Bark gently touched the white bird’s feathers flying around his face as he climbed the steep path, whistling three short whistles: whik, whik, whik.
Recognizing the signal, the white birds flew towards the people sitting cozily under the cherry tree.
Carolina held up a cherry stem with two cherries attached in front of her face.
“I realized for the first time how pretty cherries are. These identical cherries hanging on one stem look just like…”
“Patrick and me? You want to say we look like twins?”
“Oh, Lady Risha. How did you know?”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
“It’s prettier than having just one dangling.”
At that moment, white birds flew in from the hillside.
The birds fluttered about, messily rummaging through Carolina’s black hair. The white birds flew unusually close around Carolina’s hair.
“These birds seem to like Lady Rina’s black hair.”
At Patricia’s words, Annie reached out to shoo away the birds.
“Do they think this is their playground? Shoo, go away.”
“Annie, it’s okay. Just leave them be.”
Carolina took off her wide-brimmed hat as if accustomed to it. As she ran her fingers through her long hair, a fresh scent wafted through the air.
At first, Carolina was startled and yelped when the birds burrowed into her hair messily. She thought the birds were attacking her.
But after experiencing it often over a day or two, she got used to it, feeling like they liked her hair and were rubbing their wings against it.
Above all, she enjoyed the light breeze made by the wings fluttering near her ears with a soft rustle. The white birds had a faint scent of grass.
Vii looked up at the slope where the captain had gone. Vii knew it was an order to bring back the lady’s scent on their wings.
He was at a loss for how to advise the captain, who was about three years younger than him, about love. Still, he had to do it. Love couldn’t be hidden just by avoiding and running away unconditionally.
Bark lay on a rock with his arms folded behind his head, looking up at the sky. The sharp edges of white clouds above the lush forest pricked his heart. His feelings were swirling and churning.
I don’t like these emotions.
To him, women were cumbersome, burdensome beings unrelated to himself.
The commoners and maid girls he could easily encounter always carried a basketful of chores, while the noble ladies were like chandeliers hanging in high-ceilinged ballrooms.
He felt nothing when he saw either maid girls or noble ladies.
After conquering Oro Alley, there were women who approached him secretly. There were even noblewomen who openly demanded intimate encounters. Not once had he agreed to a private meeting.
A white bird flew over. The birds circled around Bark’s face and perched on his shoulder. He brought the bird sitting on his index finger close to his nose and inhaled. The bird’s wings carried her fresh scent.
She was different from Patricia. With Patricia, there was an underlying tender sympathy, perhaps because he first saw her in armor on the battlefield.
Being blood relatives, he felt nothing special even when hugging her tightly, and her squirming antics were cute enough to make him want to tease her more.
She, Carolina…
When he first saw her at Karsik Palace, it was with anger towards the Empress Dowager. When he read the letter saying Patrick would propose, it was with jealousy. When she came here, he decided to make her his woman out of curiosity.
But when he got close, her breathtaking scent made him dizzy. He wanted to pull her close if even a fingertip touched her.
Rather than asking the Karsik Emperor to give her to him as his woman, he simply thought they should become one.
He decided he must keep her by his side, like the birds flying around him. Even if she refused, he would break her legs if necessary. Or use some other forceful method.
The method the Heun clan often used… Yes, if all else failed, he would use that method.
Bark got up from the rock and went down the slope. On the way, he met Kay coming up to find him.
“What is it?”
“The princess says she will return to the palace after dinner.”
Who decided that.
Bark glanced towards the cherry tree as he descended the slope. In the twilight settling under the tree, her figure wearing a wide-brimmed hat appeared like an illusion.
He snapped his thumb and middle finger. The white birds around him all flew away at once towards one place.
When he went out to the terrace, Patricia, who was eating, waved at him happily.
“Bark, where are your birds?”
“I don’t always carry them around.”
Next to Patricia’s chair, a white eagle was tearing at a chicken with its yellow beak. A white paper was tied to the eagle’s foot.
Noticing Bark’s gaze, Patricia gestured to the chair next to Carolina and said,
“As you said, Bri came down to find me today. She doesn’t seem to be hurt anywhere. Sit over there.”
“I’ll pass.”
He stood in front of the table with his arms crossed, not sitting in the chair.
“It would be nice if you joined us for meals. Why do you always refuse to dine together?”
Well, I can barely breathe as it is, how could I swallow food?
Bark glanced at Carolina, who was neatly setting down her cutlery and picking up a table napkin, and said,
“You said you’re returning to the palace after dinner.”
“Yes, tomorrow is the day I go volunteer at the poorhouse.”
“Won’t it be dangerous in the dark?”
“I asked the coachman, and he said he’s used to it and has prepared lanterns.”
“That’s what a novice who doesn’t know the nights of Mount Roche would say.”
Bark wanted to pull out and read the letter attached to the white eagle. It was surely going to Patrick. Since Patricia couldn’t use her hands, his woman, Carolina, must have written it for her.
