A cold sneer, as if imbued with ice, sharply formed at the corners of Aslan’s mouth.
Hestia’s eyes grew even more tearful.
“Aslan, that’s not what I mean…”
“What about the High Priest, the other high-ranking clergy? Are you confident you can persuade them?”
He pressed Hestia further.
“……Aslan.”
Her violet eyes couldn’t bear to meet his gaze and fell downwards. Simultaneously, clear tears streamed down her cheeks.
Seeing the hurt on Hestia’s face, Aslan felt his heart sink, yet he couldn’t stop his relentless words.
“What I need isn’t that.”
“…….”
“I don’t want to persuade the king and the high priests.”
That’s too cumbersome and time-consuming.
Meanwhile, his father, the land he loved in the North, would be swallowed by winter and beasts, becoming irreversibly desolate.
Aslan spoke firmly, almost as if he was spitting blood.
“I need the power to move them.”
Look at me, Hestia.
In a whispering voice, Aslan forced Hestia, who was not looking at him, to raise her head.
He quietly but firmly continued while locking eyes with her.
“That power, Hestia, you have it.”
Hestia bit her lower lip. Her once endearing violet eyes had darkened, pulling him into a deep vortex.
Aslan knew why she wore such a sad expression.
Just like Yorgos and Boswa, she felt hurt, thinking that Aslan also saw her only as a ‘tool’.
‘No, it’s not like that.’
I, you…
But Aslan couldn’t dare deny it. He couldn’t. Now it would all be just a cowardly excuse.
Ultimately, Aslan was using Hestia.
‘There’s no turning back.’
His short nails dug into his firm palm.
“Just this once, help me. Say you received an oracle to help the North. Then His Majesty will surely aid the North.”
That was the only way to save everyone.
“Just that one sentence… please.”
Aslan’s plea dwindled, trembling like a flickering candle.
“Say the gods told you to help the North, my father… the Duke of Calati… Please. Please…….”
From which moment did it start?
Aslan’s head, his gaze… had fallen to the ground.
His large hand, unable to reach Hestia, was tightly gripping a withered weed.
“Please, Hestia.”
Save my North, my Calati.
If only you do this, I’ll become your servant for life, repaying this grace.
I’ll give you my whole life… No, it’s already yours…
So, please.
Aslan, filled with these earnest thoughts, held his breath.
Meanwhile, Hestia found everything unfamiliar.
Aslan, who seemed never to kneel before heaven or earth, was now bowing at her feet, an unbelievably surreal sight.
She was suddenly scared.
Thus, Hestia instinctively recoiled, widening the distance from Aslan lying on the ground.
Her trembling hands, grasped by the other hand, wouldn’t stop shaking.
Hestia tried several times to part her lips, to speak. But no words came out.
‘What should I say?’
She couldn’t bring herself to say yes to delivering a false oracle, nor could she refuse him.
Her violet eyes trembled endlessly.
She wanted to see Aslan’s face, yet she didn’t want to confront his pleading golden eyes.
An overwhelming fear engulfed her.
‘I don’t know.’
She just wanted to escape from this situation.
“……I’m sorry.”
She turned around and walked away from Aslan.
“Hestia!”
Despite Aslan’s fervently desperate voice calling out to her, Hestia did not look back.
Several days had passed since then.
It seemed Hestia had gone straight back to the temple and had not visited Aslan again since.
Even on the day when Aslan was supposed to leave for the North with Dean and Martin, he lingered in the palace, unable to let go of his lingering feelings for her until the very last moment.
“Prince, we must depart now.”
“Or are you waiting for someone?”
“……No. It’s not that.”
Aslan bit his tongue, feigning ignorance.
Until the day of departure, Yorgos and the temple had not made any firm decisions regarding support for the North.
In the council, opinions were sharply divided between those advocating for aid to the North and those against it, making it difficult to reach a conclusion. Therefore, Aslan decided to return to the North first.
Just as the three men were about to leave the palace:
“Wait!”
A messenger from Yorgos hurriedly approached and stopped Aslan and his party.
“Lady Hestia has received a new oracle.”
Aslan gasped for air and held his breath.
An oracle! Hestia had decided to listen to him.
A quick hope filled one corner of his heart.
His large palm, sweaty with anticipation, struggled to grasp something.
“The contents of the oracle will now be delivered.”
The messenger cleared his throat and continued.
Aslan exchanged glances with Dean and Martin and held his breath.
“The South must build its walls higher and longer to prevent the winter from the North from crossing over. Everything from the North is an enemy of the South, and all efforts must be made to block it. If not, only ruins will remain in the wake of winter, and you all will be doomed.”
What… What does this mean?
Aslan felt as if he was in a vacuum.
A deep silence enveloped him.
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
