It felt as if welcoming guests was something from the distant past. When living in Ider Palace, there were overflowing numbers of noble ladies and young ladies who came to visit Roxiana.
Roxiana found more enjoyment in watching the knights train in the training grounds or tending to flowers in the garden, so she never welcomed their visits.
Listening with a smile to the secret power struggles between women at tea parties and the gossip about absent people made her want to scream.
‘If you dislike them so much, why not grab them by the hair!’
But Roxiana had learned the etiquette of royalty and the patience to not show emotions, so she was able to politely endure those boring and arduous times.
Looking back now, it was a complaint of the well-fed.
Those who came to see Roxiana, despite having no reason to curry favor with the future Queen of Gania who would one day leave Kanta, probably held affectionate feelings for her.
The faces of those who were unwelcome then vividly came to mind one by one.
Are they safe? Are they suffering hardships for having served the Franche royal family?
Brushing her hair in front of the mirror, Roxiana realized her face had become terribly distorted and composed her expression.
As she entered the reception room, Persi, Dennis, and Jewelry, who were sitting on the sofa, quickly stood up.
“We greet you, Princess.”
The children who were about to run to Roxiana hesitated when they saw their mother’s polite greeting, then bowed their heads following their mother.
“We greet you, Princess.”
“We greet you, Princess.”
Thinking it fortunate that Jewelry looked healthy, Roxiana said to Persi.
“I’m no longer a princess. Please call me Roxiana comfortably.”
“I heard my husband swore an oath of knighthood to you, Princess. So to my family, you are the Princess.”
“You’re the Princess.”
The children chimed in with their mother’s words.
Roxiana, having learned how stubborn the people of Torkan were, no longer asked them to address her comfortably. She wasn’t sure how many times they had this conversation every time they exchanged greetings.
As Roxiana sat on the sofa, Persi and the children sat across from her. Persi opened the lid of the basket on the table and said.
“I baked some meat pies.”
The savory smell that had been filling the reception room since earlier must have been the meat pies.
“Mom’s meat pies are the best in the world.”
“I can eat two!”
The meat pies taken out of the basket looked perfectly golden-brown and baked so well they seemed to be dripping with oil.
Looking at them, Roxiana recalled the meat pies her mother used to bake long ago. The taste of mother’s meat pies eaten after playing with her brothers in the garden was amazing.
Thinking about it now, they were probably ordinary meat pies, no, they might have been less tasty than those made by the palace chefs, but back then she thought there was nothing more delicious in the world.
“My mother used to bake meat pies like this often too. My brothers and I thought those meat pies were the most delicious thing in the world.”
At the words muttered unknowingly in nostalgia, Persi’s eyes widened.
“The Queen herself baked meat pies?”
“Yes. My mother enjoyed cooking and tending to the garden. In winter, she would even wrap scarves she knitted herself around us. Sometimes there were parts where the stitches came loose, but they were warm.”
“She must have really done that.”
The conversation paused briefly. Persi, cutting the meat pie on the plate into bite-sized pieces with a knife, said.
“It must be very hard for you emotionally.”
“Well, I’m not even sure about that anymore.”
I’m fine, it doesn’t bother me at all.
She always said that and learned that she must say so. She was taught not to fully reveal her emotions to those who were not family.
Yet revealing her inner thoughts without realizing it was probably because this space felt as warm as being with family. The smell of meat pies filling the reception room, the sound of well-baked pies being cut, the children’s eyes shining with eagerness to eat soon.
Roxiana felt as if she had returned to the reception room of Ider Palace.
“I’m here, but it feels like my soul is floating somewhere above, looking down at this place. Sometimes the pain feels like it’s tearing my chest apart, but it doesn’t feel like my own pain. So sometimes I still think this might not be reality. Foolishly.”
“It’s not foolish at all, Princess.”
Persi said firmly.
“My older brother died fighting monsters three years ago. At that time, my family and I learned what pain feels like when flesh is torn and blood flows. Of course, my sorrow can’t compare to yours, Princess.”
“How can sorrow be compared? Everyone’s own sorrow feels the greatest.”
