“From the beginning, Your Majesty had no affection or compassion for me.”
“You resemble your mother a lot.”
“……!”
It was an unexpected statement.
Litania’s mother. A presence she had never once thought of in the original story, nor since her possession here.
Like protagonists without mothers often are, she had only existed as a setting of a maid who attended to the bedchamber.
“So when I see you, I feel guilty, and it seems I keep wanting to avoid you.”
“……What kind of guilt?”
There’s no way that could be true.
Even in Litania’s dream, the Emperor had banished Litania’s mother and only summoned Litania, her daughter, when it was time to search for the Divine Dragon’s bride.
If that dream reflected the content of the original story.
“What makes Your Majesty want to avoid me is not guilt, but past mistakes you don’t want to be reminded of.”
Just as someone who has committed a wrong becomes indignant and angry when their actions are pointed out.
The Emperor’s life’s greatest blemish must be having a child with a maid.
He took that child as an adopted daughter, kept her in the palace, and even made her the Divine Dragon’s bride.
His wrongdoing was imprinted in an undeniable form, so it must have been hard for him to bear.
“You are a coward.”
“I’m sorry.”
“……”
“I’m sorry, Litania.”
Tears fell sorrowfully, wetting her knees.
“Your illness is severe, and I’ve taken up your time. I will withdraw now.”
Litania rose from her seat and left the audience chamber.
Though she received an apology face to face, it hurt her heart even more than when she was constantly ignored.
Litania did not return to her room but stood in the stairwell, wiping away her tears. Her reddened eyes were hot with fever.
‘There’s nothing to be sad about. I’m not his child anyway.’
Though she herself was not his biological child, the ‘real Litania’ would not have been considered a biological child by the Emperor either.
‘They say he’s so weak that he’s delegated to the Crown Prince, so he probably didn’t want to see Herna die.’
His biological daughter tried to kill his adopted daughter, so even if he knew it was wrong, he had no choice but to protect his biological daughter.
‘Right. I was just a mistreated princess anyway. What did I expect?’
The original Litania might not know, but the current Litania is actually a stranger with no connection to the Emperor.
She should just disparage the Emperor as a petty person and forget about it. That’s what she should do.
‘……Then why does it hurt so much?’
From the moment she realized her existence was denied by her father, the feeling of her heart being crushed won’t go away.
As if she had completely assimilated into this body.
As if she had become the ‘real Litania’.
‘No. I’m not Litania. I’m just a possessor, and in the current world……’
Litania froze stiffly as she recalled that far.
‘Who am I?’
She had been living in the current world and one day woke up to find herself here. But she couldn’t remember what that current world was like.
‘I…… I…… What’s my name?’
She couldn’t remember her name from the other world, the one where she wasn’t Litania.
Thump. Thump. Her heart beat loudly.
Anxiety grew on top of the pain. She felt as if something was scratching up and down the back of her neck.
‘No, calm down. You just received too much of a shock just now…… That’s why you’ve forgotten.’
The Emperor’s words were too heartbreaking. The fact that he didn’t think of her as his child and protected Herna who tried to kill her was too resentful, so she just forgot for a moment.
When people experience something too shocking, memories can fly away. Parents who come to the emergency room when their child has an accident quite often forget things like their own name or age.
‘Calm down. It’s okay. You’ll remember.’
Litania covered her face with both hands and took deep breaths. By consciously repeating her breathing, she was able to calm down a little.
‘This is actually better. If Herna is executed, I won’t be able to ask her.’
She needs to find out how she realized she was a possessor. In a situation like now where she can’t remember her current world self, Herna’s existence becomes even more crucial.
Of course, right now she doesn’t want to see Herna’s face, but after her anger subsides and time passes, she needs to ask her.
Herna’s knowledge might be needed to uncover the secret of how she came to this world.
‘Herna didn’t seem to have been close with the original Litania though…..’
It was strange.
Even Snow, who had been taking care of Litania closely for a long time, didn’t notice, so how did Herna realize there was someone else inside Litania’s body?
