Serena’s lips, which spoke so sharply, wore no makeup but held a natural rosy vitality.
Although tied roughly into a single strand, her flowing platinum hair sparkled more brilliantly in the sunlight than he remembered.
“We made a vow of engagement.”
Lucas spoke softly, his gaze lingering on Serena’s blue eyes.
“We swore to consummate our marriage and become husband and wife.”
It wasn’t just that he had grown taller and more robust. The 14yearold boy who had grown up privileged in the imperial palace had seen the world and become a young man.
The scent emanating from him was now, though somewhat rough and awkward, distinctly that of a grown man.
“Isn’t that vow heavier than any other promise?”
Lucas slightly lowered his head to meet Serena’s eyes, as if to confirm the confusion in her previously cold expression.
“Where has the spirit from the engagement ceremony gone? Are you at a loss for words?”
His mocking eyes scanned Serena’s delicate features. The gaze was so hot it seemed to burn wherever it touched.
“You paid your respects to me as the acting Duke of Astel earlier? I didn’t come to see such a person.”
Each time his low voice resonated, she felt as though her breath was catching. Though familiar with the title of Duke, she felt cornered like a naive animal with nowhere to flee.
“Serena.”
The name Lucas had repeated on countless nights finally escaped his lips.
“I came to see my fiancée.”
She had thought the engagement was already a thing of the past. But now that the person in question had appeared, calling her his fiancée, even Serena’s eyes widened.
“Aren’t you pleased?”
“No, not at all. Customarily, doesn’t our engagement count as null?”
Watching Serena articulate her words even in her astonishment, Lucas’s mouth twisted.
“That temperament hasn’t changed.”
Now, Serena was glaring at him too. But the situation was much different from the engagement ceremony.
As evidence, Lucas reached out and grasped Serena’s wrist.
“Ah…!”
Had anyone ever grabbed her wrist so unilaterally before? Moreover, Lucas’s hot hand pulled her towards him as if to pull her into his embrace. The force was so strong that Serena could barely maintain her balance.
“This behavior… is rude.”
Serena said, squinting her eyes. But even as she tried to forcibly shake him off, she couldn’t break free from Lucas’s hand.
“I’m no longer the 14yearold kid you remember.”
Calling himself a kid, Lucas indeed seemed to have grown.
“I can say it’s all thanks to you, Serena.”
Seeing Lucas’s sinister smile, she couldn’t take his words at face value.
“I don’t remember doing anything.”
“Didn’t you say you hated it?”
With a jerk, Lucas’s face came closer.
“Because I was shorter than you.”
At the same time, Lucas pulled Serena’s wrist. Then her balance, which had barely been maintained, crumbled, and her body swayed into his arms.
“I hated it too.”
The man whispering in Serena’s ear was not the fiancé from her memory.
“I hated being so much smaller than you.”
There was still strength in the hand holding Serena. Thump, thump – his pounding heart was audible, so close were they.
“But not anymore.”
With each word Lucas spat out, his Adam’s apple moved. Late, but Serena realized the calluses on his hand that gripped her wrist. And how long the six years had been.
“Let me go!”
Serena slapped Lucas’s hand with her free hand.
“If you haven’t trained your strength to overpower me.”
Her provocative blue eyes still seemed to pierce through Lucas. Perhaps because of that, Lucas’s grip momentarily loosened, and Serena was finally able to shake off his hand and stand upright.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince. There is no marital bond between us.”
Serena’s calm eyes turned towards Lucas.
“The engagement ceremony was unavoidable, and it seems to have left only bad memories for both of us… We simply have no fate together.”
Bad memories? Lucas involuntarily furrowed his brow.
“There’s no marital bond between us?”
The words seemed to be chewed upon as they escaped from Lucas’s mouth.
“Yes.”
All the humiliation and anger from the engagement ceremony were endured through training, all for the thought of meeting Serena again.
“Why?”
He was born the Emperor’s only child and became the Crown Prince. If it weren’t for those blue eyes looking down on him that day at the engagement ceremony, there would have been no need for him to put himself through such rigorous training to become stronger.
“Serena, you are my fiancée.”
Of course, all the training over the past six years was not solely for Serena. However, the reason he had resolved to become stronger was undeniably Serena.
“I am…”
“Now I’m taller than you. Even stronger. I’m not the 14yearold kid; I’m your 20yearold fiancé.”
Suddenly, unable to control his rising emotions, Lucas grabbed Serena’s shoulder and pulled her towards him.
“I am.”
The overpowering scent of a man and the thumpthump of his heart momentarily halted Serena.
“I’ve never forgotten you for even a single day.”
The rough and clumsy confession was unmistakably conveyed.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
