But the slapped cheek from rushing through the forest, the feet stinging from the peeled-off shoes – everything unfolded before her eyes was telling her it was real.
“Mother…”
‘What should I do?’
Why did you fall in love with such a villainous man?
She had undoubtedly considered him a gentle person. A splendid man who captured the heart of a bright and cheerful young lady.
“Surely, it was like that…”
As Lea, reexamining her memories, sighed shortly, a realization hit her.
“After I returned from Grandfather’s…”
Since she went to the Bellarus mansion to discuss the wedding, Akia’s attitude had changed.
Only now did the cold behavior he had exhibited start making sense to her.
“I learned about it that day…”
The fact that her father killed the empress.
“But he didn’t say a word to me…”
He suffered alone. That man did.
And that fact made Lea’s guilt even heavier.
At the same time, a thunderous realization flashed through Lea’s mind.
“If, by any chance, this fact becomes known to the world…”
Not only the Bellarus family, but also the fact that Akia married her despite knowing the truth would be exposed. Because the Emperor would manipulate public opinion no matter what.
She might be blamed as the daughter of a murderer who killed her own mother.
She could endure any blame pouring on herself.
‘But…’
Lea bit her lip, thinking of the dreadful future.
“I… can’t…”
She couldn’t be with Akia. And that was an undeniable fact.
Duk, Tuduk.
The sky, which had been blurry since morning, was pouring down thick streams of rain.
Due to this, everything prepared for Akia and Lea was washed away by the rain, rendering it useless.
“Hasn’t Lea been found yet!?”
“Yes, yes…! We’ve searched the entire mansion, but Miss is nowhere to be found!”
“With rain pouring like this, where on earth could she be…!”
It had been two hours since Lea went missing.
Unable to find her anywhere, Dmitry, visibly anxious, paced back and forth.
“Um…”
“Yes, yes…! We’ve searched the entire mansion, but the young lady is nowhere to be found!”
“With the rain pouring like this, where on earth could she have gone…!”
It had already been two hours since Lea disappeared. Despite searching everywhere, Dmitry, visibly anxious, was pacing restlessly.
“Um…”
A maid who had helped with Lea’s dressing before the wedding spoke cautiously.
“I don’t know if this is related, but… there was a guest who came to see the young lady before she disappeared.”
“A guest? Who was that?”
“Well…”
The hesitant maid replied.
“It was the Emperor.”
“What?”
Akia, who had been silently listening to the maid’s words, stood up.
“Who came?”
“The Emperor came looking for the young lady. After that, the young lady said she wanted to get some fresh air and went outside.”
“What kind of conversation did they mainly have?”
“I don’t know. But they didn’t talk for a long time.”
It was ominous.
That the Emperor attended the wedding without saying a word, and only to see Lea and then disappeared – the words sent Akia’s heart sinking.
At that moment, when he was chewing his lips with an unknown unease.
“The young lady has come! But…”
Upon hearing the servant’s announcement that Lea had appeared, Akia rushed outside.
There, he saw Lea, thoroughly drenched in the rain from afar, looking disheveled.
“Lea!”
Spotting her, Akia ran towards her.
Then, he took off his jacket and draped it over Lea’s shoulders.
“Where on earth were you! Do you know how much everyone has been searching?! And in this state…!”
But even with his scolding, Lea, who was tightly biting her lips, let out a short sigh.
“Enough. Let’s talk later and go inside for now. You might catch a cold like this.”
Akia said that and led Lea by the shoulders.
When he gently pushed his arms around her shoulders, Lea, pushing away gently, spoke.
“Akia.”
In a different atmosphere than before, Akia’s steps came to a halt.
“I… can’t.”
‘Can’t what, exactly?’
Although he felt like he knew, at the unknown words, Akia’s body began to stiffen.
A heavy silence lingered between the two.
Akia finally parted his lips.
“…What are you saying? What can’t you do?”
“Marriage.”
And with those words escaping Lea’s lips, Akia’s heart thudded.
“I can’t marry you.”
The once believed connection between the two of us was an inevitable fate that could never be continued.
Lea, who had neither faith nor wanted to acknowledge that fact, finally accepted the reality.
With that statement, Lea passed by Akia.
“…”
However, Akia couldn’t say anything. No, he couldn’t. Because he felt like he knew why she suddenly said this.
So, he couldn’t do anything.
He couldn’t poke her, asking for the reason, or beg her to reconsider.
Splash.
The sound of rain hitting the ground filled the cold silence.
The untimely autumn rain felt too heavy and burdensome for the two.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
