With that, Lin Ge really did take aim at a piece of tender tofu on the table and lunge toward it.

“Pretty-Boy Brother, don’t!”

Seeing Lin Ge like that, the children came rushing over in tears, grabbing him by the waistband to stop his reckless move.

They’d only just met, yet the children were already so worried about him. It’d be a lie to say he wasn’t touched. People always say children are their parents’ little padded jackets, and there’s some truth to that.

Lin Ge was deeply moved.

All right, then. I’ll let you off for calling me Pretty-Boy.

“Pretty-Boy Brother, you can’t headbutt it! That’s our last piece of tofu. If you smash it, we won’t have anything to eat!”

“If you have to headbutt something, headbutt something else.”

“Yeah, yeah!”

The children chimed in one after another, then exchanged nods. Taking advantage of the moment, one of the little ones snatched the tofu off the table…

Only then did the others let go. They couldn’t have cared less whether Lin Ge lived or died… A few of them even looked a little expectant as they watched him…

Wrong. Lin Ge was wrong. There’s another part to that saying about children being little padded jackets in winter: actually, every last one of them is a devil in sheep’s clothing!!!

“Do it, Pretty-Boy Brother! Come on, headbutt it! Why’d you stop?”

“Hurry up and do it! We’re all waiting!”

“Do it, do it! Pretty-Boy Brother!”

…

The children urged him on from behind. Just then, Rosetti withdrew her killing intent, lifted her cool, mocking eyes, and crooked her lips into a big, warm smile at Lin Ge.

It roughly meant: Go on, do it! Come on, why’d you stop? My dear hu~sband~.

Lin Ge’s mouth twitched. He’d really gotten himself in too deep this time…

Was he really supposed to stupidly headbutt it?

No! Absolutely not!

Rosetti: ???

“You—”

Then came a loud thud—

Without another word, Lin Ge spun around and lunged at Rosetti.

Rosetti was still stunned, and before she could react, Lin Ge wrapped his arms tightly around her. He rubbed his face against the exposed, snow-white curve of her thigh, then let out a tearful, deeply heartfelt sob:

“Honey, how can you be so cruel? I said I was sorry! I know it was wrong of me to show up without warning, but you can’t just ignore me in front of all these children! One day as husband and wife means a hundred days of affection—and we’ve been married for over ten days, so that’s a whole lot of affection! Please stop being mad. Just smile for me~~.”

“Let go! Let go of me, right now! What nonsense are you babbling? I’m not your wife!”

Rosetti had seriously underestimated just how shameless Lin Ge could be.

The rubbing, the hugging, the tearful sobbing… None of it was remotely what she’d expected. No matter how fiercely she cursed him, he wouldn’t back down. Instead, as he rubbed against her, a faint blush gradually spread across her tender cheeks beneath her hood.

“I’m warning you. Keep talking nonsense, and I won’t go easy on you.”

Since being reasonable hadn’t worked (at least, that was her side of the story), Rosetti stopped holding back and raised her staff, cold air curling around it.

But just as she was about to unleash her magic, she felt another impact against her waist and legs from the other side…

“Sis, please forgive Pretty-Boy Brother. I’m the one who brought him here, so you can’t blame him. If you’re still mad… punish me instead. Meimei can spend the next week standing in the corner and reflecting on what she’s done.”

“Meimei…”

Meimei’s plea softened Rosetti’s heart, but it also made her resent Lin Ge even more.

How long had he even been here, and he’d already tricked such simple, innocent, kind children. Thank goodness she’d come back early. What would’ve happened if she’d been any later? No. For the children’s sake—and for Lady Alice’s—this man couldn’t be allowed to stay.

That was what Rosetti thought as she prepared to unleash her magic once more.

“Sis, please forgive Pretty-Boy Brother. It’s not good to fight.”

But after Meimei, the other children began pleading for him too.

“You…”

Looking at the children’s tearful, heartbroken pleas, Rosetti couldn’t bear to make them any sadder. She gritted her teeth, stamped her foot, and silently lowered her hand, pouring all the resentment in her heart into Lin Ge instead.

Feeling Rosetti’s ferocious, wolf-like glare, Lin Ge couldn’t help swallowing.

—This is bad. I took it too far…

But he swore to heaven that none of this had anything to do with him. The children had chosen to do all this themselves. He was innocent.

“All right, Meimei. Take the children outside and start making dinner.” Rosetti lowered her staff. “Sis… needs to talk to this big brother alone.”

“Sis, you’re not mad at Pretty-Boy Brother anymore?”

“Don’t worry. Sis really isn’t mad. Be good and go make dinner.”

To put the children at ease, Rosetti did her best to keep a kind expression on her face and patted their heads.

“But…”

The children looked from one to another, exchanging uncertain glances, but none of them left…

They might’ve been children, but they could still tell whether Rosetti was angry.

Rosetti was at a loss, and more than a little speechless.

She was considering whether to invoke her authority as their big sister and make them leave when—

A large hand slipped in unnoticed and gently hooked around her slender waist, drawing her into his arms.

“Don’t worry. Big Brother and Big Sister have really made up. You can relax. If you don’t believe me, look—come on, honey, give me a kiss.”

Smiling, Lin Ge leaned his face toward her.

His grin was so sleazy, so utterly shameless…

Seeing that smug, grinning face, Rosetti’s eyebrows shot up and her cheek twitched. She really wanted to haul off and deliver a righteous punch, putting this man down right where he stood.

But…

“Waaah~~~ They’re kissing!”

All those innocent, sparkling, wide-open eyes stared at her. There was simply no way she could refuse!

A blush spread visibly across both of Rosetti’s cheeks, all the way to the tips of her ears.

She glanced at Lin Ge’s shameless face. Was that blush from embarrassment… or anger?

Either way… in this situation, a kiss was unavoidable…

But…

“Honey, honestly. There are children right here. You should at least pay attention to where we are.”

Lin Ge: ???

Her voice was soft and sweet, and her face was bashful and coy.

A string of question marks floated above Lin Ge’s head.

What… exactly was going on here…?

The resistance in her arms stopped. Instead, she leaned into him, nestling softly against his chest like a wisp of cotton. Her graceful waist swayed gently, and her fair, delicate face bloomed red with embarrassment. One corner of her lips lifted in a seductive smile, beautiful enough to captivate the world and steal every eye.

Her small, fair hand settled over the back of his. It was cool and smooth to the touch, so pleasant that he could hardly bear to let go.

If not for the painful pinch, Lin Ge would’ve loved to enjoy the moment a little longer…

“What do you think, honey?” Rosetti tilted her head playfully, her face warm with a gentle smile. “Even if we want to be affectionate, shouldn’t we pay attention to the occa~sion~?”

“Y-yeah… You’re right. We should pay attention to the occasion.”

This… even if it wasn’t all right, he had to say it was.

At last, reassured by the “loving” words of this “loving” couple, the children left amid cheerful chatter and laughter…

Then, the very moment the door closed…

“Any last words, dear hu~sband~?”

(╬▔皿▔)凸