TL: Zimmings
He looked at me silently. Without breaking through those men and frowning at me.
Rather, I narrowed my forehead.
âWhy donât you say anything?â
ââ¦â¦.â
âAdrian.â
At my words, peopleâs eyes turned to Adrian by the door.
The uninvited guests looked at me and Adrian alternately, and shortly after, East, the least tactful of them, said.
âIâm happy to see Adrian, but the priority is for her to accept my bonquet. I like you, Leblaine. Be my wife.â
As East spoke, the others were also clamoring.
âYou know how long Iâve been watching you.â
Hayton too,
âGive me a chance this time.â
Storas too,
âIf you and I hold hands, we can embrace this continent.â
âIf you want, Iâll be the son-in-law instead of the heir to the Grand Duke!â
Both Jin and Lionel offered me bouquets, but Adrian just looked at me.
I was grumpy for some reason.
âWhy? No, I know why Iâm grumpy.â
Letâs be honest.
I donât want to see Adrian give up on me for any reason now. Even if itâs for me.
âItâs obvious whatâs going on in his head.â
He is the only child of the emperor.
Now that Andre has been completely excluded from the succession, he is a man who will naturally succeed the throne.
And I was the one who said to the emperor and the people of the empire, âI donât want to live in the empire.â
If I marry him, of course I will move to the empire.
Knowing how much I love Dubblede, he couldnât let me move away.
I stared at Adrian.
âYou are a man with a weaker will than a sea cucumber!â
As soon as I shouted back, my family who came towards us stopped running like an angry wild boar, perhaps because they heard from my servants.
âLeblaine?â
âKi-kid.â
Everyone was surprised because I was so angry in front of them.
I turned my back with a huff.
Adrianâs voice, who had only been staring at me until now, finally came out.
âThen what should I do?â
ââ¦â¦What?â
Turning my head, I saw Adrianâs eyes clouded.
âYouâll be happier here. Those who propose to you are all people that can leave. They can be with you here.â
âSo? You canât leave, so if I accept your proposal, I have to leave Dubblede forever?â
ââ¦â¦Yes.â
I stared at Adrian fiercely.
âCoward! Dumb! Fool! This @#$@#tard @#%@!â
Then, everyone was startled when my swearing came out. Only my mother covered her cheek with one hand and muttered, âThat side of hers looks like me.â
I said,
âEnough. I have no intention of accepting the proposal of a coward like you.â
âLeb-â
âI!â
I screamed and glared at Adrian.
âI want a man who tells me that no matter how hard is it, we can overcome it together.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âI want a man who wants to be with me even though it might hurt me.â
While everyone was quietly looking at me, East and Lionel shouted, âThatâs me!â .
I looked at Adrian without paying attention to the two.
âGo back. Youâre a precious person who will become the Crown Prince. I will remain in Dubblede waiting for a brave companion-â
As soon as I said so, Adrian strides toward the center.
He passed by the men and grabbed me.
I stared at him questioningly.
âGasp!â
âThis personâ¦â¦!â
âLet go now!!â
The situation was only understood after shouts broke out around me.
Holding my face with both hands, he kissed me.
I hardened with my eyes open, and the surroundings were chaotic.
My mother wrapped her red cheeks with both hands, saying, âOh my, oh my,â but my brothers were shouting.
âHey, that crazyâ¦!â
âAdrian Louerg!â
âEnough, Leblaine and me will marry.â
The last one who reply was dad,
âThe entire army, get ready for battle.â
Adrian was kissing me until my mom covered my terribly angry dadâs mouth.
He spoke in a slightly hoarse voice after we parted.
âYou think you know me well, but youâre mistaken.â
âWha- whatâ¦?â
Confused, I stuttered.
âWhat, what? His gazeâ¦â
His eyes were sharp and intense.
He whispered,
âIâm not running away. Iâm giving you a chance to run.â
Like a predator showing mercy to small animals.
âMom⦠⦠.â
I know without looking in the mirror. My cheeks would have turned red without realizing it.
I gulped and looked at him.
âIâm wonât run. So you run instead.â
Adrian stared at me.
He was lost in thought for a moment as if to grasp the meaning of what I was saying, but I laughed a little at him.
And while looking around, I found a violet stuck in a vase.
Since I returned, the people have put violets all over the hall.
I took a handful of violets from the vase and walked over to Adrian.
âLeave the country and come to me. I will make you happy.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âIâm so greedy that I canât leave my country and family that I got after all sorts of hardships. Iâm sorry to be selfish, but you love me anyway. So, Adrian.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âPrincess Leblaine Lisette Dubblede is proposing to Adrian Louerg.â
Adrianâs eyes trembled.
The surrounding area became quiet.
I smiled at Adrian, who was staring blankly at the violet.
âIf itâs okay to be in such a bad country, then, Adrian⦠will you accept me?â
ââ¦â¦course.â
âWhat?â
He hugged me tightly.
