Chapter 33 : Alright, let’s just keep going like this.
On a rainy day like today, Bada had been kidnapped as part of a plan to shake up the Daehan Group.
Even though she managed to escape amid the chaos outside, the memory of that day still haunted her.
‘…How ridiculous.’
Thanks to regular therapy, her claustrophobia and fear of big guys had eased up a lot. But thunder was a different story.
So, she had always slept with a nanny on stormy nights, and she was annoyed with herself for being so childish. But now, wrapped in Ha-neul’s arms, she felt her anxiety fading away in a way she’d never experienced before.
Especially when Ha-neul gently stroked her hair, the comfort went beyond just calming her nerves—it was incredibly soothing.
‘Like a big teddy bear.’
Bada held onto Ha-neul tighter, feeling much more secure.
—
Tap, tap, tap! Bubble, bubble—
The rhythmic sounds woke Bada up. Still groggy, she fumbled around for her phone on the bedside.
“Hmm? Oh…”
She suddenly remembered she had fallen asleep at Ha-neul’s place. Memories of the previous night started to come back.
Woosh-!
As she recalled what happened the night before, Bada’s face turned bright red.
‘Oh no, when did I fall asleep!?’
She had no clue when she fell asleep, how long she’d been out, or when Ha-neul had left. Everything was a blur.
All she could tell was that her clothes were still in place and the rhythmic sounds coming from outside were cooking noises.
‘…Wait a minute!’
- Someone was cooking.
- That person was probably Ha-neul.
- Ha-neul could see well enough to cook right now.
That meant Ha-neul was wearing his glasses and had probably seen her without any makeup while she slept.
“Great.”
She muttered, frustrated. Without a mirror, she had no idea what she looked like.
Were there any marks on her face?
She hoped she hadn’t drooled.
And what if she had mumbled something weird in her sleep?
‘Everything’s a disaster!’
What if Ha-neul saw her like this and decided he wasn’t interested? She should have just gone home.
Her mind raced with worries. As she was caught up in her thoughts, she heard someone approaching from outside the door.
“Bada-ssi, are you awake… Hmm?”
Ha-neul, who had knocked lightly before entering, saw Bada with the blanket pulled up to her head and tilted his head in curiosity.
There was definitely some rustling. Ha-neul also noticed Bada’s feet twitching out from under the blanket.
With a mischievous grin, Ha-neul said,
“Still asleep, are we?”
“…”
“Hmmm. It would be a problem if you don’t get up soon.”
“Eek—!”
Quickly, Ha-neul’s finger lightly brushed against Bada’s foot. Startled by the unfamiliar sensation, Bada sprang up from her spot.
“Wh-what are you doing!?”
“Why were you pretending to be asleep?”
“I just woke up!”
“Oh, really?”
“…!?”
Ha-neul suddenly leaned in close, scrutinizing Bada’s face with a fierce look.
With his unusually intense demeanor, Bada held her breath as Ha-neul prepared to speak again.
“Looks like there’s no eye crust for someone who just woke up.”
“Huh?”
Bada noticed that Ha-neul still hadn’t put in his lenses. She had no clue how he managed to cook without them.
What really got to her was that he had come all the way over just to check for eye crust.
“…Seriously?”
“Were you expecting something else?”
“Like what?”
“Maybe a hug…”
“Ugh—!”
Bada quickly covered Ha-neul’s mouth. She gave him a look that clearly said, ‘Say anything else, and you’re in trouble.’
Tap!
Ha-neul just chuckled, gave Bada a light tap on the forehead, and turned to leave.
“Get ready and come out for breakfast.”
“…”
Great, now she was being treated like a kid.
Well, after what happened yesterday, it wasn’t that surprising. At least she was glad Ha-neul didn’t seem to lose interest.
‘…Glad? What a joke.’
She had totally messed up her image.
Bada swallowed her frustration and got out of bed. What’s done is done. She needed to move on.
‘I can’t let his family see me like this.’
