My Discarded Fiancé Returned (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 2
The time spent as Serena passed swiftly, and before long, the day of the engagement ceremony arrived. The white dress adorned with the golden emblem of the imperial family was spacious enough even when Serena stood with her back straight.
“You are truly beautiful. To think that tiny little baby has grown up so much.”
Anna looked at Serena, who was much taller than her, with the same affectionate gaze as if she were still a baby.
“Don’t cry already. It’s just an engagement ceremony.”
If there had been someone in her past life who affirmed her so positively, would she have been able to stand tall without shrinking back?
“If only the Duchess could see you now, she would be so overwhelmed…”
It was said that Serena’s mother passed away after a difficult childbirth. The Duke, who deeply loved her, never remarried, and thanks to that, Serena became the last heir of the Astel ducal family.
“She’s surely watching from somewhere.”
“My lady… you’ve truly matured lately.”
Even in her past life, she had no memories of being loved by her mother. Nor did she have a family that cared for her as attentively as Serena’s did. It was similar to her past self, yet vastly different.
“You’ve diligently studied etiquette, and you no longer break things in the mansion.”
“They say you’re an adult at 18. It’s only natural.”
Indeed, Serena had changed. The habit of drawing the curtains and playing alone, as well as her reluctance to wear dresses due to her large frame, had vanished. Even the fitting for the ceremonial dress, which Anna had secretly worried about, went so smoothly it was surprising.
“Yes, you’ve become an adult.”
Anna’s intuition was not wrong. The soul residing in Serena had lived more than twice her current life, so it was bound to be different. But because of that, there was an even more troubling issue.
“Well… my fiancé isn’t exactly an adult.”
“My lady!”
“What? It’s true. No matter if he’s His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince, you can’t call a mere 14-year-old an adult.”
By gathering all sorts of memories and information from those around her until the day of the engagement, she had managed to piece together what was to come.
First, the person Serena was to be engaged to today was Lucas Tern, the Crown Prince of the empire, a promising 14-year-old boy born with noble blood and exceptional talent. Yes, a boy.
“A four-year age gap with a spouse isn’t that much.”
“Even if the woman is older?”
“Of course.”
It might be common sense in this world, but the thought of pledging an engagement to a mere 14-year-old boy made her heart heavy.
“Just 14 years old?”
Forget engagement; wasn’t that the age to be entering middle school? What was the point of getting excited about wearing a ceremonial dress for such a child? It felt almost embarrassing.
“Of course. You know the engagement was hastened because His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince is about to head to the battlefield.”
“It’s fine; he’s not fighting on the dangerous front lines.”
It was common for men of the imperial family to go to war.
“They say His Imperial Majesty the Emperor did the same.”
“I was worried for a moment, but you’ve really studied the palace maids’ etiquette training diligently.”
“Yes.”
Serena answered without hesitation.
“If you think of everything as an opportunity, you want to do your best.”
No matter how much she thought about it, her past life had nothing special about it.
Everyone urged her to work hard, and sometimes she deluded herself into thinking she truly did, but she hadn’t.
“I don’t want to have regrets later.”
If she had accomplished even one thing wholeheartedly in her life, she might not have felt such regret at the moment of death.
“Well said. As expected of my daughter.”
Serena’s father, who had been standing behind the door, nodded at his daughter’s resolve. Anna, the experienced head maid, paid her respects and stepped back for a moment.
“Father…”
Though he had a wandering spirit, the Duke, said to be a warm man, cast a shadow so large it was clear why Serena was so robust. Even when smiling, he was intimidating enough to frighten most people.
“Pay your respects.”
As Serena lifted her dress hem and slightly bent her knees as she had learned, the Duke furrowed his thick brows. His face hardened as if it were a rocky mountain.
“Good heavens…”
Those were the words Serena wanted to say. Seeing a hulking man tear up was quite disconcerting.
“Marien, are you watching from above? Our daughter, our brave daughter, is finally showing such etiquette… Come, rise quickly.”
The hand of her father, grasping Serena’s, was warm.
Though it was an unfamiliar face, she could feel affection in his blue eyes, just like hers.
