Adolf met with Lorencia along with Ines and Adrian before returning to the Isuter Empire.
“I heard from Adrian. All the plans so far were made by Lady Lorencia.”
“That’s correct, Your Majesty.”
Lorencia answered Adolf with a polite bow at the waist and head.
“First, I thank you for saving my life, Ines, and even my son. I will repay this debt if I can.”
Adolf bowed his head to Lorencia.
If it weren’t for her, all those he loved might have died long ago.
“Your Imperial Majesty. I did not do it to receive thanks.”
“I am bowing not as an emperor, but as a woman’s husband and Adrian’s father to express my deep gratitude. Lady Lorencia.”
“Please raise your head, Your Imperial Majesty. I beg you.”
At Lorencia’s plea, Adolf smiled and raised his head.
He had heard about Lorencia’s identity from Adrian and Charlotte.
When he recalled Ruans asking for Lorencia to be adopted into the Pol Heredian family, his whole body broke out in goosebumps.
Did Ruans really believe Lorencia was illegitimate when he asked for her adoption? Or did he know everything when he made the request?
Everything was questionable.
Daniel kidnapped Musila and forcibly made her Count Pol Heredian’s mistress, then made Lorencia an illegitimate child.
Where did it all start being planned? Just as he finished thinking it must have been planned at least 20 years ago, he felt suffocating air wrapping around his body.
“Lady Lorencia.”
Ines’s eyes held a grateful light as she placed her hand on her chest and gave Lorencia a kind smile.
At first, she was angry and bewildered by the reason Adrian pretended to be dead.
But she accepted it after Adrian explained it was a plan to safely send the pregnant Charlotte to the Polroid Empire.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you so much.”
“I did not do it to receive thanks, Your Majesty.”
“You’re humble. But I want you to know that Lady Lorencia has given us the most grateful moment in our lives, that’s why I’m thanking you.”
“Yes.”
With a slightly reddened face, Lorencia stretched out her hand and summoned an amethyst bead emitting a beautiful purple light.
Adolf and Ines were amazed again at the sight. They recalled the news from the banquet hall on Polroid’s Founding Day.
The news that the crystal bead of the Great Saint Saraf had shattered and lost its light, and Lorencia had picked up the broken crystal bead and repaired it.
“So this is that rumored amethyst bead.”
“That’s right, Your Majesty.”
Lorencia placed a small soft cushion on the table and then placed the amethyst bead on it.
“It’s a mysterious and beautiful bead.”
Adolf exclaimed in great admiration at the beautiful light of the amethyst bead, which looked like starlight falling from the night sky like a waterfall.
“The power of Ella Goddess’s child is literally power bestowed by Ella Goddess.”
Lorencia smiled and placed her hand over the amethyst bead.
“The power I received from Ella Goddess is to save people’s lives.”
It’s not entirely wrong. She saved lives with the power to see the future.
“Saving lives…”
Adolf nodded in admiration at Lorencia’s explanation.
“Yes. If Prince Adrian were to die, a world war would start and countless people would die. I used the power given by Ella Goddess to prevent the prince’s death to stop that.”
“Ella Goddess, thank you.”
“Now the shadow of death has disappeared from Prince Adrian, Princess Charlotte, Emperor Adolf, and the Empress.”
She checked the future several times. She didn’t see a future where they died by murder.
All this time, she had only seen futures where they died not by natural causes but by someone’s hand.
But in the twisted present, their deaths were sad yet beautiful. It made her realize what a pious death according to the natural order is.
A death that can be sent off with a smile is not an end, but a great message left to descendants and a new horizon of departure that can develop further.
And.
“Now that those they had to kill are all alive, we can prevent the wars they would have started in the future.”
“Who are they?”
“The White Snake.”
The moment the snake’s tail is cut off, you must grab the snake’s head.
Of course, even if you grab the snake’s head, the snake might twist its body and strangle the person’s arm and wrist, making it dangerous, but if you can just meet the White Snake’s gaze, that level of risk is acceptable.
“I would like Your Imperial Majesty, the Empress, and Prince Adrian to return to the Isuter Empire before those who have joined hands with the White Snake declare war.”
“Return? Are you saying that will prevent the war? Lady Lorencia.”
“Yes. If you just take the throne from Emperor Ruans, there will be no war.”
The Actul ducal family, who had heard Adrian’s plan early, made plans to usurp the throne as soon as Adolf returned.