Even though time was tight, she could quickly wash her face and do a speedy makeup job to look presentable.
Bada managed to put herself together and appeared neat and tidy.
“Good morning, Mother.”
“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
“Thanks to your hospitality, I slept very comfortably!”
“Hoho, I’m glad to hear that.”
“Hmm?”
Maria’s odd response made Bada feel uneasy. But Maria didn’t explain further and led her to the dining table.
At the table, Yoseph and Gureum were already eating, and Ha-neul had just brought a pot of stew.
“Good morning!”
“Come join us.”
“I’m sorry. I should have woken up earlier to help. I overslept…”
“Hmm. Don’t worry about it. You look just fine.”
“Really?”
Smack!
Maria suddenly slapped Yoseph on the back, as if telling him to stop with the nonsense, and Gureum added her own comment.
“Look at the dark circles under his eyes. He didn’t sleep at all last night… Ugh!”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
When Ha-neul rarely showed a serious side, Gureum fell silent. She pouted and didn’t say anything more.
An awkward silence settled over the table.
Realizing what was going on, Bada’s face turned red. She kept her head down and quietly picked up her chopsticks.
‘Bada, just disappear.’
She swallowed her silent frustration with her food. Despite everything, the breakfast Ha-neul had prepared was delicious, and she couldn’t stop eating.
—
After Bada’s eventful visit ended and she got back home, Ha-neul sat down at his computer.
Even though he felt like he might fall asleep any moment from the sleepless night, his urge to write was stronger than ever.
‘I want to capture the princess’s adorable side.’
Although he couldn’t describe it exactly as it was, adapting the princess’s unexpected charm for his novel could be a great selling point.
Clickity-click—
With that in mind, he started typing right away.
‘Desire is really important.’
If money is needed, work for it.
If longing for love, pursue a relationship.
If craving revenge, quietly build strength.
Desire driven by lack moves people. This is true for characters in novels too.
—
The protagonist of his novel, the Eternal Returner ‘Ciel,’ had faced countless setbacks while trying to prevent the end of the world. Just when he was about to give up, the princess ‘Mer’ showed up like fate itself.
‘Mer is kind of the same.’
In the original story, Mer was assassinated. Thanks to Ciel’s help, she barely made it.
Seeing the same emptiness in Ciel’s eyes that she felt in herself, she started to think he was the only one who could really understand her.
The main story of *”Life Becomes Amazing After Marriage”* is about the two of them navigating their slightly mismatched feelings and eventually saving the world.
‘Not lacking in deficiency right now.’
Setting aside the princess’s obsessive feelings, the entire world, including the royal family and nobility, was trying to get in their way.
Hints had been dropped before, but adding more obstacles would just frustrate the readers.
So, rewards were necessary too. Just like Bada had been part of the story, incorporating events might work well.
‘…A cute event for a princess.’
After a moment’s thought, a fitting idea popped into her head. He immediately started typing away on his keyboard.
—
“Someone’s waiting inside.”
“Inside the room?”
“Yes.”
Ciel followed the servant into the princess’s room. Normally, a man from outside wouldn’t be allowed in, but no one could resist the princess’s will.
“Cieeeel—!!”
“…”
Whoosh-!
As soon as he entered, Mer rushed over and hugged Ciel around the waist, rubbing her face against his.
One odd thing was that Mer only came up to his waist. At that moment, she looked just like a little child.
“Ciel, Ciel, Ciel!”
“…I heard you were looking for me.”
“Yes, yes! I called for you!”
“…”
Ciel was shocked by Mer’s unusually energetic reaction, something he’d never seen before.
‘Is this Mer’s secret?’
The third princess, known for her fragile health since childhood, had never been seen in public until she was an adult.
Not at the academy everyone went to.
Not at the high-society parties.
Not even at the emperor’s succession ceremony.
‘Makes sense.’
Her condition, which made her age change irregularly, was a severe curse that even elixirs couldn’t fix. Like Ciel’s endless reincarnations.
If others saw her, the royal family’s reputation would definitely be at risk.