“I was so worried about whether you’d manage in the imperial family, but now I’m at ease. Such graceful etiquette… This father is so moved.”
What on earth had this ducal family done to raise their daughter? To be so moved and tearful over a single piece of etiquette learned in just three minutes.
“On my way here, I was ready to tell His Imperial Majesty the Emperor that this engagement was impossible if you were still wrapped up in blankets in bed.”
Oh no.
If she had known she could back out of an unwanted engagement, she would’ve taken it easier.
“Father, even now…”
“Oh, Serena. You’re finally calling me Father. I thought I misheard earlier.”
With a sudden embrace, the Duke hugged Serena. Her body stiffened instinctively at the unfamiliar warmth and affection.
“You’ve grown so much. You no longer headbutt me and make me bite my tongue.”
Serena looked at the Duke curiously as he released the embrace. This man… No matter how much of a wanderer he was, had he raised his daughter like a beast?
“Well, you were still young back then. Ten years old, was it?”
“Nine, Your Grace.”
Anna, who had returned unnoticed, answered calmly. The Duke let out a hearty laugh.
“Oh, was it? Well, time doesn’t matter among family.”
Seeing the Duke’s carefree expression, Serena could roughly understand her upbringing. He seemed like a good person at a glance, but not exactly a great father.
“Father, about postponing or canceling the engagement…”
“Why?”
“You said earlier that if I was still wrapped in blankets, you’d tell His Majesty…”
“A jest.”
The Duke said without changing his expression.
“His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and I are lord and vassal, comrades on the battlefield. Besides, we made a bet on this marriage, so it cannot be undone.”
“You made a bet on this engagement?”
“Yes. There wasn’t much entertainment on the battlefield, so we always made bets.”
His face lit up with joy as he recalled the past.
“You bet… on me?”
“Just then, I received word that my wife had given birth to a daughter. I doubt His Majesty expected to lose.”
Serena slowly blinked.
“Haha, His Majesty also welcomed His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince four years later, so it’s fate.”
“So, because His Majesty lost the bet, I’m to be the Crown Princess?”
“Indeed. It was a splendid match.”
The Emperor didn’t win the bet; he took Serena as his daughter-in-law as the price of losing. In other words, Serena was a penalty.
“Later, the Grand Duke’s family asked for you, but I couldn’t overturn that splendid match.”
The life Serena recalled from her memories was far from smooth.
Rather, it was unhappy. And the cause was standing right in front of her.
“Oh!”
The Duke instinctively stepped back.
“What was that? I felt a momentary killing intent… Was it my imagination?”
It seemed his senses, honed on the battlefield, hadn’t dulled.
“Anyway, I’m relieved that our daughter has grown into such a, well, flower-like lady. It’s a joyous occasion! Well then!”
The Duke marveled at his daughter, who had grown almost as tall as him. He hadn’t expected the daughter of Marien, once called the empire’s greatest beauty for her delicate charm, to grow so robustly.
“I must pay my respects to His Majesty separately after the engagement ceremony, so keep that in mind.”
“Are you leaving again?”
“Yes, this time I’ve found a clue to excavate the ruins of an ancient civilization. In the west…”
As the Duke’s words began to drag on, Anna shook her head.
“Even if you have the engagement ceremony today, the marriage is far off, so you must now look after the ducal estate and the Astel duchy.”
Having boldly decided, Duke Roger of Astel instinctively fled the scene.
He must have seen Serena’s fist clenched tightly beneath her ceremonial dress. A wise decision.
[This is the timeline separator]Soon, the grandest engagement ceremony of the imperial family was held at the largest cathedral in the capital.
The Pope himself stood at the altar, and the Emperor stood beside him, exuding majesty.
“Today, in the name of the great God, I have the honor of officiating the glorious engagement of His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince.”
Due to the attention on the future Crown Princess, all eyes turned not to the altar but to the end of the carpet.
“Serena Astel, step forward.”
Following etiquette, Serena, wearing a white veil, could only see her feet. Perhaps because of the small shoes, her feet already ached, and as she barely walked straight to stand before the altar, she saw the Crown Prince’s shoes.