[This is the timeline separator]Orbis didn’t ask Litania anything. She had tried hard to erase the traces of tears, but they must have still been visible, yet Orbis didn’t ask what made her sad or who made her cry.
“Litania. Shall we go to bed early today?”
“……”
When Litania stood still without saying anything, Orbis slowly combed her hair and helped her change into her nightgown.
“You’ll feel a bit calmer after you sleep.”
“……Orbis.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not asking anything.”
Even though there were only difficult questions to answer if he asked, it felt strange that he was just being so kind and caring.
“Aren’t you curious about me, Orbis?”
“Very much so, my bride.”
Orbis swept Litania’s hair to one side and laid her down on the bed.
Shallow kisses rained down.
“But I don’t think I absolutely need to know.”
“Why?”
“Sometimes the truth can be cruelly heartbreaking. If you accept it unprepared, you’ll only end up with more unbearable wounds.”
“……”
Unbearable wounds.
Her heart fluttered again at those words.
If Orbis knew that she wasn’t Litania, would that be an unbearable wound for him?
“Orbis. You’re my friend, right?”
“Your best friend.”
“And you’re my husband.”
“We’ve sworn to spend our lives together.”
“……Yes. That’s enough.”
Litania burrowed into Orbis’s embrace. Before, she had been so afraid of touching this man, but strangely, now she wasn’t afraid at all.
“His Majesty has many children. Besides me. So there are many people who can replace me.”
“Litania……”
“But for Orbis, there’s only me.”
That’s enough. Her father may have abandoned her, but her husband Orbis won’t abandon her.
If even one person holds onto her, that’s good enough.
“Litania. Do you want revenge?”
“……What kind of revenge?”
Against Herna who tried to kill her? Or against the Emperor who ignored her?
As Litania blinked and asked, Orbis chuckled and twirled her hair around his finger.
“There’s no need to waste your emotions on revenge. So forget about it.”
“Orbis……”
She was about to ask what he meant, but her eyes closed drowsily. Litania quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Lowering his lips over her closed eyes, Orbis whispered softly.
“The Emperor is cursed, so he won’t last long anyway.”
There’s no need to dirty her hands or waste her emotions.
He would completely devour her anger himself.
[This is the timeline separator]The spring festival had ended. The two masters of the Dragon Castle returned.
“My lady!”
“Lady Litania!”
The servants came running when they saw Litania entering through the castle gates in Orbis’s arms.
Faces that seemed long unseen welcomed her with uniformly relieved expressions.
“Oh my…… You must have suffered so much, your face is half its size.”
“This is why they say you suffer when you leave home. I’ll fatten you up twice as much.”
“You can’t feed a thin patient too much carelessly.”
“……I’m not a patient though.”
Litania was grateful for the servants’ concern for her, but wanting to reassure them, she deliberately made a pouty face.
“Please don’t go out anymore, really. It’s too worrying.”
“Haha. I’ll be careful.”
Litania looked at butler Simons and attendant Snow standing at the main entrance of the palace. Snow seemed to have quite a dark expression, but when their eyes met, he gave her a broad smile.
“Welcome back, Lady Litania!”
It was a return to a lovely daily life.
[This is the timeline separator]In the bathroom where warm moonlight streamed in through the window, Litania finished bathing and wiped off the moisture.
Rising from the bathtub, thoroughly drying herself, and putting on a robe, she felt her fatigue dissipating.
She thought she hadn’t suffered much except for the last day, but perhaps because it wasn’t home, her body hadn’t been able to rest properly without her knowing.
“Lady Litania, did you finish your bath well?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good. Have some tea.”
Just the relief of being home brought back her composure.
As Litania smiled, Snow pulled up an armchair for her to sit comfortably and placed a tray with warm tea on the side table next to it.
A fresh and sweet scent mixed with lemon and flowers. The sound of water sloshing.
It was Snow’s special blended tea that made her heart even lighter.
“You’ve been through so much.”
“Haha, it wasn’t that bad.”
“……I heard you were even kidnapped.”
______
In This Life, I Won’t Be Foolish To Lose You Again (Female-dominant)
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.]
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