Her voice was hoarse from frequent coughing, sounding almost like a rasp.
Upon hearing her answer, Aslan’s face hardened even more as he asked directly.
“Why.”
“…Because I felt like I had no reason to live.”
His face twisted in displeasure.
His eyebrows furrowed, seeming almost to meet in the middle due to his frown.
Speaking like a guilty person, Hestia said in a low voice, her head hanging down.
“My parents are gone… I’m so lonely.”
Tears welled up in Hestia’s eyes again, rolling down her cheeks.
Watching her sob, Aslan spoke with a complex expression.
“Still, live. I am living, aren’t I?”
Hestia responded with a choked voice, an expression she had never shown to others.
“The Prince and I are… different. If you go back to the north, you can see your father. But the only way I can meet my parents is… if I die.”
“Do you think the late king and queen would be pleased if you went that way?”
“…”
“Live. Somehow, by any means. Stay on this land.”
“Hic, sob. There’s no reason, no reason… for me to.”
Unable to stop crying, Hestia’s shoulders trembled slightly.
Aslan, who had extended his arm to comfort her, ultimately couldn’t bring himself to touch her and clenched his fist instead.
Swallowing a deep sigh, he continued.
“If you need a reason to live, I’ll be that reason.”
“…What?”
Hestia fixed her teary violet eyes on him.
With an almost angry look on his face, he bluntly said.
“Live for me.”
Hestia’s pupils quivered.
Her heart started beating rapidly at the words she had never considered before.
Meanwhile, Aslan swallowed a sigh.
How could he convey that he was utterly sincere at this moment?
Not knowing how, Aslan repeated the same words several times in a blunt manner.
“I worry about the Princess. So, live. If the Princess dies, I will be sad.”
He thought that if he kept talking, it might brainwash her.
He sincerely hoped that Hestia would… choose to live.
“Make me the reason for your life. Endure it like that.”
Looking at the tears welling up again in her violet eyes, he clenched his teeth and spoke again.
“I will come for you someday.”
“You’ll… come for me?”
When she asked with a disbelieving look, Aslan nodded immediately as her question ended.
“Yes. Definitely.”
That was the most necessary phrase for Hestia.
A place to escape to.
Someone to rely on.
Unable to hold back, Hestia lowered her head, and tears poured down.
Though her voice was choked and barely audible, she managed a small smile and whispered.
“You must keep your promise, okay?”
“Yes.”
Aslan patiently nodded several times in response to the same question without showing any annoyance.
Having finally stopped crying, Hestia asked with a sniffle.
“Doesn’t the Prince want to see his parents?”
Of course, he did.
But Aslan couldn’t answer easily, knowing that the anniversary of the former king and queen’s death was just a few days away.
Interpreting his consideration in her own way, Hestia forced a smile and offered words of comfort.
“The news of Duke Kalati’s victories comes often. He must be safe and unharmed. So, just wait a little longer, Prince. You will surely meet them again.”
Who was comforting whom?
Biting back the urge to click his tongue, Aslan’s lips turned white from holding back his emotions.
‘Such a fool.’
It was just a month before Hestia became a saintess.
Her parents, the king and queen, had died in a carriage accident during an inspection.
At that time, it was still possible to travel between the north and south.
The weather had become colder, but not unbearably so.
Those with means had moved south, but the impoverished couldn’t easily leave their homes.
Thus, many people remained in the north, prompting Hestia’s parents, the king and queen, to visit there to distribute relief supplies and soothe the people’s spirits.
However, they met with a carriage accident and passed away without a chance to react.
During the state funeral, Yorgos, the king’s brother, ascended the throne.
And Hestia’s situation became quite awkward.
She was the legitimate princess, yet only 11 years old.
It would have been appropriate for her uncle Yorgos to take her in, but he did not want to. She was a child who brought no benefit to his rule.
Sending her to a convent would have drawn too much criticism, so Hestia’s position became very unstable, almost becoming a burden to the royal family.
Then, on the 1000th day after the onset of winter.
On January 1, 1089, Hestia received a divine calling and awakened as a saintess.
It was a significant event, especially since a saintess had not appeared for a while, and her awakening occurred during the symbolic period of the ongoing ‘winter’.
It was a fortunate turn for Yorgos.
The once troublesome niece suddenly became useful, also allowing him to gain favor with the temple.
Thus, the circumstances around Hestia changed rapidly every day, but she herself was neglected.
She was the center of attention yet isolated and lonely.
That’s why.
“The words you said earlier, they were serious.”
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.”
