended and lowered his gaze.
“I won’t tell any more. Even if I did, you’ve already seen all my memories—what’s the point of telling you?”
“It’s your own fault for making things up. Fine. I’ll pretend I don’t know. Tell me anyway, Dad. Even if I know the story, it’s fun when you tell it.”
Father and daughter—how could they be so alike?
Sikar continued.
“So your mother immediately agreed to marry me. She realized she couldn’t let such a romantic man slip away.”
He said this while the person in question was right in front of him, looking utterly exasperated.
Suddenly, Romi looked at me and asked,
“Mom, do you still have nightmares?”
Startled by Romi’s question, Sikar abruptly began trying to put Romi to sleep.
“Our Romi needs to sleep now. Hush, hush.”
“But Romi isn’t sleepy?”
Sikar stood up abruptly and told Romi,
“I’ll be right back. Don’t tell Mom anything!”
He seemed to be going to ask Vika to put Romi to sleep.
I hugged Romi and said,
“No. I don’t have them anymore.”
Romi hugged my waist tightly, relieved.
“Good.”
Quietly nestled against me, Romi soon fell asleep, breathing softly.
Only after Romi fell asleep did Sikar enter the bedroom.
“She’s asleep?”
“So you asked Lord Vika to put Romi to sleep?”
Sikar shrugged helplessly.
“After Romi was born, I realized I could never desire Vika’s ability more.”
Sikar sighed in relief, stroked his chest, came behind me, and hugged me.
“Today was exhausting, but having family makes me comfortable, my Lady.”
Every night, Sikar clung to my back like this to fall asleep.
My nightmare.
The secret of that nightmare, never spoken of.
Actually, I knew the secret of my nightmare.
One day, Sikar opened the wardrobe door. Outside, my parents were arguing fiercely, comparing me and my younger sibling.
I grabbed Sikar’s hand as he opened the wardrobe door.
I didn’t want to see my parents fighting because of me.
At first, Sikar thought I had been abused by my parents and locked inside the wardrobe.
But in truth, the wardrobe was simply the only place I could hide my body.
Actually, whenever my parents fought because of me, I had nowhere to hide.
So perhaps, even in dreams, I thought I might have hidden inside the wardrobe.
And I still dream of being trapped inside the wardrobe.
Perhaps this was the key reason I could never return to the modern era.
Maybe, deep in my heart, I desperately wish never to have such nightmares again.
But I have no intention of making any effort to stop having nightmares.
It’s not because I’m afraid of returning to the modern era.
I spent my childhood receiving more comparison and scolding than love, which caused me to develop agoraphobia and occasionally have nightmares.
And I thought I was unhappy because of that.
But now, thinking back, those things meant nothing to me.
They were merely inconvenient—not enough to make me truly unhappy.
Because I am now so happy that those things can no longer affect me at all.
As Seo Yeon said, I realized I could be perfectly happy even if everything wasn’t perfect.
I gazed at Romi’s face, sleeping softly.
If I had known life would someday grant me such immense happiness, perhaps I would have lived with less loneliness.
But even now, I will fully enjoy my happiness.
Together with those who love me and those I love.
Sikar hugged me tightly as if urging me to sleep.
In front, I heard Romi’s breathing. At my nape, I heard Sikar’s.
Being alive.
Life itself is already perfect and utterly happy.
As long as the people I love are beside me.
Epilogue
In the end, we went to Blackswan together with Vika.
Since it was Romi’s first time visiting, she was thrilled and eagerly explored Blackswan.
“This is a place where everyone who loves Lord Vika gathers. Lord Vika, you ranked first in the popularity poll here.”
Durion nodded in agreement with my words.
“Right. Everyone will love you, Vika. You were always popular.”
“Popularity poll? What’s that?”
“Watch closely, Lord Vika.”
I stopped a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties and asked,
“Who’s your favorite character in Blood King?”
The woman waved her hand dismissively, as if wondering why I was asking her.
“Obviously, Vika!!”
“Thank you for answering the survey.”
“You’re very welcome.”
Then the woman continued on her way. Vika looked around, bewildered.
“They seem to be of the same race as Madam—how do they know me? And what is Blood King?”
“Let’s just say it’s a kind of popularity poll.”
“At any rate, as expected of a village affiliated with Blake, the surroundings are very tidy.”
“Lord Vika, hot water flows abundantly here, and the plumbing is excellent—it’s very livable. It might be even better than the place you found.”
Vika, who had seemed uninterested, now looked intrigued and stared at me.
“Hot water facilities?”
“Yes. Look, the sewage system is well-maintained—the whole village is very clean. If you dislike the manor, why not try living here?”
Vika didn’t answer immediately, but didn’t seem opposed either.
She lifted her chin proudly and said,
“I’ll think about it.”
Then Sikar snorted and shouted toward the crowd,
“Announcement to the citizens of Blackswan: Vika Lamberst is here!”
When Vika ranked first in the popularity poll (Sikar wasn’t even on the list back then), Sikar had glared resentfully at the citizens and declared he would definitely bring Vika here someday.
Now, Sikar was calling the citizens to confirm he had kept that promise.
The people cheered so enthusiastically that Vika looked bewildered and was pulled along by the crowd.
“Vika won’t be able to leave this place now.”
“It’s wonderful that Lord Vika can be with us again.”
It was truly fortunate that Vika didn’t leave.
But at that moment, we realized we had overlooked Romi.
“Dad. Is this inside a novel?”
Sikar and I were startled and looked at Romi.
“Huh? Romi?”
“This is inside a novel, right? Blood King! I saw it in Mom’s memories!”
This was serious. Even if we could brush it off now because Romi is young, what explanation would we give when she grows up?
When I looked at Sikar with an awkward expression, he also looked uncomfortable.
Soon, I decided to think about it later.
“By then, another solution will come up, right?”
Sikar smiled gently and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
“Right. Exactly, my Lady. No need to worry ahead of time.”
The vast field I had seen when I was pregnant with Romi had now completely become a village.
“Romi, there was nothing here before, right? We built houses and fields, and people gathered to form a village. Amazing, isn’t it?”
“I know everything. I’ve seen it all.”
“Oh. Right…”
As we fell silent, as if we had nothing left to say, Romi looked ahead and said,
“I’ll also become a Duke who creates a territory as livable as this someday.”
It was a rare, admirable, and heartening thing to hear from Romi.
Predictably, Sikar immediately displayed his doting-daughter persona.
“Of course! Our Romi will become the finest lord of the Blake family. Our Romi, whose daughter are you?”
“Dad’s daughter!”
“Oh my, so cute!”
Watching this father-daughter pair, happier than ever, made me even happier.
Sikar held Romi and pointed at the buildings, explaining each one.
And far away, I saw Vika running toward us as if trying to escape from the crowd.
His appearance, fleeing from overzealous fans, made me laugh.
Today, I live with endless gratitude that the people I love are beside me.
And tomorrow, I only wish that those I love will remain beside me just as they are.
Life is already perfectly happy simply by being together.
End of Side Story.
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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