âOf course.â
Adrian, who faced me was smiling again.
A very, very bright smile of happiness.
Who I choose is this man.
He is not a descendant of a brave tribe leader with wisdom comparable to the devil.
Perhaps he is not a crown prince who will rewrite the history of the werebeast people.
He is not the son of a brave prince who endured the hardship of not knowing his family.
Heâs not an ambitious person and have many connections.
Heâs not a devil who has only looked at me for over a thousand years.
âBut this man.â
This foolish man has sacrificed himself for me, he had no excellent ability, no honor and didnât had the best lineage on this continent.
But heâs a man who puts me first over anything.
I chose this fool who couldnât easily bring up the word of love because it was too heavy.
I said with a big smile.
âDonât worry. I wonât make you worry about money for the rest of your life, or worry about bowing your head to others.â
âIs there no option for me to work?â
âYou want to?â
âI wanted to do business with the socialites.â
âOkay. Make your dreams come true by my side.â
âYes.â
Thatâs how I become a vicious Dubblede princess who took away the crown prince from the empire.
***
Aside from the empire, there was still many oppositions.
First of all, my family was in an uproar.
[Kid, you are underage!]
They were adamantly opposed to my marriage.
I lightly stopped those words.
[Iâm no longer a minor though? Itâs been three years since I left.]
However, the enemies (my father and brothers who oppose my marriage) did not easily back down. I was helped by my strong allies (my mother and aunt).
[Do you think you can protect her forever? Will there any man who would sacrifice that much like him?]
Everyone shut up at the motherâs attack.
In fact, the family would not have liked anyone as my partner. However, Adrian, who even made such a sacrifice, had no excuse for them to oppose.
He will be Dubbledeâs son-in-law and remain with Dubblede, so where else would there be a good groom?
Adrian even took on the troublesome task, saying, âIâll take care of the empire.ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Eventually, my father and brothers (I donât know why, but also my maternal grandfather and uncle) gathered together and drank alcohol for two consecutive days, and after shedding tears, they allowed it.
Mom, aunt, and chairman shook their heads as they saw them cry under the influence of alcohol.
Even when my dad was drunk, he looked at me with sad eyes.
Every time, I avoided looking at him.
Anyway, it was a good ending.
Andâ¦
âYouâre really bad. You naughty kidâ¦â
âHow could you propose to another man in front of me who proposed to you⦠you trampled on this manâs innocence!â
The men who proposed to me left the castle crying.
To be exact, East and Lionel did.
I smiled and saw them off.
âGoodbye! Find a good girl!â
Seeing the excited me, Jin smiled sadly.
âYou may regret it.â
âWill I?â
âYes. Iâm a better guy than you think. Weâd get along pretty well.â
âIn this life, I have decided to put my regrets in Adrianâs arms.â
Jin chuckled, took my hand lightly and kissed the back of my hand.
âI wish you happiness. The strongest Shutala (warrior) Iâve ever seen.â
I thanked him with a big smile.
Hayton looked at me silently and took a step.
I thought he would say something, but he was walking silently and it was unexpected.
âIs the wound deep?â
Feeling a little sorry, Hayton paused and said,
âEven if itâs an affair, Iâm fine.â
âCanât you go?â
When I said that, he muttered.
âIf you have a next life, give me a chance.â
ââ¦â¦Okay.â
He looked at me, so I added.
âIâll give you a chance around my tenth life.â
âDamn.â
âIt means to let go. Because I will never go to you.â
ââ¦You donât have to do that.â
So he left.
âAnd all thatâs leftâ¦â¦â
When the men left and the last one remained, Boone and Pur said.
âIt was too much for Storas.â
âYes, child. We know how much he has loved you since ancient timesâ¦â
Boone and Pur, who said so, went away after saying that.
Storas and I faced each other in the courtyard where there was no one.
âAre you going now?â
âYes.â
âAre you going to come back?â
When I asked, he looked at me.
âI wonât come forever⦠â¦forever.â
I answered.
âOkay.â
ââ¦â¦.â
ââ¦â¦.â
I didnât know that Storasâ gaze would be on me. I recalled the ancient him who called my name happily.
âI know you donât like that name, but let me call you one last time.â
ââ¦â¦Okay.â
He hesitated and opened his mouth.
He, who had hesitated for a very long time after saying he would call me, whispered in a small voice.
âMeriaâ¦â
ââ¦â¦.â
âMeria.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âMeria. â¦Meria.â
I didnât avoid his eyes. It was courtesy for his desperate affection.
He called Meria over and over again, as if to vent his sorrow. And he asked.
âNext time, next time Iâ¦â
âItâs a meaningless assumption.â
âItâs okay. Iâll stay forever.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âIâll wait for you who will be reborn, the next you, and the next youâ¦â
ââ¦â¦.â
âMeria.â
âThank you for loving me.â
He covered his eyes with one hand. I pretended not to know that his tears was flowing through his knuckles.