—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
‘Dogollon Khan… the Cripple Khan.’
He was interested in the fact that the male lead of a romance fantasy was a cripple.
‘The male lead is a cripple… that’s unusual.’
No, it was quite good.
It wasn’t as if there were no leaders with physical disabilities among barbarians or nomadic peoples.
Gaiseric, who plundered Rome and conquered North Africa to establish the Vandal Kingdom, and Timur, who founded the Timurid Empire, were both cripples.
And a moderate flaw could enhance the protagonist’s charm and serve as a device to make the reader curious about how the protagonist would overcome it.
Well, if the novel’s setting was a high power world, an incurable disease or a short lifespan would be a problem that would naturally be solved as they became stronger, so it wouldn’t matter. Blindness? They could see everything with their mind’s eye, so it wouldn’t matter. In fact, they could see better than those with eyes.
One armed? They would get a super cool custom-made prosthetic arm or create an arm made of magic.
Crippled leg? In the early part of the novel, they would lean on a staff or crutches and act weak, saying, ‘Heehee… I’m a weak cripple.’ But at some point, their combat power would skyrocket, and they would be hopping around, beating people up.
‘Taegu… Taegu… Tataegu…’
(My partner is training hard, but… I’m a pathetic Taegu who can’t beat anyone…)
‘Taegu-zzang, be quiet. I’ll break you.’
He lightly ignored Taegu-zzang’s voice from his inner world.
Anyway, he had to be careful because this kind of thing could happen, but… since the main genre was romance, not combat, it probably wouldn’t matter.
And since the genre of this novel was romance fantasy, a flaw in the male lead could actually be a plus.
He was currently called the strongman of the north, but a cripple with a physical disability would have faced many hardships to reach that position. He could show a painful past filled with insults and persecution,
creating a character who was cold on the outside but had a lot of scars on the inside. At first, he would keep his distance from the female lead, but gradually, he would fall for her as she comforted him…
The process of becoming a complementary, dependent relationship was the highlight of a romance fantasy, a delicious development that could be applied to a pure love story.
Anyway, he shouldn’t keep reading… Yet he keep going.
-Thump… thump…
Jin Lan stared blankly at Dogollon Khan as he approached.
A cripple who leaned on a staff and limped on his right leg.
But his gait was measured, powerful, and dignified.
His unique aura, combined with his tall stature, created the illusion of a large tiger entering the tent.
As he got closer, Jin Lan could see Dogollon’s face more clearly.
Jin Lan’s green eyes widened in surprise.
To be honest, Dogollon’s appearance was not that of a chiseled man that women of high society would fall in love with at first sight.
But he was by no means the hairy monster with a mouth stained red with human blood, as the rumors in the palace had described.
Dark eyebrows, a sharp jawline, a well-defined nose, and amber eyes that resembled a wolf’s.
His features were defined, and depending on one’s perspective viewpoint, he could appear cunning, but… overall, his features were attractive, and he was self-assured and handsome.
And he was much younger than she had expected.
-Thump… thump…
The young wolf who had conquered the grasslands reached the well dressed tribute, and when Dogollon’s mouth opened…
“What is your name?”
Jin Lan was surprised once again. It was very fluent Han language.
Mancheon’s amber eyes were focused on the book.
-Rustle… rustle…
The sound of pages turning echoed in the quiet study.
A still somewhat clumsy novel, born from a girl’s crush.
But the story was steadily and carefully unfolding.
Dogollon’s past was gradually revealed.
“My mother was a Han. She was the concubine of my father, the chieftain.”
“Is it amusing? A barbarian who speaks the Han language and recites poetry.”
The son of a concubine, born from a Han mother who had been kidnapped and brought to the grasslands.
As the khan of a nomadic people, he hated the empire, but at the same time, he loved Han culture and enjoyed reciting poetry, having been raised by a mother who longed for her hometown.
Dogollon’s anguish, a man with conflicting emotions, and Jin Lan, who began to change as she watched him.
Dogollon, who was falling for Jin Lan, going beyond a simple tribute relationship.
The two of them were growing closer, and then a crisis occurred!
Dogollon’s anger towards the imperial official who had kidnapped Jin Lan to gain an advantage in negotiations, after hearing a rumor that Dogollon had fallen for a Han woman.
“Fine, if you’re going to take her, then take her. I will personally lead a hundred thousand iron cavalry to get her back.”
Not just cavalry, but a hundred thousand iron cavalry? Was he bluffing? But since the country was based on the Mongols, maybe these bastards really would bring a hundred thousand iron cavalry.