Persi placed a piece of meat pie on a small plate and set it in front of Roxiana. After giving a plate each to the children as well, she patted their bottoms and told them to go eat on another sofa.
The perceptive children, realizing this was not a conversation for them to join, followed their mother’s words and sat on a sofa far away.
Roxiana, watching the children eat the meat pies neatly with forks, asked.
“Did your brother enter an Adelia coffin?”
“Later.”
Persi said.
“It’s not easy to recover the bodies of knights who died fighting monsters. Being close to monsters and directly wounded by them, magic seeps in, and in most cases, they become undead right on the spot.”
“Then…?”
“Knights carry swords engraved with Adelia flowers. Have you never seen them? About this long.”
Persi spread her hands to show the length of a forearm.
“Weapons with Adelia flowers engraved on the handle and blade.”
Roxiana shook her head.
The knights of Kanta rarely had to deal with monsters, so she had never seen anyone carrying such weapons. Perhaps there were some, but that information didn’t reach Roxiana, who was a princess.
Persi explained that after engraving the Adelia flower, the sword must receive a blessing from a high priest. So not just anyone can possess this weapon, and it’s difficult to obtain.
“They’re mixed with silver, so they’re not suitable as weapons. So they carry it in their bosom, and if a comrade turns into an undead, they strike them down and then pierce their heart with that sword. Then the magic inside the body disappears, and the undead moving by magical power returns to an ordinary corpse. After that, they put it in an Adelia coffin and burn it. They don’t bury it because it had once become an undead.”
A small spark ignited in Roxiana, who had been filled with despair until yesterday. The tiny, invisible spark grew a little larger.
“If someone who has once become an undead is pierced with that sword, will their soul be embraced by God?”
Persi tilted her head at the question that somehow sounded desperate, and only after seeing Roxiana’s earnest gaze did she quickly answer.
“We cannot confirm the peace of souls, we can only believe. That God would not heartlessly reject the souls of poor humans who died fighting monsters for this world.”
After that, ordinary conversation continued.
Roxiana ate all the meat pie given to her, and the children returned to the sofa and chattered about various things. It was a conversation without subject or purpose, but it was a pleasant and peaceful time.
After Persi left, Roxiana pulled out the thought she had been harboring in her heart throughout the conversation.
‘The sword of Adelia.’
As Persi said, God would not reject a human who had once become a monster. If they became undead due to unwanted magic and were denied rest, that would not be God but a demon.
So surely there must be a way to save them.
Roxiana was certain that her family members had turned into undead. She did not hold vain hope that something very good had happened and they were embraced by God despite being thrown into a well.
‘But if there is a sword of Adelia, my family could return to God’s embrace. If I do good deeds, God will accept my family members even more generously.’
Roxiana thought of her family members who would be abandoned in one of the wells of Ider Palace.
‘Who would be sitting on the throne of Ider Palace?’
It could be Lucas, but she didn’t think so.
‘Lucas is the crown prince of Gania, so he can’t be away from Gania for long. Probably someone from the Pelur royal family will act as regent of Gania.’
Kanta under the rule of the Kingdom of Gania, retrieving the bodies of her family from Ider Palace in their grasp would be a difficult task. Roxiana cannot do it alone. She needs someone’s help.
‘Even though it’s not about reclaiming the throne but just getting back the bodies of my family, I can’t do it alone.’
Floyd’s words that there was nothing a princess could do suddenly felt painful again.
‘But the Grand Duke could do it.’
She needed his help. But she couldn’t ask for help without offering anything in return, having already received so much. Moreover, approaching the palace of Kanta, which belongs to Gania, and searching the wells would not be an easy task for him either.
‘Since it could become an issue between Torkan and Gania, I can’t carelessly ask for help.’
She didn’t want to burden others. She couldn’t put Torkan’s citizens in danger to return her family members to God’s embrace.
So she must do something. Only when she accomplishes something that everyone would find acceptable and appropriate, would she earn the right to ask for help.
For the first time, a will to live sprouted in Roxiana’s heart, which had been wrapped in desperate despair, longing only for death.
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.]