“This sacred engagement fulfills the beautiful covenant made in the past between His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and Duke Astel, and it follows the will of God…”
As the Pope’s speech dragged on, her feet hurt more, and she gradually lost sensation. When she even heard whispers among the guests about the bride being a bit…, anger surged anew.
“Now, His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince may lift the veil and kiss the forehead as a sign of the engagement.”
Contrary to her imagination, the veil was lifted rather clumsily. To be precise, it felt like he tried to remove it in one go but fumbled.
“You may… lift only half the veil.”
The Pope whispered softly, but the Crown Prince’s rough hands ended up tossing the veil back over her head.
“Your Highness, as this is an engagement, you need not kiss the forehead.”
Once the veil was fully lifted, the reason became clearer.
Serena’s 14-year-old fiancé was much smaller than his peers, a boy with only his eyes looking fierce. Yes, a tiny boy who didn’t even reach Serena’s shoulder.
“The cheek, or… even kissing the back of the hand would suffice.”
The Pope, belatedly noticing their stark height difference, tried to smooth things over.
It wasn’t just the height. Serena exuded the fresh charm of a young woman coming into her own, but the 14-year-old Crown Prince, no matter how you looked at him, seemed nothing more than a slightly small boy compared to his peers.
“To think I’m getting engaged to such a kid…”
Inheriting the Tern imperial family’s traits of black eyes and black hair, today’s fiancé would surely become a noble figure in the future, but that would take a very long time.
“The lady’s expression isn’t great.”
She hadn’t exactly frowned, just didn’t smile, but the Crown Prince’s comment carried a sting.
“And no wonder. You’re so unnecessarily tall, you’ve ruined the engagement ceremony.”
Serena already knew she was much taller than the average woman of this era.
“He doesn’t even consider that he’s the small one!”
She was used to such treatment from her past life, so she thought it was fine, but hearing it from a smaller, cheeky boy made anger flare up suddenly.
Moreover, because the Crown Prince was much smaller than his peers, didn’t Serena’s height stand out even more?
“Your Imperial Highness, you must perform the engagement kiss to conclude the ceremony.”
The Pope whispered with a benevolent smile, loud enough for only the two to hear.
“As expected, you’re displeased.”
Those were Lucas’s words as he looked up at Serena. Though he tried to speak in a low, mature voice, Serena wanted to retort, but if she did, the engagement ceremony would never end.
“Now, Your Imperial Highness, please kiss the back of the lady’s hand as a token of the engagement.”
As the Pope desperately pressed on, Serena decided to swallow her pride for the moment.
“Your Imperial Highness… please, kiss the back of my hand.”
Resigning herself to the sight of the boy who looked almost like a child, Serena spoke.
With a sigh and a grimace, Lucas barely brushed his lips against her hand to fulfill his duty.
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.]
MANGA DISCUSSION
6 Comments
Chapter Comments (61)
I’m glad that her father gave Serena the responsibility of governing the region.
She can earn her own money.It was a good decision not to attend the farewell ceremony for the crown prince. They might have fought.
Is being empress so important?
The position you’re threatening with isn’t that great.
Inline Comments (14)
Could Lucas’s true aim really be Astel’s management secrets?
Dumb that’s just an excuse to speed time with you duh 🙄😒
That Lucas was the Crown Prince remained a secret within the duke’s household, a
I think it’s too late for you Serena 🤔😂😂 he took care of that
“Exactly. I was receiving a guest as acting Duke, not strolling as a young lady.
Disappointment? 🤔😏 What else was she expecting to? 😏😏😏
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agustus_orchid
Serena, my baby, you are so beautiful. Walk with confidence and upright posture.
Don’t be afraid of people.
If people sense your fear, they will do whatever they can to intimidate you.
agustus_orchid
It’s a blessing that the father didn’t blame Serena for his mother’s death.
Some men who call themselves fathers blame and torment the child.
agustus_orchid
Crown Prince, you are young.
Speak carefully. Choose your words carefully.
You have no right to be rude to Serena.
agustus_orchid
Isn’t there a candidate who is the same age as the crown prince?
Serena is older than him. It could cause problems.
agustus_orchid
Even being born into a good family and being loved is a matter of luck.