The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix's Novels Also Desires Happiness

“Mm... stop moving around...”

Still fast asleep beneath the blankets, Ariel sensed Muen shifting. She rubbed her little head against his chest, then sleepily reached out and grabbed the blanket that had let in a draft of cold air before wrapping herself tightly around Muen again like an adorable koala.

“Hey, let go. I need to get up.”

Muen gently pried her arms off him, but every time he managed to separate them, those little hands immediately twisted back around him at some unbelievable angle. Sometimes she even used feints. After struggling for quite a while, the distance between them had not changed in the slightest.

Even while asleep, Ariel’s movements were as skilled as a martial arts grandmaster’s—though her sole purpose was simply hugging the damned blond bastard while she slept, and unconsciously at that.

“Don’t use your entire skill set on weird things like this!”

Muen let out a mournful sigh and finally gave up trying to forcibly peel the unbelievably soft clingy little flirt off his body. Instead, his wandering hand suddenly slipped downward and smacked a certain soft, tender, and highly elastic spot.

Smack.

The crisp sound shattered the quiet of the morning. The delicate body in his arms trembled, then suddenly tightened like a startled little snake spirit.

“What are you doing?!”

Ariel poked her head out from under the blankets. All traces of sleepiness had vanished from her face as she glared viciously at Muen.

“You already bullied me so many times last night... and now you want more? Are you declaring war on me? Fine! Then let’s do another round today! I’m definitely washing away last night’s humiliation!”

“Forget another round...”

Muen kissed her gently on the cheek and said helplessly,

“You haven’t recovered yet.”

“Who says I haven’t recovered? I recovered ages ago! Watch me—hss, ow ow ow...”

Ariel immediately tried to prove how fierce she was by pouncing at Muen. Unfortunately, mouths could act tough, but the condition of one’s body could not lie.

The moment her long legs moved, it seemed to tug at some kind of “injury,” and her delicate brows instantly knit together tightly.

Under normal circumstances, even weak as she was, she would not have ended up in such miserable shape. But the side effects of last night’s “pain suppression” had simply been too severe. For her, enduring several times the normal pain was something she could grit her teeth through.

But several times the...

It had nearly turned her into a little idiot incapable of thinking about anything at all.

“Get some proper rest. I actually have serious business to deal with.”

Muen finally set the now obedient Ariel aside and hurriedly got dressed.

“Serious business?”

Ariel huffily turned her face away, though she was still secretly peeking at Muen while he dressed. Especially when she noticed the lingering “battle marks” covering his body, her cheeks flushed red again.

“What serious business could you possibly have? Don’t tell me you’re going on dates with those other women again.”

“Unfortunately, I may have to temporarily say goodbye to them too.”

“Huh? You’re even giving up dates? Is it really that important?”

“Maybe.”

Muen handed her the letter from his father.

“Father sent me this. I don’t understand the reason, but judging from the urgency between the lines, it probably isn’t something trivial.”

“‘Return to Belrand immediately’?”

Ariel unfolded the letter and looked equally confused.

“What does that even mean? He wrote an entire letter for just those few words? Your old man—I mean, the Lion King—isn’t he a Crowned? If he wanted you back in Belrand, couldn’t he just shout from over there?”

“I don’t know either. Father already left ahead of time, and this letter itself is strange too. An handed it to me yesterday, but specifically warned me not to open it until this morning.”

After finishing adjusting his tie in front of the mirror, Muen turned around and said:

“In other words, I could only depart for Belrand today, not yesterday. The purpose of Father writing this letter was probably to restrict my departure time specifically to today.”

“But the words ‘return immediately’ also imply you have to move quickly.”

Ariel reread the letter carefully and tilted her head.

“So why does it feel so contradictory?”

“Exactly.”

Muen sighed.

“That’s why I still can’t figure out Father’s intentions. But no matter what, he probably wouldn’t harm me. Maybe something important happened in Belrand, but it’s something difficult for him to explain directly, so all he could do was tell me to hurry back.”

“Important... but difficult to explain?”

Ariel rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

“But when I left Belrand, things were pretty peaceful there. After so many purges, logically there shouldn’t be anyone left causing trouble, right?”

“I’ll only know once I get back.”

Muen walked over and pinched her cheek.

“Come on, kiss.”

“No!”

“Really not giving me one? Then I’m leaving.”

“...Then... just once...”

Ariel shyly turned back toward him.

“No more than that...”

“One is enough.”

Muen suddenly kissed her.

A deep kiss.

Only ten minutes later did he finally leave behind an Ariel who was nearly suffocating from lack of air and almost fainting on the spot while he hurried out the door.

...

...

“What? Senior isn’t here?”

At the temporary contact point established by the Empire’s Silent Bureau, Muen stared in confusion at the person before him—a figure with black cloth wrapped across their face to cover their eyes.

Looking up, he saw the words “Blind Massage” written above in perfectly standard lettering...

