Ileone’s hand, which had been offering the engagement ring, slowly came down.
“Why?”
“I think it’s too early for marriage.”
Ileone neatly brushed her hair aside. The hair that had been tidily arranged became disheveled due to her flustered, rough touch.
“Accepting the engagement ring doesn’t mean we have to hold the wedding ceremony right away. I’m fine with just the engagement…….”
“No. We…… shouldn’t.”
“Why decide that alone?”
Ileone looked directly at Elishia’s face.
Only then did she notice the swelling around Elishia’s eyes, and Ileone’s eyes narrowed.
“What happened?”
“No, nothing…….”
“But why did you cry?”
Elishia’s eyes widened. They quickly welled up, as if about to shed tears at any moment.
“I, I didn’t cry.”
She turned her body, touching the corners of her eyes.
“Don’t come to find me anymore. I can’t get married.”
“Elishia.”
Elishia, hearing her name, stopped in her tracks.
“Elishia.”
Ileone’s low voice called her desperately. Then, Elishia turned her head to look back.
“We’re not meant to be. It would have been better if you and I…… never met.”
Listening to her voice, which sounded as if she was swallowing tears, Ileone felt like she was going mad.
Ileone grabbed Elishia’s arm and turned her around.
“What are you doing? Let go.”
“Lies.”
Ileone said coldly.
“I really hate liars.”
“…….”
“Lona.”
Elishia, who had been staring back without avoiding his gaze, paled.
“Wh, when did you…….”
“I knew it from the beginning. That it was you.”
A woman he had never seen before.
Someone he had imagined alone in the dark.
How her hair would fly if the wind blew, what her smiling face would be like, whether she would squint her eyes or tuck in her lips.
He recognized her at a glance.
In this world, Lona was unique to Ileone. That’s why he couldn’t have not known.
“From the beginning?”
“From the day we first met at the palace. From that day.”
Elishia covered her face with both hands, trembling. Ileone gently took her hands into his. As he slowly detached their hands, the complex emotions in her violet eyes, already moist, shimmered.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re Elishia or Lona.”
Ileone said seriously.
“It’s just you. It only has to be you.”
Tears flowed from Elishia’s eyes.
Even the drops from her body were beautiful.
What was the meaning behind those tears?
Were they tears of joy that resonated with her heart?
Or the difficulty of rejecting him?
The water drops, shimmering more than the diamond ring he had prepared, flowed down her cheek and dripped beneath her chin.
“I, I’m sorry.”
The strength momentarily left Ileone’s shoulders.
Soon, intense emotions swept over him.
“What’s the problem? Whatever it is…… If you don’t like it, I won’t do anything. I can solve anything for you.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Was that so hard?”
Ileone asked desolately.
“I wished there would be sincerity between us. I didn’t even ask you to feel as much as I do, just one percent of it, to give me your consent.”
Elishia didn’t answer.
Ileone, taking the silence as affirmation, let go of her slender arm that he had been holding.
“Lona…… You said you wouldn’t run away.”
“……Ileone, sir.”
She had definitely said that.
「I thought you might run away.」
「Why would you think that?」
「There’s not many left in the mansion. The men couldn’t have endured this situation.」
To himself, obsessed with Lona’s every move and feeling worthless, hadn’t she warmly assured him?
「Don’t run away.」
「Do, do I look like someone who would run away?」
「I want to think not. That there’s at least one maid who sees me this way and doesn’t run away. But if I expect it and even Lona runs away, I will be disappointed.」
「I won’t run away.」
Ileone’s voice was choked.
“Even after promising that you’d be trustworthy, why…….”
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Don’t act like you’re apologizing so cleanly and then never see me again.”
Illeone laid his forehead on Elishia’s shoulder.
“Please. Don’t do this to me.”
But there was no comforting touch as there had been in the carriage at some point.
(This is a time separator.)
Illeone stopped going to the Duke’s mansion after that.
“You did well. Elishia. This is all for you.”
Mariella looked relieved.
“That was a close call.”
She had been prepared for everything.
“I never thought the Grand Duke would be so reckless. You almost got into big trouble.”
“That’s right.”
Elishia answered soullessly to Mariella, who was happy that she had narrowly gotten through it.
“It’s all about surviving. What use is dying? You did well for the Grand Duke, too. The original will not change.”
Meanwhile, Mariella kept speaking to a gloomy Elishia, seeming concerned.
“There’s a force here trying to unfold even if forced. If it had become a deeper relationship and then changed you, it would have hurt the Grand Duke more.”
“Yes. Maybe that’s the case.”
Mariella’s comfort, which was not comfort, did not help heal the wound in Elishia’s heart.
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.]
