Carlos kissed Mercedes’ forehead as she slept and breathed deeply. There was still plenty of time left until the stars fully filled the sky.
While embracing her to keep her body from getting cold, he gazed only at Mercedes’ face, leaving the beautiful scenery behind.
Her gently closed eyes, thinking of the jewels hidden within made his heart swell. Long eyelashes that seemed about to collect dew, a straight nose and forehead.
Even her lips that always made him want to devour them.
To think this woman decided to stay by his side…
And that they could both live.
Wasn’t this a miracle?
It wasn’t just Mercedes.
Carlos too found his days, which he had been fighting through like a war, became so precious. He also realized that life could be more peaceful than expected and that the ordinary could be so tender.
He gently stroked Mercedes’ soft hair and watched her for a long time.
Watching the face of a loved one was something that could never grow tiresome.
No matter how he looked, no matter how much he looked.
He was simply happy.
How much time had passed? It seemed Carlos had also dozed off for a moment.
Though he had already resigned himself to returning late, he was suddenly reminded of the old butler who had practically raised him, steadfastly enduring others’ gazes after his mother passed away.
‘Franz will have something to say.’
He probably wouldn’t think it dangerous since Carlos was with her, but he’d likely be scolded that returning too late wasn’t good for Her Majesty the Empress’s health.
‘Geez, these days he cares for Mel more than me.’
It wasn’t that he disliked it or was jealous. He liked it. Seeing those he cared for cherishing each other made him think of them as ‘family’.
That’s right.
He already had people who were like family to him, and with Mercedes joining them, the puzzle pieces fit perfectly.
They were family.
“…Ah. Are you awake?”
He realized that Mercedes, who had fallen asleep nestled against his chest, was now lying face up.
“Oh my. I left you alone. I’m sorry. Did you sleep well?”
“Mmm, I just woke up too. I was wondering why you suddenly lay down. Was this what you wanted to show me?”
Mercedes answered calmly as usual. But within it, a strange excitement and a sense of being awestruck by the scenery could be felt.
Carlos slowly looked up at the sky.
In the forest without a speck of light.
The sky was a sea of stars.
Looking only at the sky created the illusion of floating amidst them. Mercedes took in each star one by one with her eyes. Her pupils filled with stars, becoming a universe of their own.
Carlos carefully raised her up.
“What I really wanted to show you was this.”
Mercedes let out a breath after rising with his support.
“…It feels like it’s not of this world.”
A lake blanketed with starlight. Fireflies flying about, shining in the last days of summer.
She couldn’t take her eyes off the scenery, as if not wanting to miss any of it.
“Let’s come again. This time is the best. Next year, and the year after. Let’s come even when we’re old and our backs are bent.”
Carlos whispered, embracing her shoulders.
Mercedes could only nod slowly, as if trying to lick up the scenery without missing a bit, unable to turn her eyes to him.
After floating in the night sky for a long while, Mercedes turned to Carlos.
“You… are a gift in yourself.”
Then she smiled.
“It’s really strange. If I keep looking, I feel like I might cry.”
It was just everyday life. They had just gone a bit further on their usual walk, and would return to the imperial palace as always to sleep and start the morning when they woke up.
They hadn’t specifically come far to see the scenery, nor had their schedule changed for today.
They had simply ridden Carlos’ horse to a place he said he liked, laid out a mat and lain down.
Yet it felt like receiving a great gift.
Was this possible in everyday life?
The extraordinary within the ordinary, witnessing this for the first time, she felt a strange feeling. To think you could see such things in daily life. To think you could encounter this.
For her, ‘daily life’ was now the most precious thing. And within it was filled this new daily yet extraordinary scenery.
Somehow her heart felt tight and her eyes stung. Not wanting to cry on a day like this, Mercedes held back her tears tightly so they wouldn’t fall.
Because her life so far had been pitiful? That could be part of it.
But what was certain was that it wasn’t only pitiful.
“Can we keep living like this?”
Was it because she had melted in the face of the scenery’s impact despite believing everything? Inevitably becoming sentimental, she whispered with a bit of anxiety.
Carlos answered, lightly kissing her cheek.
“Yes, of course.”
Now they sat facing each other. The scenery unfolding behind each of them was incredibly beautiful.
