Wrong Marriage and Sweet Love

Three months later, the Rohomes rebellion was quelled, and the Yoshikawa family was completely eradicated. Hirota died in a hail of bullets, his body unrecognizable. Thus, a century-old powerful family collapsed, its former glory gone. For other families, this served as a warning. To ensure their survival, they diluted their own power, handed over control of mines and wealth, and dispersed their businesses, returning authority to the royal family and the Imperial Household Agency.

The formal coronation and empress investiture ceremonies were held simultaneously. Despite the coup, the Eastern Capital remained as prosperous as ever, with the initial vigilance seemingly a distant memory.

The lengthy and burdensome coronation and investiture ceremonies lasted six hours. Back in the lounge, Clint sat on the sofa, removed his crown, and set it aside casually. His expression revealed exhaustion, and his face was pale.

Shizuka approached him quietly. She wore luxurious attire and a heavy phoenix crown but dared not remove it. He could be casual; she could not. She slowly knelt beside Clint on the sofa.

“Your Majesty, let me massage your legs,” she said as she began to massage him, knowing he was tired. For three months, he had been tirelessly working, often sleeping less than three hours, either commanding on the front lines or strategizing behind the scenes. He had been shot, slit his wrist, lost a lot of blood without proper recovery, and recently caught a cold. After six hours of ceremonies, his strength was undoubtedly depleted.

After a while, Clint’s expression relaxed slightly. Suddenly, he felt a discomfort in his throat and couldn’t help but cover his mouth as he coughed repeatedly. His face turned cold; he hated how colds always made him cough for long periods, hindering his ability to handle state affairs.

Shizuka stood up gracefully despite her heavy attire. She poured him a cup of hot tea and handed it to him. Then she took out a medicine box and retrieved two capsules.

“Your Majesty, I modified the formula. I know you dislike herbal decoctions, so I refined the ingredients into powder and made capsules. Give me some time to help you recuperate.”

She didn’t continue speaking. With her medical background specializing in internal medicine and conditioning, she believed that with careful treatment over time, his weak constitution would improve significantly.

Clint didn’t look at Shizuka but took the capsules and swallowed them with hot tea before drinking more water to soothe his throat. Since agreeing to the marriage alliance, Shizuka had been living in his residence as his personal physician.

He suddenly found it ironic that Hajime’s daughter was a doctor-Hajime must have feared he would die early and chose a medically trained bride for him. Interestingly enough, Shizuka seemed competent; despite not fully recovering in three months, her treatments allowed him to endure the exhausting rebellion suppression.

He set the teacup aside as Shizuka knelt beside him again to continue massaging him with a serene demeanor. Since her arrival, she rarely spoke or made any demands-only silently treating him and preparing medicine late into the night.

Clint suddenly grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Shizuka, although I don’t know your intentions, you are indeed obedient.”

Shizuka’s face reddened under his grip but didn’t hurt; it just affected her breathing. She usually avoided looking at him directly-this man she admired who was now her husband.

“I have no ulterior motives,” Shizuka said softly.

Clint tightened his grip on her chin. “Listen,” he said coldly. “Our marriage is purely political. You got your empress title; I got support from the Imperial Household Agency. We each got what we wanted.”

“After marriage, we live our own lives separately. I’ll never touch you. That’s all there is between us.”

Shizuka stiffened; her usually compliant eyes showed a hint of disappointment.

“But Your Majesty needs heirs,” she said softly.

“The royal bloodline must continue.”

“We’ll use IVF and screen for genetic diseases,” Clint replied abruptly before releasing her chin.

Shizuka fell to the ground but answered quietly with lowered eyes, “Okay.”

Being able to stay by his side and have his child was enough for her-she asked for nothing more than seeing him every day.

He wouldn’t know how long she had loved him since she was twelve when she first saw him at the hospital during one of his checkups. She picked up his discarded report and returned it to him despite his indifference.

From that moment on, she vowed to study medicine diligently so that one day she could heal him completely.

Now married to him fulfilled her dream regardless of how he treated her-she would give everything to restore his health and free him from criticism.

Clint looked at Shizuka’s serene smile like a crescent moon-never crying or complaining-yet it only irritated him more.

Frowning, he walked towards the window staring westward in contemplation.

Three months had passed; what was Joyce doing now? Had she watched his coronation? Or had she forgotten him entirely?

He smiled bitterly at an orchid blooming by the window and whispered softly:

“She thinks I don’t understand love; she thinks I’m insane… Do you agree?”

His voice was too low for anyone else to hear before he scoffed faintly-who said he didn’t understand love?

Shizuka watched Clint from behind-his thin lips pressed together coldly like an abyss-and knew he was thinking about someone else.

Her eyes dimmed with understanding-he must be thinking about that person now.

Outside unexpectedly began snowing-the first snowfall of winter without warning.

“Heh,” Clint chuckled darkly as icy snowflakes fell outside matching his chilling demeanor-a reflection of his inner turmoil as he gazed at the beautiful snowy scene outside with a twisted smile:

“Joyce-is it snowing where you are too? Do you ever think about me?”

He laughed wickedly while pressing down on old wrist scars seeking some pain-a habit whenever doing anything significant…Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Always leaving something behind…

After all… life is long…

One always needs some hope… right?