Please Marry My Son (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
Eric laughed as if it were nothing.
“That’s all exaggerated. Surely not as much as 3%? Honestly, I don’t even remember all of it.”
“So you’re admitting there were a lot? No wonder you were famous. That explains why everyone was staring at us so intensely. Oh—did you also meet Miss O’Brien?”
“O’Brien? The young lady of Marquess O’Brien’s house? I did meet her once.”
“Ah. So when you said flashy things didn’t suit me, there was actually a reason behind it.”
Eric fell silent, flustered by Alicia’s sarcastic tone.
The conversation seemed oddly off track.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Is it because we’re only in a contractual relationship, so you think you don’t need to explain yourself?”
“Huh?”
“If I’m to predict what I’ll have to deal with as your fiancée, I should at least know about your… colorful past.”
“Alicia, hold on.”
“?”
“You seem to be under a huge misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?”
“I didn’t date all those women. I only met each of them once—at gatherings my parents forced me into. It’s true I ended things rather rudely, though.”
“……”
“I don’t know what you heard or how, but it’s not true. If you’d like, I can even ask His Highness Prince William to testify for a proper explanation.”
“I don’t intend to go that far.”
“So you’re not misunderstanding, then?”
“It’s less a misunderstanding and more that I was simply curious about the facts.”
From Eric’s eyes, she could tell he wasn’t lying.
Embarrassed for having pressed him so hard, Alicia pouted—and Eric gently placed his hand on her cheek, his thumb lightly brushing her lips.
“?”
“Ah—uh…”
Seeing Alicia’s flustered, flushed expression, Eric grew even more flustered and quickly pulled his hand away, stammering.
It hadn’t been a conscious action.
He’d only been thinking he didn’t want her to be angry—and his hand had moved on its own.
“I just didn’t want you getting upset over ridiculous rumors.”
“…I wasn’t angry.”
“Then why didn’t it look that way?”
“……”
“Do you think my explanation wasn’t enthusiastic enough for a proper fiancé?”
Alicia felt oddly uneasy looking at Eric’s serious expression.
After all, they were only bound by contract.
Therefore, she had no right to demand an explanation, and he had no obligation to give one.
“No, it’s enough. It has nothing to do with me anyway. I just didn’t want to be caught off guard if something like this happened again.”
“…I see.”
Eric turned around abruptly, and Alicia stared at his back in confusion.
But soon, Eric turned back with a smile.
“Let’s go back. I’m tired.”
Eric took Alicia’s hand and started walking.
Though Alicia fidgeted—clearly uncomfortable with the contact—he held her hand even tighter.
“People are watching. Just hold on.”
“……”
For a moment, Alicia looked up at Eric’s face.
Because he was walking ahead, she could only see part of his profile.
He was clearly expressionless, yet he looked unhappy—so, as Eric had said, Alicia quietly held his hand in return.
For just an instant, it seemed as if Eric’s lips had curled into the faintest smile.
“But is it really okay to leave now?”
“It’s fine.”
“Shouldn’t we at least tell our parents before going?”
“It’s fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. They told us to go on our own.”
‘That’s not what I was asking.’
She’d been bothered by Eric’s brief expression earlier, but by now his face had returned to normal.
‘Found it.’
‘Huh? What?’
Just like after meeting the prince earlier, goosebumps rose all over Alicia’s body, and she froze in place.
“What? Do you want to stay longer?”
“No, I want to leave quickly.”
“…Alright. Let’s go.”
The two resumed walking.
[This is the timeline separator]“Eric.”
Alicia, lost in thought on the carriage ride back, carefully spoke up.
“Is that reason for annulment you mentioned planning to use… related to those rumors?”
“Something like that.”
At Eric’s simple reply, Alicia silently stared at him.
“Will you treat me rudely too, just like you did with those women before?”
“I won’t be rude to you. It’s just a reason—that’s all. People only need to believe it.”
“But you’ll be tormented by rumors again—even though it’s not true.”
“Still, it’s the simplest and most convincing option.”
Their gazes met for a long while, yet neither spoke.
In the end, they arrived at the mansion without another word.
[This is the timeline separator]“Why does he look so grim?”
“Probably because of the weekend banquet. He couldn’t even run away thanks to his fiancée. Judging by his state, he must be exhausted.”
“Ah, right. Better not draw attention today.”
The aides, who had quietly opened the door to check on Eric, closed it again without a sound.
“……”
Though his expression was gloomy, Eric had no trouble handling his duties.
Though he was a bit slower than usual.
“It has nothing to do with me.”
Alicia’s words suddenly came to mind.
She was right—but still.
“Either way, ‘not caring’ would’ve been better than ‘having nothing to do with me.’”
He couldn’t understand why he’d started obsessing over every word someone else said.
He wished he could brush things off as effortlessly as Alicia did.
“Maybe she wasn’t as indifferent as she seemed.”
Remembering Alicia’s pout, he chuckled without realizing it.
“……”
Suddenly, he recalled the soft, delicate, pillowy sensation of her lips—so fragile it felt like it would break if pressed too hard—and he panicked.
“Could it be me…”
He covered his mouth with a stiff expression.
“Am I really going crazy?”
His expression darkened further before he stood up from his seat.
There was no point trying to work anymore.
[This is the timeline separator]Alicia’s mind was just as tangled.