Though it was dark, they could see each other clearly.
“Really? Can I eat meals with you, learn what I want to learn while you handle state affairs, and spend mornings with Rhonda and Patricia?”
“Of course.”
“I might meet Nadia and Mrs. Fisher, and maybe make more friends. Can we… keep living like that?”
“I might get a little jealous of you making friends, but I have a lot of state affairs so I should compromise.”
Carlos grinned and pressed his forehead to hers. Their breaths drew closer.
Mercedes didn’t know about happiness or daily life, so she couldn’t shake off all her anxiety right away. The intense gift of daily life had made her that way.
But Carlos was in front of her. The man she relied on most in the world, and who she hoped would rely on her. The man she worried about most and who never left her mind or heart. When he firmly held her neck and supported her waist with his other hand, she couldn’t help but think that maybe things would be alright.
Such a solid person.
So…
“Hup…”
“Haa.”
Their lips met very naturally. The lights floating around them seemed to bless them.
Carlos’ kiss gradually deepened and Mercedes controlled her breathing with her eyes closed.
The cool late summer night breeze blew between their hot breaths.
“I know what you’re anxious about.”
Carlos whispered in her ear as he embraced her. His low voice tickled her neck, causing a strange sensation, and Mercedes shivered slightly.
“You say I’m anxious?”
It was just a bit of anxiety, but had Carlos noticed? Was it because she asked? Was it that obvious?
Mercedes’ eyes grew round.
“I keep wanting to look at you because I want to know about you. I also know you want to protect this daily life.”
“…That’s right. For me, this kind of life is a first…”
“That’s why I want to protect it.”
“…Yes. I feel like you can help me.”
Mercedes smiled softly.
“There’s the surest way.”
“A way?”
As she voiced her confusion, Carlos released the embrace. Then he knelt on one knee and bent his waist to match her eye level as much as possible.
“Mercedes. I’m sorry it’s late. I should have done this sooner.”
“Carlos?”
“Will you marry me?”
“…What? We’re already…”
Even though it was something she had been thinking about because of Nadia and Mrs. Fisher, the words ‘I’m already the Empress’ were about to pop out of Mercedes’ mouth.
Carlos shook his head. His face looked uncharacteristically nervous, so Mercedes straightened her back and made the same expression.
“I want only you by my side. There will be no other woman. I know ascending to the position of Empress might be burdensome. But I don’t want to put someone else on the Empress’s throne for political reasons. You are my only love, and the Empress position is secondary. I just want to declare to the world that you are my most firmly remaining lover. My one and only love…”
Carlos, who had been speaking softly, took a breath.
“I want to proclaim it to the world. My possessiveness is that enormous, Mercedes.”
Then he took out a ring box from his chest. When he opened it, there was a ring with a large diamond set in the center, decorated with pale green emeralds that resembled the color of Mercedes’ eyes.
“…Ah.”
Mercedes tried to properly understand the situation… and soon realized everything and dropped a tear.
‘I wanted you to look only at me too.’
It was the same feeling.
“Really, I tried not to cry because I might seem childish crying over how beautiful the world is… But if you do this.”
A drop, then two more tears fell from Mercedes’ eyes.
Carlos frowned and wiped her tears.
“If you refuse, I’ll have no choice. But you know what? This Emperor will become a pathetic man and torment you. Asking you to think again, to marry me.”
Carlos joked yet spoke in earnest.
Mercedes leaned her cheek against the large hand wiping her tears. Then she looked up at him.
His black eyes shining even in the darkness were solemn.
She nodded while looking into those eyes.
“…That’s a relief.”
Carlos exhaled as if relieved.
The two laughed quietly so that only they could hear each other in this quiet forest where only the sound of insects could be heard.
He put the ring on her finger. The perfectly fitting ring shone beautifully on her hand.
“I love you, Mercedes.”
“I love you, Carlos.”
In their private space. In the beautiful space of daily life, the two pledged their love.
“Now you won’t be able to run away from me, is that alright?”
“I’m the one who won’t let you off if you try to take back the proposal.”
“Oh my. Rumors will spread that the Empire’s best prosecutor has fallen easily.”
The two chuckled and kissed once more.
The world was full of nothing but love, tenderness, and beauty.
It was something Mercedes felt for the first time in her life.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