Luckily, she would return to her ‘original age’ after a certain time, ranging from a few hours to several years.
‘It’s awful.’
No one knew when she’d change or when she’d come back.
She had lived shut away in the palace for a long time. Thankfully, she could now sense ‘signs,’ which allowed her to do brief outside activities.
A secret known only to a few in the royal family. She’d learned about it for the first time this time around, thanks to the princess herself.
“Ciel, hug me!”
“…?”
“Hug me!”
With her arms wide open, Mer begged to be hugged. Ciel started to wonder if this was really the noble princess he knew.
‘Didn’t they say intelligence is affected by the body?’
Maybe because she looked like a child now, she seemed unusually clingy. But her stubbornness was unchanged, with her usual royal obstinacy still there.
“Hug me!”
Sigh—
Seeing that she wouldn’t let go until she got what she wanted, Ciel finally sighed and picked up the princess.
“Wow—!!”
As he lifted her to his eye level, she grinned with a bright smile. It was a rare smile and made Ciel catch his breath.
‘…This might not be so bad after all?’
It felt odd to say something like this in front of someone with a serious incurable disease, but Ciel thought it was still okay in its own way.
‘No matter how she looks, Mer is still Mer.’
He had already resolved to live this round solely for her. Even if she grew old, his feelings wouldn’t change.
“Ciel, Ciel!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Read me a fairy tale!”
“No.”
“Read it!”
“No.”
“……”
The young princess’s expression grew cold. Seeing this, Ciel sighed. It was definitely a severe curse, he thought.
—
‘Looks pretty good.’
It was a penalty that showed the princess’s cuteness without ruining the existing character.
Of course, her behavior might change, but her experience and knowledge wouldn’t disappear. Her role as an advisor would continue.
At the same time, the protagonist Ciel would gain a new goal of lifting the princess’s curse, making it a great episode that naturally expanded the world.
***
‘Yena was a big help.’
Yena was especially fond of Bada and clung to her whenever she visited the orphanage. Thanks to closely observing that, describing the young princess accurately became quite doable.
Different experiences positively impact writing. Any opportunity should be taken to challenge oneself within reasonable limits.
‘That’s enough for today.’
He decided to check out community reactions for a change. In the past, his work didn’t show up much, but now there were quite a few posts.
[Review of Life Becomes Amazing After Marriage]
[Definitely deserves an award]
[Is Life Becomes Amazing After Marriage plagiarized?]
Since the winner hadn’t been announced yet, there were all sorts of speculative posts.
There was plenty of praise, and even more trolling. Nothing particularly noteworthy, but it was nice to see people talking about his work.
[Princess fan art here!]
[Marry the princess or not]
[Disappointed by the lack of princess scenes lately]
But if the focus on the princess seemed to overshadow the story, was it just his imagination?
‘A well-made character can overshadow the story, they say.’
If her younger appearance were revealed, it would create quite a stir. To maintain balance with the protagonist, the princess might need some sort of power-up.
Although the idea of a “beautiful and capable heroine who loves the protagonist” provides vicarious satisfaction, there’s a limit to that.
The moment the balance between the protagonist and heroine shifts, the story would surely decline.
‘Should emphasize the protagonist’s role more.’
Ciel’s naturally blunt personality meant he hadn’t had much to showcase aside from his strength.
If he showed more human aspects while taking care of the young princess, it could help maintain a balance.
He planned to jot down the ideas in his notebook and review them tomorrow during revisions.
“Alright, let’s stick with this.”
Stretching, he loosened his stiff body. He thought about relieving some stress with exercise but noticed an unfamiliar number on his phone screen.
: Hello, this is Park Sujeong from the M#npia contest. Is this the number for ‘Addicted to Text’ who wrote *Life Becomes Amazing After Marriage*?
As soon as he read the text, all thoughts stopped. After a moment of staring blankly, he nervously typed a reply.
: Yes, that’s correct.
Finally, it had arrived.
The end of his long period of obscurity had come.
