I Decided to Kidnap the Male Lead
Side Story 2: The Present That Will Not Return (II)

“Yes.”

As soon as Ophelia’s cheerful answer left her lips, Richard appeared behind the silently open door.

Catherine and Iris stood up at the same time and bowed towards him, but Richard dismissed them with one wave of his hand and approached Ophelia at once.

He smiled lazily, like a satiated predator, his lips resting unhesitatingly on her forehead and at the corners of her eyes.

“Come to me now.”

Ophelia’s stomach began to tickle from the longing suppressed by the low voice that scratched her ears.

“You can do just this much for today.”

“Yes, originally, the bride only makes the final decision.”

When Catherine and Iris openly tried to quickly send her away, Ophelia smiled and obediently went into Richard’s arms.

“Cathy, Riri, thank you for today.”

Ophelia left through the door after leaving a short kiss on the cheeks of Catherine and Iris, but Richard turned his head and stared at the two of them.

“Cathy and Riri…”

Indeed, those two were the ones who enjoyed the festival to the fullest with Ophelia in the past.

The shoulders of Catherine and Iris, who flinched at Richard’s glance and felt a chill, trembled without knowing why.

And Cooper, who followed, also took a step back, hesitant at the glittering golden eyes.

The moment the terribly heavy air creeping from Richard’s feet rode up their legs.

“Richard! Aren’t you coming?”

Already a few steps ahead, Ophelia turned her head and called casually, and the heavy air that almost entangled them dissipated like a lie.

Eventually, the three, who had been silent until the two had completely disappeared from sight, opened their mouths simultaneously.

“It’s awful.”

“I can’t even breathe.”

“The jealousy is bloody.”

The second Cooper added with a sigh, agreeing with Catherine and Iris…

“Ahhh!”

“Ahhh!”

Catherine screamed, followed by Cooper.

He tapped his surprised heart and asked Catherine.

“Why are you suddenly like that?”

“Oh, when did you come?”

“What?”

“When did you come!”

“I came with His Highness, but…”

“You just entered? Really?”

“There is no reason to lie about this, is there?”

“How can a person be so insignificant? Did you get any kind of assassin training?”

“I am an ordinary aide, but His Highness is very intense.”

Iris shook her head as she listened to their silly conversation.

After the catfight, Catherine shrugged and said,

“Jealousy… If you do it twice, you’ll catch someone.”

“Yes.”

Iris, who couldn’t bear to stand by with overflowing loyalty, clumsily nodded. As for Cooper, he nodded vigorously.

He was often given warning glances from Richard the moment he even glanced at Ophelia in the aide’s office (it was unknown when and how he appeared).

‘I swear, Your Highness the Crown Prince, Ophelia has always been a colleague to me!’

“Even though they fell in love at first sight, isn’t it too much to be jealous of her friends, us?!”

“My colleague, I also walk on thin ice every day.”

Was it said that if you had a common enemy, the internal solidarity would be tight?

Although Richard wasn’t an enemy, and Catherine and Cooper weren’t even close enough to be called ‘friends’, the two deeply sympathized with each other’s feelings.

Staring at the two of them, Iris shrugged.

“Then will you keep a little distance from Ophelia to avoid His Highness’s jealousy? Not me.”

Catherine shook her head, agreeing with Iris’ firm words and affection for Ophelia. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the NøvᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Me too! Ophelia is the person of my destiny! As long as Ophelia is happy, it’s okay! I can stand it!”

At Catherine’s cry as she clenched her fists hard, Cooper looked at her with a renewed gaze.

To have such courage against the crown prince, he could see the buds from the instant she barged into the aide’s office…

“The person of destiny, what do you mean?”

At his question, Catherine blushed, going ‘Oops!’

If it was Ophelia or Iris, she would have said it confidently rather than being ashamed, perhaps brainwashing herself, but it was Cooper.

It was obvious that she would be laughed at for being childish, just as her goddamned blood-related brother had done to her when she said it.