What kind of insane contact point was this? Why were they running a side business too?

“Senior really isn’t here?”

“That’s correct.”

The “blind man” discreetly shoved the book he had just been reading into a corner before putting on a professional smile.

“Lady Anna has already left Saint Blancfazesiya.”

“So suddenly?”

Muen froze.

“She didn’t even tell me in advance?”

“Lady Anna knew Mr. Muen would come here, so she left a message beforehand.”

“What message?”

“She said...”

The “blind man” wore a strange expression.

‘Check your voice stone.’”

“...”

Muen’s lips twitched as he silently pulled out his Voice Stone.

Sure enough, it carried Anna’s contact imprint and a message.

She had probably called last night...

But at the time, he had been locked in fierce combat with that little slut. How was he supposed to answer a Voice Stone then?

No, he should be grateful he hadn’t answered. Otherwise it would have become yet another classic cheating-husband scene.

Though even without answering, Senior probably guessed anyway.

Muen smiled bitterly to himself and quickly poured magic into the stone to activate the message.

“Heretics appeared in an eastern Imperial city, so she had to rush over to deal with it?”

Reading Anna’s message, Muen unconsciously frowned.

This was way too sudden.

Had the situation become so urgent that she only had time to leave a message and not even enough time to say goodbye in person?

So that was why Senior hadn’t been at the massage parlor yesterday? Which meant he had accidentally escaped disaster because of it?

Very reasonable.

As one of the Silent Bureau’s executioners, Senior really could be dispatched anywhere at any time to deal with special incidents.

But somehow...

Something still felt off.

Muen did not realize he and Anna had developed the exact same premonition. Compared to Anna, however, his vigilance toward this sort of thing was far more relaxed.

After all, unlike Anna, who was heading into dangerous territory, all he had received was an order from his father to hurry home.

No matter how unreliable Father could be...

Surely he would not deliberately harm his own son, right?

So Muen quickly suppressed that fleeting sense of unease, bid farewell to the “blind man” at the massage parlor, and soon headed toward the cathedral.

Thanks to his status and his credentials as an honorary Holy Knight, Muen easily managed to meet a relatively high-ranking member of the clergy.

And the response he received gave him another small shock.

“Liya... Her Holiness the Saintess already left as well?”

“...”

Right.

Busy.

Everyone was busy.

Busy was good.

...Damn it, why did he suddenly feel like some empty-nest blond bastard?

Not daring to linger too long in the cathedral—because the gazes from the clergy, especially some of the younger nuns, were painfully intense—Muen hurriedly explained that he had merely wanted to discuss profound matters concerning the Goddess’s faith with the Saintess, and since Her Holiness was absent, there was nothing more to do.

Then he quickly escaped.

“Still, maybe this is for the best. If they were all still clinging to me and demanding dates, it probably would’ve delayed me quite a bit.”

Standing amidst the bustling streets, Muen comforted himself.

Thinking that there would still be plenty of opportunities for future dates, he soon tossed aside that slight regret. He immediately hailed a carriage and headed toward the city outskirts.

“If Father specifically said to return immediately, then what method of travel actually counts as immediate?”

Muen pondered silently inside the carriage.

When it came to long-distance travel, the memory that stood out most vividly was undoubtedly the Dragonblood Horse caravan he had ridden to the Holy City. Not only because the Dragonblood Horses truly were astonishingly fast, but because he had experienced so much during that journey.

Pursuit. Escape. Separation.

And everything that happened with Liya.

Every moment from that time was precious enough to preserve forever in the depths of his soul.

Unfortunately, those experiences offered him absolutely no practical help now.

“As for Dragonblood Horses... I wonder whether Father’s military camp has any. If not, I’ll have to think of another solution.”

Ordinary horses were far too slow and not even worth considering.

As for other mounts, many special magical beasts required time just to locate in the first place. Under such sudden circumstances, it would be difficult to satisfy the “return immediately” requirement in the letter.

Should he just run all the way back himself?

...Given Muen’s current physical condition, running back directly might honestly be faster than many magical mounts.

The only drawback was the rather significant possibility of dying from exhaustion.

Mm. Roughly an eighty-to-ninety percent risk, considering the tiny little distance between Saint Blancfazesiya and Belrand.

“Ugh. This was too sudden. I didn’t expect even deciding how to travel back would become such a headache.”

Muen sighed repeatedly.

Just as he was agonizing over transportation options—

Knock knock.

“Young Master.”

Someone tapped against the carriage window.

“Who is it?”

Muen pulled back the curtain and saw an Imperial cavalryman in standard armor riding alongside the carriage.

“You are...”

“I am one of the Duke’s personal guards. By the Duke’s orders, I’ve been specifically assigned to prepare transportation for Young Master.”

The knight on horseback smiled politely and warmly.

“Father? Transportation?”

In an instant, Muen smelled the unmistakable scent of an arrangement.