He pondered seriously whether a hundred thousand iron cavalry could really come from the northern region and continued to turn the pages.
Jin Lan’s eyes widened at the sight of a cherry blossom tree, its pink petals fluttering, a sight that was out of place on the green grasslands.
“Cherry blossoms…?”
“I planted the seeds I bought from a Han merchant.”
Dogollon gently took Jin Lan’s hand and walked with her towards the cherry blossom tree.
“It was my mother’s favorite tree. She never got to see it, though.”
The two stood side by side under the cherry blossom tree, looking at each other. Dogollon was the first to speak.
“Tell me your name. I want to hear it from your own lips.”
A cool breeze brushed past Jin Lan’s cheek, or rather, Lan’s cheek was brushed by a cool breeze.
“Lan… it’s Lan.”
Dogollon broke off a branch with beautiful cherry blossoms and came so close that he was touching Lan.
“A young lady under a cherry blossom tree, whose young lady is she?”
“My eyes are drawn to her, but I don’t even know her name.”
“I just heard that her name is Lan.”
The large man carefully and gently adorned Lan’s hair with a cherry blossom branch.
“Her eyes are beautiful, and her eyelashes are long. I’ve secretly fallen for her.”
Lan’s slender body was enveloped in his strong arms, held in his embrace.
“Lan, when spring comes, if you wish… I will pick them for you next year, and the year after that, anytime…”
He held her tightly and whispered in her ear.
“Stay by my side.”
“Huh…?”
He stopped turning the pages. The rest of the pages were blank, but…
‘Isn’t this what I said to Lan?’
The latter part was a bit dramatized, but it was what he had said when he had put the cherry blossom branch in Feng Lan’s hair.
Something flashed through his mind.
He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but now that he thought about it, the male and female lead’s settings seemed strangely similar to his and Feng Lan’s.
“Ah… ah… ahhhhh!!”
And then, a trembling scream, filled with panic, came from the study door.
Of course, the owner of the scream was…
“H-how- Young Master-?!”
The cute girl with beautiful eyes and long eyelashes, Feng Lan.
“Ah… I’m sorry for the noise. It’s… well…”
She was trembling, and her wavering gaze fell on the book he was holding. He was certain.
He had been about to test her, but there was no need.
The novel he was currently holding…
[A palace maid becomes the queen of the northern khan] – Lan wrote this.
The usual Feng Lan would have learned to hide her feelings to some extent as the daughter of a merchant family, so she wouldn’t have been caught so easily, but… she couldn’t maintain her composure in the incredibly embarrassing situation of the person she liked, Mancheon, reading the creative novel she had written, starring a character based on him.
“Hoo…”
But she couldn’t just stand there, so she took a deep breath, composed her voice as much as possible, and smiled at Mancheon.
“I think I accidentally dropped a book here. The book the Young Master is reading seems to be it…”
But before she could say “give it back,” Mancheon beat her to it.
“Sorry if I’m wrong, but… did you write ‘Dogollon’ thinking of me?”
“Eh!?!?!?!?”
Feng Lan’s mind went blank.
“N-n-no! That’s not…!?”
She thought she was vehemently and desperately denying it, but from his perspective, it was like watching a cute, angry titmouse.
A mischievous thought arose within him.
He was the mischievous Sima Mancheon.
He placed the novel Feng Lan had written carefully on the desk and
approached her directly.
He slammed his left hand against the wall next to her, trapping her.
Yes, it was the classic kabedon from a romance manga.
-Thump!
“Uhm…?!”
Feng Lan, who had suddenly been trapped, hastily lowered her head as Mancheon approached, but…
“Look up.”
Mancheon didn’t allow even that.
He placed his right hand on Feng Lan’s chin and forced her to look up, confirming the girl’s face, which was a mess, flushed red with embarrassment and a strange, pounding heart.
“Tell me. Who were you thinking of?”
The amber eyes directed at her, the faint smile on Mancheon’s lips, the gentle voice like a snake’s whisper.
Finally, her heart, which had been pounding relentlessly and had reached its limit, burst.
Tears, like jade beads, welled up in Feng Lan’s beautiful green eyes.
“I-I’m sorry… I… I was thinking of… the Young Master…!”
“Huh…?”
And Mancheon, who hadn’t intended to make her cry, quickly pulled out a handkerchief, feeling sorry.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
He wiped her tears and comforted the sobbing Feng Lan with a gentle voice.
“It’s okay, it’s okay… I’m not mad. You don’t have to apologize.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
