Hershis’s voice quietly fell into Liz’s ears.
Like an enduring shooting star.
“…….,”
Liz turned her head at the meteor festival.
Seeing her unfamiliar expression, Hershis asked, “Did you not expect it? Was it too surprising?”
“No… It’s not that.”
Only now did Liz erase the confusion in her eyes and speak.
“It was sudden.”
‘And too identical to the original.’
She kept that thought to herself.
As Hershis lowered Liz to the ground, he carefully covered her bare skin with the blanket to avoid exposure. Looking up at him, Liz remarked, “We’re already engaged, so why go through all this trouble…”
“Marriage may be arranged, but a proposal hasn’t been made.”
Hershis said. Watching his expression becoming more serious, Liz predicted the next steps in her mind.
‘I want to formally propose to you. Liz, will you marry me?’
If he said that again, she would shyly nod her head. After all, that’s how it was in the original.
But somehow, a bitter feeling welled up.
In the end, whether it’s the male lead or the female lead, they are destined to propose at the moment the meteor shower falls.
She even had a petty thought that perhaps he proposed to me not out of his own will but because fate dictated it.
‘Ridiculous.’
Liz scolded herself inwardly.
After all, she felt pathetic for suspecting whether he proposed to marry her not out of his own will.
Liz dismissed her thoughts, smiled, and prepared to breathe to utter her acceptance.
“……?”
Suddenly, a small crimson case extended in front of her caught her attention.
“I thought about giving it to you earlier.”
Hershis said with a charming smile.
“I had a jeweler spend a month making a ring for when I propose to you. It’s a topaz ring, your birthstone. But when I went to you with the ring, you had conveniently escaped to the outskirts.”
“…….”
“Maybe you didn’t like the topaz ring.”
“That’s not…”
He spoke with narrowed eyes, and Liz tried to refute, but Hershis continued without giving her a chance.
“So, this time, I’ve prepared a different ring.”
He opened the case in front of Liz.
Inside was a diamond ring delicately crafted into the shape of flower petals, nestled in velvet lining.
With each change of angle, different facets reflected moonlight, creating a mysteriously sparkling effect. It was an incredibly beautiful ring.
“Do you like it?”
Hershis asked. There was no joking in his words.
Liz couldn’t take her eyes off the ring, so Hershis knelt in front of her.
Liz could see her reflection in his golden eyes.
“Ariste Verium. Dare I ask, will you marry me?”
Hershis’s voice carried a subtle tremor, like the strings of a musical instrument.
“I know I caused you a lot of pain in the past. Most of it, I remember too. But if there’s any wrongdoing I don’t remember, I hope you can forgive that as well. If you can’t forgive, you’re welcome to seek revenge while I’m alive. I’ll accept any revenge you choose.”
“…….,”
“I will become not just a good emperor but a good husband. Without fail.”
In Hershis’s eyes, the long tail of a shooting star left a trace.
The silver thread drawn in his golden eyes was so beautiful, as if it wasn’t human-made.
After a while, Liz spoke.
“Both…”
It took time to loosen her tightened throat.
“Both are fine. A good husband and a good emperor.”
A relieved smile formed on Hershis’s face.
The tension that had risen in his shoulders slowly subsided.
It looked strangely unfamiliar.
He was someone who was never supposed to be tense.
Hershis took the ring out of the case and carefully placed it on Liz’s ring finger.
Then, like a star that had just fallen, the ring sparkled on her finger.
‘This is different from the original.’
Looking down at the hand with the ring, Liz thought.
In the original, it was enough to propose by asking for marriage while looking at a shooting star.
But now it was different. He put a ring on her finger and conveyed his sweet determination.
It was evidence that Hershis chose her not passively led by the fate of being in the original but out of his own will.
Liz’s heart swelled.
Suddenly, everything in front of her became hazy.
Everything was too unbelievably happy.
She always had fantasies about marriage, but it was because she wanted to build a home, not because she particularly wanted to get married. She didn’t expect much from the wedding either.
But now, receiving a proposal and looking down at the symbol placed on her hand, thoughts of building a family and having children didn’t cross her mind.
Only this moment seemed the most important. The royal wedding didn’t seem important at the moment.
Hershis rose to his feet.
“……!”
He wrapped Liz’s face with both hands and kissed her eyes in sync with her lips.
Following the trail of tears falling down, his lips gradually moved downwards. Then, they finally reached the lips.
It was a moist and sweet kiss due to the tears.
It was a kiss that suited the tender atmosphere, filled with a restrained passion.
“Herr.”
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.”
