Aslan, instead of answering her question about missing his family, spoke of something else.
“I will definitely come for you. But if you ever feel like giving up before then.”
He took a deep breath.
“Come to Kalati.”
His golden eyes steadily met the small girl’s.
“I’ll become your family.”
It was a promise.
A vow to protect this small girl who had eased his own loneliness.
Hestia was momentarily surprised by his unexpected words, then her eyes softened.
Realizing she was taking his words as mere consolation, Aslan felt like complaining. So, he emphasized again.
“Anytime.”
Hestia didn’t reply, she just smiled. To Aslan, her smile seemed to carry the fragrance of flowers.
From the day Hestia fell into the pond, the distance between Aslan and her significantly closed.
Though outwardly nothing seemed to change, the psychological distance they felt had greatly diminished.
It was as if a tall barrier between them had suddenly crumbled.
They shared emotions deeper than friendship.
He understood her, and she him.
Though the time they could spend together was extremely short, it was meaningful enough for both to endure the long wait.
They realized through these events that the depth and exchange of emotions are not always proportional to time.
Then, one day.
Hestia visited Aslan’s palace, bypassing others’ eyes, and stretched out her hands eagerly.
“Aslan. Will you accept this?”
Instead of calling him ‘Prince,’ Hestia used his name and shyly offered him something.
It was a pressed flower, identical in color to her eyes.
“…This is.”
“It’s a sweet pea.”
It was a flower dried and preserved in a wax tablet with fragrance.
“The stem was thick, so it was hard to shape it… But I brought it because I thought Aslan would like it. It may not look great, but it’s the best one I’ve made.”
“Just a moment.”
Aslan’s eyes slowly closed and then opened again at her words.
“You thought I would like it?”
A hint of incredulity tinged his voice.
But Hestia didn’t shrink back and nodded firmly.
“You like looking at flowers, don’t you?”
“…!”
His golden eyes widened for a moment.
Hestia, smiling at his reaction, couldn’t hold back her laughter any longer and burst into a giggle.
Aslan coughed awkwardly and averted his gaze, slightly embarrassed.
“Who, who enjoys such things.”
His voice, uncharacteristically mumbling, carried a hint of awkwardness.
Hestia, continuing to smile at him, chattered on.
“Of course, it’s best to enjoy fresh flowers. I think so too. But still…”
Aslan was hesitant to accept the gift, just looking at it.
Hestia placed the pressed flower wax in his hands, then continued her paused words.
“Isn’t it somewhat romantic to press a memory or a moment into a single flower petal?”
“Romantic, huh…”
Aslan rolled the wax tablet in his hand, quietly contemplating the word she emphasized.
“By looking at the pressed flower, you can always remember. With this single petal, you can return to that day anytime.”
“…”
“Isn’t it?”
Only then did his golden gaze fix firmly on her.
Like her hair fluttering in the breeze…
It seemed his heart was swaying similarly.
No, it had swayed. Long before the wind even started.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