“As it happens, I have some business in Ephi Street. I’ll escort you that far.”
He glared at the eagle, then turned away, embarrassed at having made up non-existent business.
The imperial coachman was actually dreading the thought of going down the treacherous mountain road.
He couldn’t show his fear when the princess said she had business, so he answered bravely, but the last time he went down, his spine had chilled several times even in the bright morning.
Uphill was fine as long as he soothed the horses and went slowly, but downhill both the horses and he became scared and flustered.
But with the Heun clan’s hunter captain guiding them directly in front, his heart became as bright as midday.
Patricia stroked the eagle’s side with still unfamiliar hands and sent it flying towards the sky.
They held hands and went out to the yard.
Lanterns were hung on the front of the carriage, and Bark, mounted on a white horse, also held a lantern in his hand.
“Lady Rina. Take care.”
“Your Majesty, if Harchen doesn’t come even after two days, I’ll come up again.”
“Will he not come, when it’s already been four days since the Empress’s birthday? Moreover…”
Patricia couldn’t continue. She couldn’t even imagine what might be happening at Tane Palace now that they knew of the Empress’s death.
“You also believe Harchen went to Tane, Lady Risha.”
Patricia grabbed Carolina’s hand as she was about to enter the carriage and said,
“Lady Carolina. When you enter the palace, please find Philip’s assistant and ask him to send a messenger bird to Harchen.”
“Yes, I will.”
Patricia watched as the imperial carriage descended the steep mountain road and disappeared as if sinking, then looked for Bern.
“Lord Bern. If His Majesty doesn’t come even after two days, what do you think about us slowly going down by carriage?”
“Your Majesty, it would be dangerous if your wounds reopen due to the carriage’s shaking.”
“Is there no way?”
Bern cleared his throat with his fist and answered with a serious expression.
“If Your Majesty is alright with it… how about I hold you while riding in the carriage?”
“Ah, for that long time…? Alright then.”
Claudine at the imperial palace said that the wound on her back was more serious than those on her calves and shoulders, and it would take a long time for the skin to heal and fuse together.
Patricia herself had guessed as much. In the mornings when the pain-relieving herbs lost their effect, her back hurt more than her calves and shoulders.
“Lord Bern, don’t you have a separate messenger bird to contact Lord Calip or Lord Lean?”
“No, actually we haven’t been apart much until now. Since Lord Calip returned from Tane Academy, the three of us have always moved as one.”
I guess waiting for Patrick’s letter brought by Bri will be the fastest after all.
Patricia gazed at the sky beyond the darkened green forest.
*
Julia was standing behind the wall of Leak Duke’s office.
She removed the splint on her leg as soon as she entered the Duke’s bedroom, finding it cumbersome.
Julia’s leg only had external injuries with no damage to the bones or muscles, but she whined about it hurting. The doctor had put on a splint considering possible muscle and ligament damage, but when alone, she undid the splint.
To better hear the conversation inside the office, she pressed her palm against the wall and turned her face, even putting her ear to it.
The Duke of Leak’s underling’s voice was weak, so she had to concentrate hard to barely make out what he was saying.
He reported the series of events that occurred in Tane one by one.
“It has been revealed that the Empress hired an assassin to try to assassinate Empress Patricia.”
‘Gasp!’
“Prince Patrick started a rebellion…”
‘Eek.’
“Emperor Karsik dueled with Emperor Kazan and won. But then Emperor Kazan cowardly from behind with a sword…”
‘What, how…’
“A knight of Prince Patrick named Eden Patterson stabbed Emperor Kazan with a dagger…”
Julia covered her mouth and screamed at the successive shocking events.
“Currently, Emperor Karsik is on his way back to Liswaan, Emperor Kazan is in critical condition, this Eden person has been imprisoned in Nyx Prison, and an Imperial Assembly is scheduled to be held in three days.”
“Did Duke Parse reveal our involvement?”
“No. He only revealed that the Empress stayed there.”
“But you know what? Did the Empress really die? We didn’t see her body. How could the assassins and even the coachman disappear without a trace?”
“The Empress Dowager has ordered silence, so no information is leaking from the imperial palace, but…”
Julia bit her thumbnail and clung to the wall.
“In my estimation, it seems the Heun clan hunters dealt with it. Only those fellows can erase traces so meticulously in such a short time, not leaving even a drop of blood at the scene.”
Julia tucked the splint under her arm and walked, supporting herself on the damp stone wall.
The Empress Dowager must have doubted the Empress’s chastity and believed it was a crime of passion, so she ordered silence, and Empress Pamila was dead.
With the Empress’s death, she could escape for now.
‘It’s unfair, I purely took the Empress to the Secret Lady to find her necklace, that’s all!’
Julia crouched in the passage that glistened blackly like the inside of an animal’s entrails. She covered her mouth with both hands and laughed.
‘Huhu, I’ve found a way to become Harchen’s Empress!’
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]