Save Me (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 2
“His Majesty seems to be running a bit late.”
Good heavens.
Even the Duke didn’t know?
Her racing heartbeat suddenly stilled, and her excitement faded.
“No, Your Grace.”
Her clasped hands froze, icy cold.
“He won’t be coming.”
They’d even offered her up as a sacrifice to vent his anger—of course he wouldn’t come.
“He won’t be coming?”
“Most likely not.”
Bianca, who had added those words softly as if gauging his mood, suddenly gave a bitter smile.
“……”
Even after realizing she was a sacrifice, she’d reflexively checked his reaction out of habit.
She’d be dealt with by the Duke’s furious hand any moment now—what a pointless reflex.
‘How dare the thing born from devouring its own mother speak before me!’
‘You vulgar creature—what makes you think you can interject here?’
That wretched habit—lifelong caution over every word, as if her very existence were a sin—continued to humiliate her to the very end.
Her expression faltered, and Bianca hastily lowered her head.
Thud.
With the heavy sound resonating through the marble floor, a pair of black shoe tips entered her vision.
“Have you been abandoned?”
Bianca instinctively lifted her head—but froze the moment her eyes met the Duke’s.
Beneath his lowered lashes, his golden eyes flickered with unmistakable concern.
“……I won’t deny it.”
She hadn’t meant to sound so weak.
But faced with that unexpectedly warm gaze for the first time, her mouth moved of its own accord.
“But, Your Grace… affirmation is difficult as well. After all—”
“After all?”
She’d tried to salvage her words belatedly, but the Duke’s gentle expression as he prompted her made her tightly sealed lips tremble again.
“Because we were never granted a bond close enough to call ‘abandonment’…”
Her whisper, almost coquettish, sounded foreign—as if it belonged to someone else.
She quickly covered her mouth, but with each successive slip, Bianca felt as if her head might burst.
She’d endured a lifetime of crushing humiliation and mockery without ever wavering once.
Yet perhaps it was because she believed this was the end.
Or perhaps because this was the first time she’d ever felt another’s warmth.
Her carefully fortified walls were crumbling, and raw, unfiltered feelings kept spilling out.
To be shaken by the shallow kindness of the very man meant to kill her—
“I’m sorr—”
“That’s lovely.”
I’m sorry.
Please pretend you didn’t hear that.
Her brief apology was cut off before it could leave her lips—drowned out by the Duke’s soft laughter.
“I like it, Your Highness.”
Thud.
Another long step forward.
Duke Valroc closed the distance, tilting his head to meet her gaze.
His golden eyes, shining directly into hers, glowed like the sun itself.
Perhaps that was why—
everywhere his gaze brushed, she felt a gentle warmth.
“I must be your first.”
With those cryptic words, Duke Valroc pulled a neatly folded document from his coat pocket and signed it.
Swish.
Bianca was far more concerned with the document than his incomprehensible remark.
What could that be?
She recognized the golden parchment—it was reserved exclusively for the Imperial family.
Yet without even glancing at its contents, the Duke not only signed it but also pressed his seal upon it.
Squelch. As he pressed down, crimson wax spread, imprinting the Valroc crest.
Thump-thump-thump.
Watching this, Bianca felt inexplicably anxious.
“What… is that?”
Unable to bear it any longer, Bianca finally spoke.
The Duke lifted his eyes slightly at her question.
Beneath his lowered lashes, his golden irises seemed oddly… pleased.
“What you wished for.”
“What I…?”
Bianca echoed his words—then clapped a hand over her mouth as she saw the paper he held up.
It was a marriage certificate.
Officiant: Emperor.
Bride: Bianca Termina.
Groom: Gillian Valroc.
She saw unfamiliar signatures and seals she’d never affixed—but that wasn’t what mattered.
The Duke had signed it.
A scrap of paper powerless with only her name now held full validity thanks to his signature.
Did he truly understand what this meant?
“Did… did you really sign it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
‘Do whatever it takes to secure this marriage. If Marquis Elijah’s ship sinks, how heartbroken your late mother would be.’
Separate from the relief of not having to die in the Emperor’s stead, or the genuine joy of saving the Elijah Marquisate, Bianca simply couldn’t comprehend this situation.
She was the daughter of his enemy.
Pushed forward as a bride without proper apology—how could he possibly accept her?
“Duke Valroc, this is serious. I know what I am. I was meant to stand for the Emperor as Termina’s—”
“Do you truly understand, my lady?”
“My… lady?!”
She had so much to say, yet Bianca stood frozen, unable to utter a word.
His address had shocked her to her core.
“My… lady?”
At her disbelieving repetition, the Duke gave a small, confirming nod.
“I’ve taken my vows as well—so calling you ‘my lady’ is only proper, isn’t it?”
“But, Your Grace—”
“‘Your Grace’ feels far too distant. Please call me Gillian, my lady.”
“That’s….”
“‘Husband’ or ‘darling’ would be fine too.”
“Lord Gillian.”
“Gillian.”
After their stubborn little exchange, Bianca let out a small sigh.
“Gillian.”
At her softly murmured repetition, the Duke smiled faintly.
“Yes, my lady. Shall we return home now?”
“Home?”
“Isn’t this place no longer your home?”
‘Have you been abandoned?’
For a moment, Bianca thought she heard the Duke’s voice echo again.
“As my lady, you are now mistress of the Northern Domain—your home is the North, encircled by the Ice Wall.”
With those words, the Duke extended his hand, as if requesting an escort.