“Lady Lorencia.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I intend to imprison Ruans as soon as I return to the Isuter Empire. Ruans has crossed the line between parent and child.”
Lorencia stroked the amethyst bead.
In the amethyst bead, she saw the image of Ruans going mad in prison and Ines sending the daughter of Marquis Monbellioncest back to the marquis’s residence.
“Please go back and set everything right, Your Imperial Majesty.”
“I promise, Lady Lorencia. I will put everything back in its place.”
At Adolf’s answer, a fresh smile formed on Lorencia’s lips.
[This is the timeline separator]Adolf, looking around the frozen conference room at the round table, walked straight to Ruans.
“No. It can’t be. How could you have survived!”
“What can’t be? Ruans.”
Adolf spoke to Ruans, who was glaring at him. Ruans couldn’t move as if his hands and feet were tightly bound. He could barely breathe.
It was impossible for Adolf to have returned alive.
“I killed all the assassins sent by Duke Daniel and then sent pigeons flying with notes saying the operation was successful.”
Ruans and Daniel tensed at Adolf’s sharp voice directed at them.
“Even though the assassins’ lives were as short-lived as they were, you didn’t even care that not a single one returned… How lightly do you regard human life? Duke Greycan. And Ruans.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We got confessions from all the captured assassins.”
“Confessions, you say? That’s nonsense.”
As Daniel stepped forward to explain, knights rushed into the conference room behind Adolf.
Watching this, Ruans’ lips began to tremble.
“Seize him.”
At Adolf’s command, the knights moved quickly to surround Daniel. Seeing this, Ruans realized something had gone terribly wrong.
“Duke Daniel. It would be best not to resist futilely, as I might kill Ruans on the spot if you do.”
“What on earth are you doing?”
“What am I doing? I’m trying to capture Duke Daniel, who tried to kill me, and you, Ruans.”
The conference room fell silent again at Adolf’s statement.
“Wh-what evidence do you have to do this?”
Daniel asked Adolf.
“The evidence is overflowing… Don’t worry about there being no evidence. Duke Greycan. And Ruans.”
“If you’ve fabricated the evidence.”
“Did you say fabrication? Isn’t my testimony as one of the victims who survived evidence enough? Duke Greycan.”
“Don’t lie! You’ve set a trap to frame me and Emperor Ruans and fabricated evidence, haven’t you?”
Daniel was instantly seized by the knights and tied with ropes.
Ruans realized the worst situation had unfolded. He trembled, not knowing what to do as he watched Daniel being dragged away like a dog.
Adolf approached Ruans.
“You must have had a hard time playing emperor all this while. Don’t worry now that I’m back. Ruans.”
Then Adolf looked at the knights and ordered.
“Lock Ruans in solitary confinement.”
“Don’t come near me!”
The crown Ruans was wearing fell to the floor with a clang as he stepped back.
Ruans was immediately locked in an underground solitary cell in the imperial palace.
Unlike the prison where other prisoners stayed, it wasn’t dark or unsanitary. There was a soft bed and a desk.
The stone walls of the solitary cell let in a chill, making his body shrink from the cold. And there wasn’t even a small window.
Only the torch hanging on the wall and the small candle on the desk were the only lights in the solitary cell.
The door was made of bars, so he could clearly see the knights guarding him outside.
Ruans bit his lip. How did Adolf come back alive? He still couldn’t believe it.
“After killing all the assassins, he sent word that the operation was successful. Damn it… I fell into a trap.”
Anger rose at Adolf who had deceived him.
Daniel was also locked up, so he couldn’t help him. Who would help him?
He had to believe that his birth mother, Pelena, would help him. He had to believe that. Otherwise, his mind would collapse at the miserable reality of the present.
“This is all wrong.”
How should I get out of here? Ruans felt his vision going dark.
And soon he felt hunger.
The knights visible through the bars showed no signs of bringing him a meal.
He was thirsty too. But as a member of the imperial family, he couldn’t tell them he was hungry or thirsty.
Just the thought of having to beg them was humiliating.
Ruans paced around nervously before sitting on the bed.
He felt more frustrated not knowing how long he had been imprisoned.
And after some time passed, Ruans, who had sat up at the noisy sound of the knights, realized that the knights he had seen beyond the bars were gone.
And then someone’s footsteps echoed in his ears.
‘Who is it?’
“Ruans.”
A familiar voice was heard.
“Who’s there?”
A dark silhouette was visible beyond the bars.
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.”
