“…Yes?”
She was surprised. She couldn’t help but be surprised.
Rasilia was willing to remain a disgraced empress to return to Delarta. She had accepted any and all humiliation, fully expecting to abdicate.
And yet, he had said she could go.
Could it have been resolved so easily?
“Think of it as a form of recuperation. The distance is a bit far, though.”
“In that case…”
“Though it would be frowned upon to leave the capital for too long, it’s manageable. Recovering your memories is more important to me.”
“So, Your Majesty, you’re saying you’ll go with me?”
Somehow.
It couldn’t be that simple.
“I can’t be apart from you. You know that. The blue moon will always rise.”
“Indeed.”
Still, her heart wavered for a moment.
If he was coming along, she wouldn’t have to say goodbye to everyone.
Embarrassed by her own thoughts, Rasilia shook her head.
She must have been out of her mind.
Everything beside her right now wasn’t given to her; it was for her true companion.
“I’ll think about it more. I can’t ask Your Majesty to accompany me on such a long journey just because I want to go.”
“Then ask.”
His gaze seemed to tie her down.
“Haven’t we promised? If you have a request, make it. If you want to go, ask.”
And the Emperor would gain something. Something trivial and inconsequential, but increasingly unavoidable.
“It’s fine.”
Rasilia severed her lingering attachment then and there.
For the sake of everyone, she had to go back to her place. That way, the Emperor could also find the person who belonged in his.
“I didn’t expect you to refuse.”
Lescar muttered as if talking to himself.
“Weren’t you eager to go to Delarta?”
“There’s a trial looming now.”
“So, you’re saying the trial is more important to you than going to Delarta?”
“Isn’t that the sequence of events?”
“What if sequence didn’t matter? The trial can be postponed. You could go to Delarta first.”
But the Emperor would be coming along.
Nothing would change, then.
Rasilia expelled Lescar’s tempting words from her mind as if spitting out honey that had entered her mouth.
“So, I should make another request?”
“Do you dislike asking me that much?”
It wasn’t that she disliked asking; she disliked the petty demands he would make in return. She disliked the feelings those demands left her with.
“…Yes.”
At her words, Lescar furrowed his eyebrows.
“I can’t understand.”
“I didn’t ask for understanding.”
“…”
Sealing his lips, Lescar suddenly asked a question. His gaze was still firmly locked on Rasilia.
“Do you know?”
“What are you saying?”
“Everything you say and do since losing your memory contradicts all my expectations.”
“Is that…so?”
“And what that means,”
Abruptly, Lescar grabbed a handful of Rasilia’s hair.
Bowing his head, he brought her hair to his nose and inhaled deeply.
“You’re different from the Cartahena Pielion before losing your memories.”
It was a significant action and a significant statement. Or perhaps it felt different because of the weighty words.
Releasing her hair, Lescar wore a faint smile.
“You really are different. I’ve never found Cartahena’s scent pleasant.”
“…”
Gazing at the speechless Rasilia, Lescar looked expressionless as usual.
However, Rasilia could now distinguish nuances in his flat expressions. Strangely, the one he wore now was tender.
“Don’t worry about the trial. Even if the priests falsely accuse you of crimes you can’t remember, you’ll be safe.”
His tender expression didn’t match his words.
The Emperor spoke as if he knew what Rasilia hoped to achieve through the trial.
“Can you really do that? It’s a trial in front of the gods. The outcome will be decided in the name of the gods. You can’t interfere, can you?”
“If necessary, I will.”
“Didn’t you dislike breaking laws? That’s why you did it with the Princess of Shuraiden,”
“It was my duty. Now it’s yours.”
When spoken through Rascal’s lips, the words became the most natural thing in the world.
Rasilia couldn’t understand why the Emperor still treated the Empress as his companion when her mark might have disappeared, and her heart was heavy with the incomprehension.
‘Abdication won’t be easy… but for now, it’s the best course.’
Rasilia looked at the Emperor with sorrowful eyes.
At least she was sincere. She prayed he would soon find someone truly able to heal his bloodline.
“So, I can trust Your Majesty and stand trial with ease.”
“… You’re saying you’ll face trial no matter what, even if the outcome is predetermined.”
“Yes, as I told you.”
Rascal would surely oppose abdication. However, the temple and the nobles would do their utmost to support it.
The temple had not hesitated to use the royal foundation to bring the Empress to the courtroom. They wouldn’t easily concede the trial’s outcome to the Emperor.
Eventually, one had to lift the lid to see what was inside.
“It’s late. You should go and rest now.”
Although polite, it was a signal for her to leave.
Time had passed considerably.
Unbeknownst to her, the color of the night sky was changing, likely due to the blue light of dawn mixing in.
“Before that.”
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