Between his gently curved eyelids, his golden eyes gleamed with an unexpectedly sweet light.
At the Duke’s expression—so tender, as if gazing upon something beloved—Bianca felt her breath catch.
Good heavens.
If that expression was crafted merely to entice someone, it was terrifyingly effective.
She knew exactly what their relationship was—yet her heart stirred.
No, even though marriage to him was her only option left, for a fleeting instant she felt overwhelming joy and an urge to follow him.
“May I escort you?”
Bianca reached her hand toward the Duke, who held her gaze intently.
“…Please take me away.”
“Of course. I’ve been waiting only for those words, my lady.”
At the firm, warm pressure of his hand closing around hers, Bianca squeezed her eyes shut.
It should have been dreadful—but his hand was astonishingly warm.
There was no trace of dignity in the Emperor’s anxious pacing.
Emperor Ecliff clutched his head and groaned.
He couldn’t fathom how things had come to this.
But one thing was certain: Sylas Valroc and Ecliff de Termina could not coexist.
Though he was the supreme sovereign under heaven, hadn’t he been endlessly compared to that man simply for being born in the same era?
“How dare he!”
Those looks that saw him as some inadequate fool.
The careless gossip calling him a lucky fool who merely commanded the flawless Valroc as his servant.
In those moments, Ecliff couldn’t help but feel unbearable humiliation—the Emperor of Termina seemed more fit for Sylas Valroc than himself.
Still grumbling, Ecliff slumped back into his chair.
Closing his eyes, the day this whole disaster began flashed vividly before him—as if it were real.
‘Harvest must be starting soon.’
It was pure chance that the view outside caught his eye as he wrapped up the regular council meeting.
The sun’s heat had mellowed, though still sharp, and the sky had risen high without notice.
Termina’s brief summer was drawing to a close.
Located in the Northern Hemisphere, the Termina Empire finished all farming and harvesting by mid-September.
Which meant that by October, full winter had already set in.
From October to the following March, Termina endured a long, harsh winter.
Though less severe than the Northern Domain bordering the Ice Wall, the cold was still biting.
No matter how often he experienced it, he never grew used to it.
The thought of half a year spent holding his breath in dread was already horrifying.
Fed up with the winter that hadn’t even arrived yet, Ecliff suddenly recalled a small amusement to brighten those long, tedious days.
A banquet.
His youngest princess had come of age this spring—it was time she found a match.
It would offer a joyful respite for those enduring the dark, cold winter.
He had more than enough reason.
‘I shall hold a grand banquet in November. The princess has come of age—finding her a good match now wouldn’t be a bad idea.’
Everyone’s eyes lit up at the Emperor’s refreshing proposal, meant to carry them through the long winter with anticipation and fond memories.
‘Then I shall set a fine date, and I myself…’
Just as he cheerfully continued, Sylas Valroc suddenly opposed him.
‘Out of loyal concern, I implore Your Majesty to reconsider.’
As always, his tone was impeccably respectful, his expression the picture of deference.
‘By November, the bitter cold will have already begun. It is also when fiends beyond the Ice Wall grow most active. Holding a banquet then would invite public censure.’
With that cool gaze and confident tone—
because of Duke Valroc’s constant appeals to ‘valid reasons,’ he’d always been mocked as a ‘foolish’ Emperor.
Was that what loyalty looked like?
That was the moment his lifetime of suppressed fury finally erupted.
‘Insolent! Do you think I, of all people, don’t know what winter is like in this Empire? How dare you, Duke, openly defy My will!’
“Hah…”
What was the point of regret now?
Ecliff rubbed his face roughly with his hands.
Sylas was already gone from this world.
All that remained was Gillian Valroc—the uncanny, chillingly precise replica of Sylas—and he was now in the Imperial Palace.
“Grand Chamberlain!”
Another Valroc.
At the thought of Gillian, Ecliff’s anxiety peaked, and he shouted toward the door.
“Grand Chamberlain! What’s become of the Princess?!”
It had already been over an hour since the palace drawbridge was lowered to welcome the Valroc party.
Even accounting for time spent guiding him to the audience chamber and serving tea, the Princess should have been met by now.
If they’d met, there should have been word—so why this silence?
Could that useless servant be dawdling over finery or some such nonsense?
With each mounting question, Ecliff’s irritation piled higher and higher.
“Grand Chamberlain!”
Even the Grand Chamberlain was unusually late today.
Just as Ecliff, unable to wait any longer, was about to open the door to his office—
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion, as if the earth itself were shaking, reverberated beneath his feet.
“Wh… what?!”
Ecliff’s eyes, wide with shock, saw a gray cloud rising from the direction of Bianca’s Rosebena Palace—where the audience chamber was located.
At the sight of the thick, billowing smoke, a chill shot down his spine, and his teeth involuntarily clacked together.
“G-g-g-Grand Chamberlain!”
Gathering all his strength, he called out once more—but again, no one came running to Ecliff.
Only then did he realize:
Not only was the knight who should have been guarding his office door completely gone, but there wasn’t a single soul anywhere in the main palace where he stood.
“Is… is anyone there?”
Calling out into the empty corridor was deeply unnerving, yet Ecliff couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
Otherwise, he feared he’d inevitably turn his head toward the oppressive presence he’d felt at his back since earlier.
His instincts whispered:
‘Don’t you dare look behind you.’
“Is anyone there?”
Just as Ecliff spoke again—
“Valroc is here, Your Majesty.”
A voice both unfamiliar and hauntingly familiar rang out from behind him.
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.]
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