Espen came to the White Jade Palace and shouted frantically.
“Hadel, come out!”
It was a threatening sight, but for me, it was a positive signal.
‘Hadel seems to have escaped Changgung through the secret passage!’
Searching for Hadel meant he had already left to rescue his family.
‘He might be in contact with the royal couple right now.’
I hoped for a successful rescue. While silently wishing for it, a sharp pain stung my cheek.
“……?”
It wasn’t my imagination. Needle-like ice fragments were floating in the air. The surroundings felt cold, making everyone shiver. Suddenly, I remembered that there was an amplification magic circle in the White Jade Palace.
‘At this rate, everyone might freeze to death.’
The trigger for that magic circle, like the suppression magic circle in Changgung, was probably held by Espen.
‘That must not happen.’
Right now, I was the only one who could say something to Espen for the safety of everyone. To ensure everyone’s safety, I took a step forward.
“I don’t know why you’re looking for Hadel here, but don’t scare other people. Leave.”
At that moment, Espen’s face contorted with sadness. Before I could react, his large hand grabbed my wrist, pulling me into his arms.
“Ugh.”
The rushing cold felt like needles piercing my entire body. As I staggered, Espen released the arm he had held tightly.
Espen, momentarily dazed, quickly distorted his face into a fierce expression.
“What are the flames flickering inside you?”
His gaze, even after holding me, was directed at my forearm that didn’t freeze at all. He growled fiercely.
“You lied to me again.”
“Ugh.”
Due to his fingers gripping my arm tightly, the flesh felt compressed. Seeing Evelyn turning pale at the sight of my arm turning blue, I shouted.
“Your Highness! Lady Mariann is fragile. If you treat her like this…”
Espen scoffed at Evelyn.
“Why? Are you lying too? I’m saying this woman could die.”
It wasn’t a lie; it was a genuine possibility of death. I focused desperately on the flames gradually emerging from within me. It felt like enduring the dark night with a single match.
Seeing Espen’s anger, Sesil, who had turned pale, called him softly.
“Prin, Prince of Birds?”
When acting as the Prince of Birds, he had never behaved so aggressively before.
Espen, realizing something in Sesil’s call, changed his expression again.
“Yeah. I’m not the me from the past.”
He looked at me with flickering eyes. It seemed like he remembered something he had forgotten.
“I’m no longer someone who torments you like family or forces you to suffer. Instead, I can protect you no matter the situation.”
He pulled me close again. As if about to kiss, his face approached mine, whispering in a strangely sweet voice.
“So, stop lying and running away.”
To him, it might be true love, but to me, it was nothing more than a chilling threat. The chilling cold even stung my eyelids. Nevertheless, I had no choice but to question him like this.
“So… should I thank you for sparing my life and bow down in gratitude, swearing eternal love to you?”
“Mariann.”
Espen’s face hardened stiffly. I swallowed hard. The current situation wasn’t without fear. However, Espen persistently clinging to me felt pitiful and frustrating.
“Haven’t you ever thought that you yourself might be a threat to me right now?”
Is making the person you love dangerous considered true love?
I don’t think so. If I were in his position and loved someone, I wouldn’t be able to unleash cold indiscriminately like this.
Because seeing that person get hurt would hurt me more than keeping them at a distance and watching from afar.
In response to my answer, Espen’s blue eyes shook here and there like dewdrops on leaves.
After catching his breath for a moment, he asked, as if vomiting out sorrow,
“How can someone be so cruel?”
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.”
