I’ll go to the garden, so you should quickly go inside the house.
That’s what I meant to say, but unexpectedly, Cedar didn’t head towards the entrance and started walking beside me.
Somehow, it felt strange, like I was accompanied by a very, very large golem.
‘Ugh, I feel oddly tense.’
Is it because he possesses strength that I could never overcome, that I feel this tension?
Or is it the intimidating presence of Cedar Granite himself?
‘But how much mana does he have in his body to be so severely distorted? If he’d allow it, I’d like to measure his mana quantity.’
He would absolutely never allow it.
For both mages and sword users, the amount of mana in their body is no different from their business capital. Still, I kept a faint hope in my heart.
With each step, a soft rustling sound echoed.
That was the only sound lingering between us. Cedar, feeling uncomfortable with this silence, spoke first.
“…Why suddenly the garden? Have you finally felt like exercising? You never leave your living space, like a mole.”
He was a man who couldn’t say a single word nicely. Of all comparisons, a mole?
‘It’s not wrong though.’
I am indeed living a life no different from a mole.
Even if I didn’t have to pretend to be in a coma, I wouldn’t have bothered to come down below the second floor.
I was the type who found stability in being holed up in my own space.
“Why would I exercise? As long as I’m alive, I will never voluntarily exercise.”
At my answer, Cedar’s eyes wavered uneasily for a moment. He crossed his arms and let out a long sigh.
His deeply furrowed brow showed that he had a lot of nagging words he wanted to say.
However, in the end, only one sentence flowed from his mouth.
“You’ll die early like that.”
I was tense, wondering what he would say. I chuckled lightly and replied.
“Originally, mages have short lifespans.”
“That’s…”
As if my answer was unexpected, Cedar’s eyes widened.
“Mages have short lifespans? Is that not a joke but serious?”
“Yes.”
At my answer, bewilderment spread across Cedar’s face.
After hesitating for a moment, mumbling his lips, he carefully asked again.
“Sword users live long, so why do mages who handle the same mana have short lifespans?”
“Because we don’t use it to strengthen our bodies like swordsmen?”
“…Why the question mark?”
“Because it’s not enough evidence to make a definitive statement. At this stage, whatever I say is just a hypothesis.”
“You talk so complicatedly. So you’re saying even the early death is just a hypothesis.”
“No, there’s statistical data for that. There are many historical documents stating that Sword Masters lived up to 200 years.”
I suddenly realized that the man standing in front of me would live much longer than me, like a turtle.
That the time I would decorate a corner of his family register under the name of wife would be just a brief moment compared to his long life.
‘Thinking like this, he seems even more like a dragon than a human.’
Of course, dragons definitely no longer exist in this world.
‘It’s somewhat romantic.’
Although I’m not one to have sentimental thoughts, it felt very romantic that the descendant of dragons who left this world could live for an exceptionally long time like their ancestors, compared to ordinary humans.
And Cedar, who had been standing with his arms crossed lost in various thoughts for a while, poured cold water on my romanticism.
“In the end, isn’t it just that you’re lazy and don’t move your body? Your talk about short lifespan is just an assumption too.”
It seems Cedar’s specialty is subtly saying harsh things. I shouted, bristling.
“I’m not lazy! I’m going to see if I can grow medicinal herbs in the garden.”
“Medicinal herbs? You’re going to grow medicinal herbs in our front yard?”
Cedar replied as if he was hearing some strange nonsense.
At first, I thought it was because the garden was in a mess.
“You?”
“…”
It seemed he had lost a lot of trust in me.
‘No, how did it come to this? I’m sure our relationship wasn’t like this when we first met.’
Is it because he caught me picking out vegetables due to my extreme picky eating?
Or because I showed him the sight of eating breakfast with my eyes closed due to severe low blood pressure in the morning?
‘This treatment is refreshing.’
Since I started walking the path of magic, even though I was young, I was treated like an adult, so Cedar’s gaze like this felt unfamiliar.
‘It seems he’s completely forgotten that I’m an Archmage.’
Of course, when he got married, the fact that I was an Archmage wasn’t very important, so I can’t say anything even if he forgets it usually.
Still, how much effort did I put in to become that Archmage?
