Lea felt tears welling up, so she bit her lips tightly. She knew well enough why Akkia was avoiding her.
It was because he had lived his entire life as the abandoned prince, constantly under threat, and didn’t want to cherish anything. Moreover, he felt deep guilt for hurting her in his place. Lea understood all of this.
‘But…’
Lea’s tightly clenched lips trembled.
‘All I know are fragmented facts that the Duke briefly conveyed.’
She knew about the Empress being behind the Emperor, and that the Emperor didn’t belong to the imperial bloodline. Information about Akkia’s past was only known in bits and pieces.
But more than those facts, Lea was curious about what pain he had experienced in his childhood, what feelings he had when he lived on poison, and such inner thoughts.
‘If the Duke had relied on me a bit more…’
Even though she knew why he was avoiding her, he was just pushing her away in danger. He didn’t depend on her.
The fact saddened Lea.
The view of Lea looking at Akkia blurred with misty eyes. How ironic it was to think so deeply about someone she loved so much.
‘In the end, I don’t know anything about you.’
She couldn’t forget Akkia’s appearance when she woke up after the assassination attempt.
“There was a tattoo on the man’s wrist.”
“It looked like this. It was a unique pattern.”
It was the Duke who examined the pattern she had drawn with his bony fingers.
“Why? Do you also know this pattern, Duke?”
Then, as if realizing something, his pupils were filled with numerous emotions.
Self-blame, burning anger, deep hatred towards someone.
Lea noticed that the incident was related to the Emperor, but it was just a speculation.
She wanted to ask what happened, but when she faced the deeply concealed hatred in his eyes, she couldn’t ask.
Since she didn’t see any gap for her to intervene. So, Lea waited for Akkia to honestly tell her the situation.
She believed that if she waited, he would eventually consider her feelings. However, the price of that trust eventually unfolded before her eyes.
One month, two months. In the relentless passage of time, Lea grew weary.
While rushing forward upon hearing the news of the ‘Emperor’s Proposal,’ he didn’t bring up anything important with her.
Numerous nights spent together, sharing both heart and body, she thought.
‘I thought I knew the Duke the best…’
In reality, she didn’t know anything substantial about him. The fact made Lea heartbroken and miserable.
“Why are you making me say this, Duke?”
“Lea.”
Tears welled up in Lea’s eyes as she looked at the Duke.
“Is it impossible for me now?”
Akkia couldn’t answer. It occurred to him too late that this wasn’t a matter of trust.
Initially, he had hidden the story because he didn’t want to put Lea in danger. He wanted to protect Lea’s radiant smile, always shining like the sun.
He wanted to keep her in a place safer than anywhere else. Despite being submerged in an abyss, he didn’t want to drag Lea into his world.
It was a fate that changed from the moment he saved Lea at that execution ground. After quickly fulfilling his revenge, he wanted to keep Lea by his side formally.
In a place safer than any other. He vowed to make her a woman that any man would dream of.
‘I was selfish.’
Lea must have been so lonely in the time she spent alone. Waiting for herself with no assurance.
Akkia bit his lips hard.
‘I have to say it.’
It’s a secret that I haven’t told anyone, but I could tell Lea, whom I love with all my heart.
The moment Akkia reached out to Lea’s tearful eyes.
“It’s cowardly, truly…”
Thud!
Lea weakly pushed away Akkia’s hand reaching towards her.
“Lea, I…”
“It’s over now. I want to stop seeing the Duke.”
When Akkia saw the painful emotions reflected in Lea’s eyes, his words were cut off.
So, she turned around without any lingering feelings. As Akkia watched her, he clenched his fists tightly.
Lea sat in Edward’s research lab, gazing out the window.
Although she rarely left the lab, she couldn’t focus on the cure development due to the Emperor’s proposal.
‘Will I really marry Edward like this?’
Dmitri opposed the proposal from Alansea’s young master, not the Empress’s proposal. It seemed like a breakthrough.
People coming and going between the boutique madam and the mansions of both families were saying that the two would get married.
‘Sigh…’
She knew that the decision to marry was somewhat impulsive. Yet, it seemed like the best choice.
Therefore, the time for contemplation continued without any clear resolution.
Once again, Edward approached Lea, who seemed immersed in deep thoughts.
“Young lady, what are you thinking so deeply about?”
“Edward.”
Lea stood up, looking at Edward who approached.
“I was just… organizing my thoughts. Is something wrong, Edward?”
“…”
“If this time isn’t for discussing matters with researchers, what is it for?”
Lea glanced at the rising sun. In the afternoon, Edward usually discussed the day’s research with lab members.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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