She suddenly snapped out of her thoughts to find her pen had left a large black blotch on the paper.
“Oh, I can’t do any more today.”
Though it was earlier than usual, she finally set down her pen and began packing her things.
“Leaving already?”
She looked up from sorting her documents at the sound of Eric’s voice.
“What’s going on? You’re earlier than usual.”
“Oh, it just turned out that way. You’re early too, aren’t you?”
“It did turn out that way.”
After an awkward moment of eye contact, Alicia lowered her head first, finished organizing the papers on her desk, then walked over and stood before Eric.
“Alicia.”
“I don’t care.”
“Huh?”
“About your rumors. Now that I think about it, it’s not that I don’t care. Honestly, it wasn’t very pleasant.”
“…Why?”
“I don’t know. Why was it like that?”
“?”
“Well… maybe it’s one of those things where it’s fine if I do it, but I don’t like it when others do?”
Alicia gave a bright smile and started walking—and Eric followed behind.
“But how did you end up like that? You don’t seem like someone who’d hear such things.”
“Do you really think so?”
“The Eric I’ve seen so far is.”
“You’ve got a good eye for people.”
As they descended the stairs, Alicia glanced sideways at Eric, who replied with feigned nonchalance.
“Could it be you’re hiding your true self?”
“Hardly. If anything, you’ve seen more of me.”
“For example?”
“Awkward, embarrassed, flustered, despairing—and…”
“?”
“Smiling.”
Alicia stopped and turned to look at Eric behind her.
“You don’t smile much?”
“I didn’t know myself, but my staff mentioned it.”
Eric, walking behind her, passed by and continued down the stairs—so Alicia followed.
“Butler, the carriage.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The butler left to summon the carriage, leaving Eric and Alicia standing quietly alone.
Eric glanced down at Alicia beside him.
Despite all his worrying, she’d told him she didn’t care about the rumors—but that it wasn’t completely irrelevant to her.
It was uncanny how she’d said exactly what he’d wanted to hear.
“Why?”
They’d locked eyes—he must have been staring too long.
“Nothing. Just… nothing.”
“Oh! I just saw two expressions: ‘awkward’ and ‘smiling.’”
“Oh no.”
“Are you ‘embarrassed’ now?”
“I’ll be using that for a while.”
“Heh.”
Eric turned his head away to avoid Alicia’s teasing.
Soon, the carriage arrived at the entrance.
“The carriage is here.”
Eric opened the door and held out his hand.
Alicia took his hand, stepped into the carriage, and sat down.
“?”
When Alicia didn’t let go of his hand even after boarding, Eric looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“Can I have a moment?”
“Huh?”
“I have something to talk about.”
“Something to talk about? Now?”
“Get in. It’ll only take a moment.”
Eric climbed in nervously, and Alicia closed the carriage door.
“What is it?”
“It’s about us.”
“I’m nervous. What kind of ‘us’ talk?”
Eric forced a smile and waited for Alicia’s next words.
“I’ve thought about it—the reason for our annulment.”
“……”
“I was the one who first proposed the contract, and you said we’re equal partners, so I won’t put all the blame on you.”
“?”
“Even if your personality really is a total mess, or you’re some demon from the netherworld or a hellish gatekeeper.”
“…I’ve never heard ‘hellish gatekeeper’ before.”
“Oh, right—rumors aren’t reliable after all. They’re always exaggerated.”
Alicia looked away, feigning innocence out of embarrassment.
“Anyway, I won’t choose something like that as our reason for annulment.”
“…Why?”
“I honestly don’t know if your personality is really as bad as people say.”
“……”
“You said it yourself earlier—that you didn’t seem like the kind of person who’d hear such things.”
“You did.”
“In fact, I think you’re quite decent—no, a good person.”
She didn’t want him to receive even more bad reputation because of her after their contract ended.
It was too embarrassing to say outright, though.
“And I’ll pass on being part of your ‘top 3% of Britannia.’ It’d hurt my pride.”
“……”
“Since I proposed it first, I should be the one to end it, right?”
“…You’ve already rejected me twice—do you even remember?”
“Ugh.”
Flustered, Alicia stammered as if making excuses.
“Th-there’s a saying—‘best of three,’ right? Haven’t you heard it?”
“You need a ‘best of three’ for rejections too?”
“That’s not the point right now!”
Right.
No matter how many times she rejected him, that wasn’t what mattered.
What mattered was—his feelings right now were inexplicably strange, and he felt like he’d be fine even if rejected by this woman a hundred times—
…That couldn’t be right. Eric ran a hand through his hair and finally laughed.
“I spent all that time worrying and preparing to talk—and this is your reaction? Was I the only one being serious? That’s kind of unfair.”
“Huh? Unfair? I was worrying the whole time too, you know?”
“What were you worrying about?”
“It’s just… you resolved it so casually that it’s hard to say now.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. So now I feel kind of touched.”
“What are you even saying.”
Eric stared intently at Alicia’s pouting lips, looking flustered himself.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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That’s a rude question, kiddo. And it’s also none of your business.
*sigh* I did get my hopes up. It would be lovely if Alicia had women her age on her side early on. (because so many stories isolate the fl, perhaps subconsciously on the part of the author.)
Such a pleasant surprise! Heh. He already understands her this well…