My head ached as if it would shatter.
I had a nightmare. I couldn’t remember. It seemed unnecessary to recall a dream I disliked.
“You’re not being yourself, Your Highness.”
“You wouldn’t understand, Osen.”
A familiar male voice.
Thinking about it, did Edward save me?
I mustered the strength to open my eyes. The area around my eyes felt painful due to tear stains sticking to my eyelids.
Soon, my vision cleared, and two people came into sight.
“What am I not aware of?”
“……pain.”
A buzzing rang in my ears. It was quite fierce.
“Ah…….”
I closed my eyes again and blocked my ears.
“Your Highness!”
A man’s hand firmly embraced me. As soon as I touched him, the ringing was washed away. I removed my hand and opened my eyes.
“Duke Your Highness?”
Hertian stared at me with worried eyes.
“Why…… why are you here, Your Highness?”
My memory gradually returned.
I sent a letter to my parents, saying let’s call off the marriage with Hertian, and I boarded a ship to go on a date with Edward.
But, why is Hertian here?
“Hertian, did you save me?”
My memory was blurry.
I waited for Edward at the lake, and I remember someone boarded the ship.
Was that Hertian, not Edward?
He nodded in response to my question.
“Didn’t you send me a letter, Your Highness? By the way, are you alright? I will call for a doctor.”
He sat in a chair by the bed and scrutinized me. His gaze was hot, but not uncomfortable like Edward’s.
“No, I’ll be fine after resting a bit.”
“You even fainted in front of me, how can you say that you’ll be alright after a rest?”
“I’m originally weak. I guess it happened because I was tired and I had been by the waterside after a long time.”
To reassure him who looked more shocked than me, I calmly explained. He knelt beside me, sighed with relief and muttered softly.
“Your Highness used to hate water.”
A story I had never heard before.
“Did I ever mention that?”
I had no memory of it.
Only a very few people, excluding family, knew I had unpleasant memories related to water.
“I guessed so. Usually, no matter how tired one is, they don’t faint.”
Hertian added with a smile.
“You should listen to my sentences till the end in our language.”
My evasive attitude seemed strange, but I put my discomfort aside and asked about what happened.
“Hertian, did you come after reading my letter? How did you know I was here?”
Our meeting place was in front of the square fountain. Even if the groom had delivered quickly, it would have taken him an hour to find me.
“In fact, after receiving your letter to cancel the marriage, I was heading to your mansion when I found out you were here and changed direction.”
“I’m sorry. I asked for marriage first but didn’t get permission properly.”
But, Hertian’s actions were incredibly considerate. He gently helped me up and carefully sat me by the bed.
“Thank you.”
Now it was time to get to the point.
I swallowed saliva once, adjusted my posture and called him.
“Hertian. There’s a reason I asked to meet today.”
“What is it?”
Hertian was curious about why I asked to meet and focused on me.
“My father heard some strange rumors and is opposing our marriage.”
I wanted to tell him everything. Since we were to become one.
“So, you suddenly refused. It’s my fault. There are rumors that I am a war veteran, it’s understandable for a baron to dislike it.”
“No. He refused because Your Highness has a complicated relationship with women.”
Hertian’s face gradually turned into surprise. So did the subordinate standing beside him.
I understand why.
He’s a man who has no interest in women, not even a bit. As I thought, nothing has changed from the original work.
“That’s not true.”
He denied it a beat late. His face looked embarrassed.
“If it’s not Your Highness, then it’s not. And even if that were true, I don’t care. I won’t care even if you bring in a mistress in the future.”
I reassured him with an innocuous smile, hoping he wouldn’t break the agreement out of hurt feelings.
“Government, that’s an absurd assumption. Whoever spread that rumor, it’s completely unrelated to me.”
“Absolutely! It was said that our commander didn’t even hunt female deer, let alone women, on the battlefield!”
This time, the subordinate knight next to me chimed in.
Yes, that’s right.
“I trust Hertian. But separately from me, my parents are misunderstanding. They worry about me a lot and think that it would be tough if I marry the duke. They claim to have evidence, so they would think that explanations are just words.”
At the mention of evidence, Hertian furrowed his brow.
“It’s strange. We’ve only known each other for a few days, and I went to propose yesterday. In the meantime, someone spread a false rumor.”
He was right.
Honestly, I had no choice but to suspect Serdis.
Who else would be so obsessed with watching me and block my marriage if not for the obsessive Serdis?
“There is one person who doesn’t want me to get married.”
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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