How long has it been? Catherine jumped up and snapped.

“Oh, there is such a thing!”

Red to the tips of her ears, Catherine hurriedly left, and Iris narrowed her eyes when she saw Cooper staring at her from the back.

“What’s with your face?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you gazing at the direction Catherine went? Your cheeks are also a bit red… no way…?”

“Oh no! It’s not that I fell for her or anything like that!”

Leaving after a strong denial, Iris let out a dumbfounded sigh as she rolled her eyes at Cooper’s back as he hurried away from her at a speed similar to Catherine’s.

“What is this again? His Highness’ jealousy is more than enough.”

.

One summer day, the sky was high and clear without a single cloud.

It had been definitely hot enough to make it hard to sleep. But last night, a cool breeze blew from the morning, spreading smiles on people’s faces.

The crown prince’s wedding was held in one of the most beautiful palaces in the Imperial Palace.

“Whoa.”

Ophelia and her mother were the only ones left in the bridal waiting room where Catherine and Iris, Cooper and Lawrence, and, unexpectedly, James, stopped by and left.

And in the bridal waiting room, the sound of heavy breathing was echoing.

“Mom, one more time. Take a deep breath.”

“Hueup.”

“Exhale.”

“Haaaaa.”

Ophelia smiled mischievously as she looked at her mother, who was somewhat out of breath.

“I am the one getting married. Why is Mom more nervous than me?”

As usual, when she spoke to her mother to relieve excessive tension, the latter patted her back without answering.However, this time, her mother also sent her a wistful glance.

After stroking Ophelia for a while, her mother opened her mouth.

“I trembled like this the first time I held you.”

Recalling the moment she held the shriveled, unsightly lump of newborn flesh and blood, her mother smiled as she looked at her daughter, who, before she knew it, had grown enough to leave her arms.

“Ophelia.”

“Yes.”

“My daughter.”

“Yes. My mother.”

“This mother loves you.”

Her mother, barely able to get those words out, turned red, holding back her tears.

And Ophelia smiled as brightly and happily as her mother did.

“I love you, Mom.”

Ophelia closed her eyes tightly, feeling overwhelmed because she was tightly held with immeasurable love.

.

When the bell in the central temple announcing the ceremony rang three times, the tightly closed door was thrown open.

A lion clad in gold walked, absorbing the gazes of everyone seated there.

Eventually, Richard stood on the podium, and the person he had longed for appeared through the wide open door.

Shiny red hair swayed gently in the sunlight.

Richard was overwhelmed, and he stifled his gasp.

Before meeting Ophelia, he had never felt such emotions in his life, and he learned it through her.

No, there were countless other things that Ophelia enlightened him with.

And there would be countless more in the future.

Ophelia moved closer to Richard, one step after another.

The closer she got, the more Richard’s five senses ran wild.

The hem of her dress shimmered with her light steps, her voice that called him, the suffocating scent of roses, and the memory of the soft skin brushing his fingertips.

And Richard knew what Ophelia tasted like.

His Adam’s apple twitched as the sensation, which was sweet enough to melt his tongue, lingered in his mouth.

The moment he subconsciously gave strength to the hand that held Ophelia.

A radiant smile spread across Ophelia’s lips as she looked at Richard.

In front of that smile, Richard was unable to do anything.

He just admired the one who had become his world, his time, his experience, and his future.

“…So now make an eternal oath.”

Richard’s and Ophelia’s lips parted at the same time at the words of the senior priest who was officiating.

“I swear forever.”

Forever, and ever.

On the day the soft flower petals rained down, the two people who didn’t want to but were closer to eternity than anyone else lost eternity and made an oath of eternity.

Ame: *blows nose* *pops champagne* …say, this novel is already R15, how about some of that kind of action then?

Dea: i’m so happy we got the wedding!! Those side stories are the gift that keeps on giving so we might get the fun kind of action as well haha

Sᴇarch the NøvᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.