Trampled and Broken (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
His golden eyes trembled slightly, but the shadow cast over his face concealed it.
Aslan held his breath.
He had wished to see her face.
Yet, given the circumstances, he thought it couldn’t be helped if she didn’t come.
Aslan looked at Hestia.
Even as the surroundings grew dim, she alone shone brightly.
It felt as though Hestia were the only one existing in this space.
Thus, Aslan kept staring only at the girl’s face—foolishly, unable to utter a single word.
Her appearance always stole his breath away, but today it felt more real than ever before.
Because the corners of her eyes were reddened.
‘…Did she cry?’
He hated seeing her force a smile at him, as if trying to hide her sorrow even from himself.
Hestia tugged at the corners of her drooping mouth several times before speaking to Aslan once more.
“I’m sorry for disturbing your reading. I’ll just… take a short walk.”
Unsurprisingly, there was no reply, yet he didn’t refuse her either.
Hestia lifted the edges of her lips one last time with all her strength and slowly turned away.
She could no longer pretend to be unaffected and compose herself.
She listlessly stepped toward the garden bridge.
Aslan silently watched Hestia’s retreating figure before swallowing a deep sigh.
He briefly considered following her but stopped himself upon realizing he lacked the talent to comfort anyone.
He also thought it best to simply give her some time alone.
Thus, Aslan swallowed another deep sigh and reopened the book he had folded shut.
It was a page entirely unrelated to where he’d marked with the ribbon.
The stone lantern right beside the bench illuminated the book, yet just as before, the printed words refused to register in his vision.
Though Aslan’s gaze remained fixed on the book, his entire attention had already shifted to Hestia.
Shuffle, shuffle.
He heard the sound of her dress brushing against her feet as she walked.
Though a considerable distance now separated them, catching that sound was effortless for Aslan.
The surroundings were quiet, and if he focused, there was nothing he couldn’t hear.
Her pace—neither fast nor slow—continued briefly before coming to a complete stop.
It would surely be right in the middle of the garden bridge, as always.
He could picture it clearly without even looking.
Hestia was just as habitual as Aslan himself.
That fact had already been confirmed through their previous encounters.
Yet Aslan couldn’t quite shake off his worry.
Something unsettled stirred within his chest.
‘What is this anxiety?’
Could it be because she looked especially fragile today?
Despite his resolve not to disturb Hestia’s moment, he found himself wanting to lift his head several times.
‘Anyway, at this distance and in this darkness, she won’t notice I’m watching her.’
In the end, Aslan couldn’t resist the impulse and raised his eyes.
Spotting Hestia through the gaps between the leaves wasn’t difficult.
She was leaning both arms against the bridge railing.
Her head was slightly bowed, as if gazing at something on the pond’s surface below.
Until that moment, Aslan assumed she was simply admiring fish or water lilies.
But then he noticed her body slowly tilting forward.
“…What!”
Aslan tossed his book aside carelessly and shot up from his seat.
And in that brief instant—splash!
Hestia’s body vanished into the icy pond as if pulled under.
“Damn it…!”
A rough curse burst from his lips.
Before he could form a coherent thought, his legs were already moving.
“What on earth!”
To his eyes, it looked as though Hestia had thrown herself in deliberately.
‘It can’t be.’
It must not be.
Aslan dashed toward the pond.
If it had merely been a misstep or a momentary loss of balance, Hestia’s body should have surfaced by now.
But when Aslan reached the pond’s edge, there was no sign of her.
Only a large ripple remained, marking where she had fallen in.
“Damn it.”
Without another thought, Aslan immediately plunged into the pond after Hestia.
Winter was winter, no matter how far south they were.
The water was quite cold.
Though it posed no issue for Aslan, it would be different for her delicate frame.
Aslan tensed his limbs.
Debris clouded his vision. Moreover, the moon had hidden behind clouds, leaving visibility poor.
Nevertheless, he vigorously swept his arms and legs, turning his head this way and that as he searched for Hestia.
Estimating the approximate location of the bridge, he swam toward the pond’s center.
‘…!’
And finally, he spotted Hestia.
She stood motionless underwater.
With her eyes wide open.
Her violet irises were utterly empty.
From that sight, Aslan could only conclude that Hestia had willingly thrown herself into the water.
Though he had leapt in without hesitation to save her, Aslan remained frozen.
Or perhaps it was more accurate to say he couldn’t move.
Hestia appeared… sacred.
Though he had never believed in gods even once, she looked divine—humiliatingly so.
Not a single finger moved. Her white dress swayed gently with the current and buoyancy.
That fluttering only heightened Hestia’s ethereal aura.
It was as if pure white wings unfurled behind her, beating gracefully like a swan’s, or as if she were a spring butterfly dancing joyfully among flowers.
Entranced, Aslan stared at Hestia until he suddenly realized he was running out of air.
‘…Ghk.’
Frowning, he looked back at Hestia.
Her body was sinking deeper into the water.
Snapping back to his senses, Aslan urgently opened his mouth to call out to her.
‘Princess!’
But his voice dissolved into bubbles and vanished.
Knowing his words couldn’t reach her, his anxiety only grew.
Strangely, at that very moment, Hestia’s previously lifeless gaze lifted.
Aslan held his breath again.
It was nighttime, and they were underwater.
Naturally, visibility was poor.
Yet as Hestia raised her head, faint moonlight poured through the surface above.
The moon, which had been hidden behind thick clouds all along, had finally revealed itself.
Aslan felt their eyes meet.
It was no illusion.
Goosebumps rose on his skin.
Because in Hestia’s violet eyes, there was no trace of fear toward death.
‘So she really did it on purpose….’
The thought made him grit his teeth.
Just then—Hestia, who had shown no movement until now, slowly reached her arm toward Aslan.
Everything before his eyes felt utterly unreal.
He knew it wasn’t the right expression, yet even years later, he still hadn’t found a more precise word.
The sight of Hestia extending her hand toward him… was surreal.
It was as if time itself had slowed to a crawl.
Keeping her eyes locked on his, Hestia opened her mouth.
‘What is she saying?’
As he narrowed his eyes to focus more carefully, he finally snapped back to reality upon seeing a round bubble escape from between her lips.
‘This isn’t the time to be lost in thought.’
Feeling urgency, Aslan spread his arms wide and surged toward Hestia.
Midway through, his breath ran out again, and several bubbles escaped from his lips.
He felt as if someone were pressing both hands hard against his throat, choking off his air—but he refused to give up.
Just a little more.
Just a little farther.
Finally, his fingertips touched Hestia.
He immediately grabbed her and pulled her into his embrace.
Her small body offered no resistance as it was drawn close.
With her back supported, he cut through the water with one arm and swam out of the pond.
Splash!
Their faces broke the surface together.
Without hesitation, both opened their mouths simultaneously, gasping desperately for air.
“Hah!”
“Cough, cough.”
Fresh air filled their lungs.
Afraid of letting her go, Aslan tightened his hold around her. Their touching skin felt icy cold.
Hestia clearly lacked even the strength to twitch a finger, so Aslan swam frantically toward shore with her.
Depleted of all energy, Hestia passively surrendered herself to his guidance.
Splash.
Water dripped heavily from their clothes.
Under gravity’s sudden pull, their bodies felt far heavier than they had underwater.
Aslan let out a low, rough growl as he lifted her.
“Are you insane?”
“……”
“What possessed you to jump into the pond? Did you want to die?”
Despite his harsh words, Aslan’s actions were exceedingly gentle.
He carried Hestia lightly and headed toward the inner palace.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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