Aidan knew. She was probably seeing something beyond that field.
“The reward for my efforts has always been expected.”
Perhaps due to the wind, Brody’s eyelashes in the color of wheat trembled.
“Seeing someone so happy, and expressing that happiness to me… It’s so unfamiliar…”
Brody’s gaze shifted beyond the potato field to the memory of the day they crossed paths.
She had always lived striving for her family. However, it was taken for granted as a family member, and she had lived thinking so herself.
Yeah, I’m smart. Yeah, I’m strong. Yeah, I know how to work hard. Yeah, I have to do it now.
Until the last moment.
What was more challenging than effort, than living diligently…
The fact that I wasn’t family to them. I wasn’t human. I was just a tool; I couldn’t feel anything beyond that.
Thank you for your hard work. Thanks to you, many things have changed. Now our family can make a fresh start.
Whether it was mom, dad, or brother, if any of them had expressed it to themselves…
“Yeah, you were the same.”
Doyeon seemed to understand Brody’s feelings.
The affection for Jax that had trampled on her ‘sincerity,’ made her ‘efforts’ futile.
“Now that I’ve received this kind of love, I understand. Why I wanted to come to this world and be alone.”
Why I didn’t want to make an effort, why I didn’t want to take a responsible position. The reason I fled from the North.
Brody couldn’t stand it. To diligently serve the gods and make efforts, yet be taken for granted.
Whether it would happen or not, she couldn’t bear to start it, feeling too exhausted.
“Ironically, the North I tried so hard to run away from gave it to me.”
Brody realized.
The emotions she felt when talking to Connie and the emotions she felt while listening to the toast at the banquet.
“That was ‘worth.’ ”
Receiving the return of her efforts. It meant a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
It wasn’t just the women in the potato field.
It was what the people of Perdun and the Wolf Knights gave her, and what Aiden had always given her.
Brody quickly wiped away the droplets on her eyes with her fingertips.
And then, looking at Aiden again, she said, “Are you happy too?”
Aiden understood the emotions behind her words. The reward for effort was taken for granted… He keenly felt how exhausted she must have been.
Aiden looked at her moist eyes.
Such a precious person, such a precious person, such a lovely person. How could he treat her so casually?
He raised his hand and gently swept Brody’s hair starting from her forehead.
“Of course. I’ll be grateful for what you’ve done for the rest of my life.”
Brody’s eyes began to shimmer again.
As the moonlight gradually swayed over the water puddle covering the green bead, it reflected the glistening light.
Brody slowly closed her eyes. Spilling over, the water flowed down the ridge.
A watercourse formed over her flushed cheek, glistening enticingly as it rose.
While Aiden carefully wiped away that stream, she blinked, and her eyes opened again.
‘Beautiful.’
Her ecstatic and overwhelming emotions were clearly conveyed to Aiden, and it unexpectedly made his heart race.
He resisted the urge to bring his lips down to the water-traced path on her cheek several times. He couldn’t divert his gaze from her eyes.
Soon, her eyes gracefully turned away from him.
“My Lord.”
“…Hmm.”
“Can you trust me?”
“…”
In this situation, what could he say? Truly an extraordinary woman. She said she’d send him off as he wished in three years. Just accept help and go. She’s okay. How could she endure such hardships trying to buy this?
Aiden admired her strength. He liked her self-esteem and determination not to step back from her choices.
“I can do well.”
Her bright and languid smile shook Aiden’s heart. He had to make an effort to resist listening to everything she said.
He lowered his eyebrows and replied, “It’s not that I think you can’t do it. I just hope it won’t become dangerous.”
Brody immediately refuted, “I’m not weak enough to cause concern. You’ve seen it too, even in the South and in front of Fort Perdan.”
Aiden lowered his gaze thoughtfully.
‘That’s true. I know your strength.’
He agreed, but he couldn’t voice it out loud. Acknowledging that would mean admitting the danger that might befall her.
Brody looked back at him, meeting his eyes again.
“But if I’m ever lacking, you can protect me. Just like you’ve done so far.”
Aiden’s blue eyes, reluctantly caught by Brody, shook with distress.
‘…No, Brody. What’s truly dangerous for you is me. It’s the North itself.’
He had said he was born with the power of the Ice Spirit stronger than any ancestor. Moreover, Brody was a plant mage.
Ice and plants. What could be so different from the relationship between Hieldieta and Chloria?
It was too evident that the deeper they got involved, the worse it would be.
He held both of Brody’s arms that were holding onto him and bowed his head over her forehead, looking at her endlessly soft expression.
Only the tip of her braid settled slightly on her forehead.
If listening to her would make her dangerous, what should he choose?
He murmured in distress.
“Brody…, I…”
But his words couldn’t come to an end due to an abruptly entering voice.
“Uh, nice painting.”
Surprised, the two turned their heads to look at where the sound came from.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
