Had she known she could cancel the unwanted engagement, she would have acted accordingly.
“Father, even now….”
“Oh, Serena. You’re truly calling me father now. I doubted my ears earlier.”
With a rush, the Duke embraced Serena. Her body stiffened at the unfamiliar warmth and expression of affection; it couldn’t be helped.
“You’ve grown up, not even headbutting me and biting my tongue anymore.”
After releasing the embrace, the Duke looked at Serena in confusion. This gentleman… Although notorious for his wandering habits, had he raised his daughter like a beast?
“Yes, that was when you were still young. Was it when you were 10?”
“I was 9, Your Grace.”
Anna, who had returned at some point, calmly answered. Then the Duke chuckled.
“Ah, was it? Well, family time doesn’t really matter.”
Looking at the Duke’s nonchalant face, Serena could roughly understand her background of growth. He seemed like a good person at first glance, but not so much as a good father.
“I, Father, what about postponing or canceling the engagement even now?”
“Why?”
“Earlier, you said if I were still using blankets…”
“It was a joke.”
The Duke said without changing his expression.
“His Majesty and I were comradesinarms on the battlefield. Besides, we made a bet over this marriage arrangement, so we cannot cancel it.”
“You made a bet over this marriage arrangement?”
“Yes. There wasn’t much entertainment on the battlefield, so we always made bets.”
The Duke’s face brightened as he recalled the past.
“You… bet on me?”
“Just then, I had received a messenger pigeon informing me that my wife had given birth to a daughter. No doubt, His Majesty didn’t expect to lose.”
Serena blinked slowly.
“Haha, His Majesty had the Crown Prince four years later, so it must be fate.”
“…So, His Majesty lost the bet, and I became the Crown Princess?”
“Yes. It was a close match.”
The Emperor did not win the bet; instead, he had to accept Serena as his daughterinlaw as the price of losing. In other words, Serena was a penalty.
“They asked for you in the Grand Duchy later, but we couldn’t overturn that close match.”
Serena’s life, as retrieved from memory, had not been smooth.
Rather, it had been unhappy. And the cause was right before her eyes.
“You!”
The Duke instinctively stepped back.
“What was that, I felt a murderous intent for a moment… Must be my imagination.”
His battlehoned senses had not left him.
“Anyway, it’s fortunate that our daughter has grown into such a, such a beautiful young lady like a flower. It’s truly a joyous occasion! Well then!”
The Duke was in awe, looking at his daughter, who had grown almost equal to himself. He never knew that Marianne’s daughter, once delicate like a fragile flower and called the empire’s most beautiful woman, would grow so strong.
“I have to pay my respects to His Majesty separately after the engagement ceremony, so please understand.”
“Are you leaving again?”
“Yes, this time we have a clue to excavate the ruins of a past civilization in the west…”
As the Duke’s speech lengthened, Anna shook her head.
“Even if you are having an engagement ceremony today, the wedding is far off, so now you must look after the Duke and the Astel Ducal territory.”
Roger, the cheerful and decisive Duke of Astel, instinctively made a quick exit from the scene.
Perhaps he saw Serena’s fist clenched beneath her formal dress. It was a wise decision.
(This is a time separator.)
Soon, the grand engagement ceremony of the royal family was held in the largest chapel in the capital.
The Pope himself stood at the altar, and the Emperor stood by his side, flaunting his dignity.
“Today, this Pope has officiated the glorious engagement of the Crown Prince in the name of the Almighty God.”
All eyes were drawn to the end of the carpet, not the altar, due to the interest in the future Crown Princess.
“Serena Astel, come forth.”
Wearing a white veil as etiquette dictated, Serena could only see her feet. Perhaps it was the small shoes, but her feet were already sore, and when she barely managed to walk straight to stand in front of the altar, she could see the Crown Prince’s shoes.
“This holy engagement fulfills the beautiful promise of the past between His Majesty the Emperor and the Duke of Astel, following the will of God…….”
As the Pope’s words grew longer, her feet became more painful and increasingly numb. When she even heard whispers among the guests that the bride seemed a bit… agitated, a newfound anger surged within her.
“Then, Your Highness the Crown Prince, you may lift the veil and kiss the forehead to signify that the engagement has taken place.”
Contrary to expectation, the veil was not gently removed. It was precisely a feeling of failing to remove it at once and then fumbling.
“You… may lift only half of the veil.”
The Pope whispered quietly, but the Crown Prince’s rough touch finally flung the veil behind her head.
“Your Highness, you do not have to kiss the forehead for the engagement.”
As the veil was completely lifted, the reason became more apparent.
Serena’s 14yearold fiancé was a much smaller boy than his peers, with only fiercelooking eyes. Yes, a completely small boy who didn’t even reach Serena’s shoulders.
“A kiss on the cheek or, no… it will suffice to kiss the back of the hand.”
The Pope belatedly noticed the clear difference in their heights and remedied the situation.
It wasn’t just height that was the problem. Serena exuded the freshness of just becoming a woman, but the 14yearold Crown Prince looked like nothing but a slightly small boy compared to his peers.
‘I am engaged to such a child…….’
The betrothed of today, inheriting the Tern royal family’s characteristics of black eyes and black hair, would surely become a noble existence in the future, but it would take a very long time.
“Your Highness doesn’t look happy.”
It wasn’t that she was scowling, just not smiling, but the Crown Prince’s remark was thorny.
“No wonder. Being unnecessarily tall, you ruined the engagement ceremony.”
Serena already knew that she was much taller than the average woman of this era.
‘I didn’t even think that he was small!’
Such treatment was familiar from her past life, so she thought it was okay, but hearing the words of the young and frail boy suddenly made her angry.
Moreover, because the Crown Prince was much smaller than his peers, Serena’s tall stature looked even more prominent.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, you must kiss for the engagement to conclude the ceremony.”
The Pope whispered, smiling kindly, so that only the two of them could hear.
“Indeed, I am displeased.”
It was Lucas’s words, looking up at Serena. He tried hard to speak in a low voice like a grown man, and Serena wanted to retort, but if this continued, the engagement ceremony would never end.
“Then, Your Highness the Crown Prince, please kiss the back of her hand as a symbol that the engagement has taken place.”
As the Pope desperately proceeded, Serena also decided to put her pride aside for a moment.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince… please, kiss the back of my hand.”
Looking almost like a child, the boy’s appearance caused Serena to speak in resignation.
Sighing, Lucas only brushed his lips against the back of her hand with a furrowed brow, fulfilling his duty.
When the male lead is punished by carrying the female lead’s child and having periods like a woman
“I’ve given birth to two children for you, yet you still think about him.
Was I nothing but his substitute to you from beginning to end?”
Synopsis:
Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends, transmigrates to a female-dominated country.
Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to date them than in modern times?
Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!
Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!
Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.
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