Clap! I smiled brightly, clapping my hands together. It’s right to reassure Joseph before finalizing the marriage talk.
I spoke in a brighter voice than ever before.
“I’ve been meaning to say this for a while, but there’s nothing between the Imperial Prince Raphael and me. To me, he’s just my son’s friend. Nothing more, nothing less.”
So his kindness could only be pure intention. It was such an obvious thing that I never thought anyone would misunderstand it.
If I hadn’t had that conversation with Loretta, I probably wouldn’t have thought of the possibility for the rest of my life.
“So there’s no need for needless jealousy.”
After saying that, I showed a satisfied expression…
“…?”
But the next moment, I couldn’t help but lose my words when I met Joseph’s red gaze, frowning one eyebrow and clicking his tongue.
“Why are you making that expression?”
“Hah…”
Joseph, who had been stumbling over his words and breathing like a person out of his mind until just now, suddenly let out a long sigh.
The fact that he became normal in an instant… is probably fortunate, but somehow I didn’t like his expression.
It’s as if I’ve said something terribly pathetic, isn’t it?
“That doesn’t matter anymore, my lady.”
It doesn’t matter anymore? That was an inappropriate expression coming from someone who had troubled me quite a bit over this issue not long ago.
“Just now.”
As I was about to say something, Joseph spoke first.
“You mentioned respect.”
Yes, I did. I blinked, and his words continued.
“You said mutual respect is important.”
I certainly said that. This time I nodded, and a glimmer of expectation clouded his eyes.
“Do you remember saying how important respect is, especially in certain relationships?”
What’s this? I felt like he was treating me like a three or four-year-old child. If not that, I wondered if he disagreed with my opinion.
I don’t want to debate over such things one by one.
I calmed my emotions. Anyway, I had no intention of backing down from this assertion.
With my chin held high, I pronounced each word with emphasis.
“I said that’s how it should be for people who love each other. Above all, if it’s a married couple, I believe it should be even more so. The longevity of a relationship starts from each other’s attitude…”
“That’s it!”
“Pardon?”
Joseph suddenly interrupted my words.
Before I could express my displeasure at his rudeness, he suddenly stood up and approached my side in an instant.
I had no time to react. He firmly grasped both my shoulders, completely occupying my gaze.
“Please… tell me accurately. Are we in a relationship where we love each other?”
“What are you…?”
Now it was my turn to be dumbfounded, my tongue frozen. No, it felt like my thought processes had frozen along with my tongue.
I couldn’t understand for a moment why he was asking such a question. You were the one who said you loved me first, Joseph.
Surely you haven’t forgotten that memory…
And then suddenly.
“Perhaps…”
Really suddenly, a sense of unease struck me. I’m really asking just in case.
My trembling pupils observed Joseph’s face. A flush was spreading on his cheeks, shadowed by his long eyelashes.
“Have I not told you that I…”
…At that moment, something suddenly occurred to me.
Yes. At some point, I knew. That a part of my life, or a part of my soul, had started suffering from a certain ‘mental illness’.
Of course, some might call this illness the most beautiful blessing in life.
But to me, who was struggling to live in reality, it was just a mental illness, nothing more, nothing less.
I didn’t want to utter the name of the illness out loud.
It was too embarrassing for a woman over thirty to pronounce, and it was also an abstract concept that was difficult to grasp.
Instead, I chose to ignore that mental illness while controlling myself.
My life was too harsh and had too many responsibilities to be dominated by emotions created within me.
However, while I was disregarding it, the emotion that had already sprouted in me was slowly swelling.
Until the moment when it had to reveal its presence, regardless of my will.
Just quietly holding its breath and curling up its body.
And so…
The night he confessed his affection to me.
Finally, I had no choice but to acknowledge the existence of the mental illness that I had been covering up, suppressing, and ignoring all this time.
However, coincidentally… At that moment, as I was robbed of my breath as if being plundered, I also lost the chance to sort out my uncomfortable feelings.
It could be considered a tragic event for Joseph.
That’s how I realize it properly now, though belatedly. On that day, at that moment, in that place.
‘I was jealous of Imperial Princess Seraphina.’
By then, a deep emotion towards Joseph had already grown within me.
But at that time, I didn’t acknowledge my feelings. No, I had no choice but to reject them with all my might.
Because I instinctively knew.
How luxurious it was for me to have an emotion that some would unhesitatingly call a mental illness, and others would call life’s greatest blessing.
I’m already a person who has been married once, and a mother of three children, and…
‘Moreover, I have a fatal physical defect.’
For someone like me, harboring pure emotions towards someone was an issue I couldn’t allow myself.
So I thought it was right to erase and bury such luxurious emotions. But…
Not anymore. I now have a clear justification.
I am the legitimate heir to the Chronos dynasty, and Joseph is a being who cannot live unless he is bound to someone like me.
He needs me. At least to preserve his life.
And I need him too. If there’s something that can never be plundered from me, who has lived a life of having my fate stolen by someone…
It’s this emotion that I’ve always considered a luxury.
It would be the only one.
“I love you…”
Like that.
After a long time, I was finally able to utter this embarrassing and incomparably abstract word.
It’s something that could make me feel unbelievably pathetic.
I uttered the word without hesitation in front of Sergei, but I hadn’t done so in front of the person concerned until now.
What was so precious and valuable that I could only open my mouth in front of this person now?
“…Have I never said it before?”
“Yes, I…”
A smile spread across Joseph’s lips. Then he nodded slightly. Somehow, the corners of his eyes were red as if reflecting the color of his pupils.
“I didn’t… know.”
“I love you, Joseph.”
And I hurriedly opened my mouth again.
“I love you.”
Now my lips feel no need to hesitate. I find no reason to engage in a battle of wits by holding back words to gain emotional superiority.
Some emotions only become effective when expressed in language.
Love is especially so. I realized this obvious truth while raising children.
So…
“Can you become someone that no one can take away from me?”
“Ah…”
As if he had heard something unbelievable, his pupils trembled unsteadily.
At the same time, the hand resting on my shoulder began to shake slightly.
I reached out and cupped his cheek as if to steady it. Unlike his, my hand did not tremble.
“Answer me quickly, Joseph. If you swear to do so, I’ll forgive the lie you told me recently.”
I was referring to the incident he had planned to stage involving me, the children, and Sergei.
For a moment, Joseph’s pupils dilated to their limit.
This seems to have been the correct answer. The reason why he was lowering himself, unlike his usual self, calling himself a nuisance.
“How…”
“If you thought I wouldn’t know, I’m disappointed. What do you take me for?”
“…”
Joseph’s cheeks turned bright red as he rolled his eyes while remaining fixed in place.
Eventually, with an embarrassed breath, he lowered his gaze and said, fluttering his silver eyelashes.
“I certainly thought you would be deceived, but it seems my lady was one step ahead of me.”
“Well. From my perspective, it was so sloppy that I thought you were earnestly appealing to me because you felt guilty about lying.”
At that, Joseph laughed softly with his characteristic breathing sound.
The hand that had retreated from my shoulder now gently wrapped around my hand cupping his cheek.
“…Let’s do that.”
Tilting his head slightly, Joseph lightly kissed my palm.
Then he slowly lowered his body and sat down, aligning his gaze with mine.
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.]