‘This is why mages can’t adapt when they leave the academy and come back.’
How bewildering would it be to receive all kinds of respect at the academy, then come out to society and be treated as nothing?
But from my position of having lost my mana, Cedar’s indifference was even welcome.
I diligently moved my feet towards the garden and answered.
“I was thinking of making and selling magic potions.”
“Magic potions? What kind do you want to make and sell?”
“Just simple ones. Like changing hair color, or making you dream the dreams you want.”
“Is that possible?”
I didn’t mean to show off, but before I knew it, words popped out.
“Of course, not all mages can do it. But I’m an Archmage, so it’s possible.”
“Oh.”
Cedar let out a small breath as if curious.
The look in his eyes as he looked down at me seemed somehow interested. I lightly furrowed my brow.
“Why? Don’t you believe that I’m an Archmage?”
“Honestly, it’s hard to believe. You’re so tiny.”
“Magic ability has nothing to do with size.”
“I’ve never seen you use magic either. Can’t you do dishes with magic?”
Is doing dishes all he hopes for with magic? He could wish for something more grand.
‘It’s much better than asking to destroy a country or kill someone.’
And even if he asked for such things, I couldn’t fulfill them now anyway.
“Umm, there are circumstances why I’m not using magic right now.”
“Circumstances?”
Due to casting a massive spell that turned back time for the whole world, there’s no mana left in my body.
It means I’ve essentially lost my qualification as a mage, but it was difficult to tell Cedar.
‘I know he’s not a bad person, but I can’t fully trust him either.’
It’s not like he’s going to stay with me for life anyway.
Staring blankly at his silvery-gray eyes with a slight blue tinge, I shrugged my shoulders.
“You look like a Sword Master, even in appearance.”
“Are you saying I look rough?”
“I’m just saying you’d look good holding a sword. Why are you taking it so negatively?”
He was rough-looking too, in fact. No matter how much I exercise in my lifetime, I could never have such large muscles as that man.
I looked at his forearm with curious eyes and asked.
“Did you undergo harsh training from a young age? Or do you have your own secret method? Seeing how Sword Masters are often born in the Granite ducal family, there might be a family secret technique.”
At my guess, Cedar gave a bitter smile.
The bitter expression, like coffee that had been left to cool for too long, didn’t suit Cedar.
“There’s no such thing. My father has been bedridden for a long time. If he had been healthy, he might have taught me swordsmanship, but he was already ill when I was young.”
“Ah, I see.”
I made an awkward expression. It seemed this story was already widely spread in social circles.
‘The ducal family must have consulted all the famous doctors, right? Yet, seeing no improvement, it must be a serious illness.’
I didn’t live with my parents, so I’m not sure, but if one’s parents were bedridden like that, wouldn’t the family atmosphere be gloomy all the time? As an ancient ducal family, there must be many things to take care of.
“Then shouldn’t you be protecting the ducal family?”
At least, it didn’t seem like a situation where he could leisurely stay alone in this small mansion without even a servant.
At my question, he shrugged his shoulders.
“My mother is handling everything well, so what’s the problem?”
But unlike his casual gesture, his expression was much darker than before.
“And honestly, I don’t get along well with my mother.”
In his low voice, there was some sticky, dense emotion that I, being slow to grasp others’ feelings, couldn’t fully understand.
Even a fool would notice. That he doesn’t have a very good relationship with his mother.
‘It could be.’
How could it be worse than me, whom my sibling tried to kill? I nodded indifferently.
“I see. Well, just because they’re family doesn’t mean you have to get along. If your mother is taking good care of things, there’s no need to worry.”
At my clear response, Cedar opened his eyes wide.
Then, shaking off the negative emotions, he quickly returned to his usual self and poured out mischievous words.
“You seem to accept whatever is said easily. You’d probably be persuaded quickly if you faced your sister again.”
There’s a limit to teasing, Diana was really not acceptable. I crumpled my face and replied.
“That’s not true. I’m completely done with Diana. I will never change my mind.”
“When she hears the news that you’ve woken up, she’ll rush over immediately, won’t she? She’s quiet now because she doesn’t know, but I think it’s just a matter of time.”
The mere imagination of Diana coming and knocking on the door gave me goosebumps.
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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