A minute after the pleasantries and idle talks... When the real reason for the female lead's trip to Jiang Li's house was finally revealed, the man intently looked at her for a while before giving him his honest reply.
"Do you know that the way you ask for bonding between us is making speechless?"
With the sa slight smile put on, Jiang Li spoke unhurriedly to the girl who requested to have a private talk with him. Now, only their personal guards and companions were around, hence he said those words unabashedly.
The two dukes were still inside the receiving room. Those two must have shed already their pretenses since their kids were not around but in an adjacent room with a bigger fireplace.
As the prophet was genuinely in poor health condition, even though the garden at night was also a picturesque sight to see, Duke Wade made sure to remind the valets and maids not to let the chill reach his heir. Only by ensuring his son would not be inconvenienced by the cold did he put his mind at ease and started an unmasked talk with the other duke.
The son worrying his father was near the fireplace, propping his head up using his left hand. Boredom showed on his face that was more mature than the crown prince's.
"Desperation can drive a person to do sothing even she never thought she would." Hearing his statent, Rumina resisted the urge to bite her lips and replied with an awkward laugh.
Leaning against the backrest, Jiang Li chuckled at the female lead. "You are willing to marry a dying man over a man who would lord over a vast empire?"
"You are not dying."
"Who can tell for sure what fate awaits a person?"
The girl took a deep breath. She answered in a tone full of conviction. "Of course, it is outside an ordinary person or mortal's ability. But the Goddess can. You, as the prophet, also can. I'm certain of it!"
"Oh, sure." Even the servants who were pretending they didn't exist montarily looked up at the young heir. His tone was just that sarcastic. "What if I tell I saw myself dying in a few months while you won't be able to escape your fate?"
"..." Rumina's mouth fell open. She felt like her ears kept ringing and she was going deaf. There was no way to escape that fate, he said? That she was struggling to no avail?
The female lead couldn't accept those words.
And it was a good thing she didn't because the prophet was rely jesting with her.
Jiang Li only knew the plot. And so far, nothing much had changed on its supposed trajectory. The fate the girl was dreading was different from what was stored for her. The male lead would like her this ti around and persecute the Saintess for her. Since she would not truly die and her House would not be implicated in so sort of sche, why was there a need to change the status quo?
And even if she truly wanted to escape from the male lead this ti, was there a need to use Jiang Li for that purpose?
The shell was the sa. But a vase was called a vase because the inside was hollow. A flower could be inserted inside to decorate and beautify it, but this flower would soday wilt, leaving only an empty, dark, or sotis, dirty interior.
"... A sha that the faces are alike, but the soul... are not." The words accidentally spilled out of his mouth.
Naturally, the female lead did not get his aning so, in confusion, she asked, "What did you say again?"
Jiang Li shook his head. "Nothing."
She was truly not his Xinya.
The girl in front of him was more concerned about what he ant earlier, so she continued, "If so, then what did you just an by saying I won't be able to escape. Why? What did you see?"
Smiling faintly, the man tapped on the left armrest of his wheelchair. But like a breeze in the middle of a snowstorm, his tone was icy and even his eyes were lacking the usual calmness or even indifference. "Miss Bolden, don't worry. I was just joking earlier."
"Yet I think I have to say, what makes you think that everything about your affairs will be included in what the Goddess will show ? Do I really always have to waste my ability in predicting your future?"
"My existence is for the people and the Empire, not for a select few. I hope you haven't forgotten."
"..."
He laughed. "Also... If your goal is simply to not be married to that idiot, how co bothering for engagent is the only thod you ca up with?"
Rumina almost brought her hand up to clutch her chest. However, she restrained herself, rembering the blue sapphire was resting there. The man actually noticed her gesture and saw the gem there. Yet instead of receiving a less intense glare, he beca colder than before. This was the first ti she witnessed him acting like this.
She only saw him looking proud, sarcastic, indifferent, or silent. Had he always been a scary man? Lost in her thoughts, the girl appeared stunned. However, the question he asked surfaced in her mind.
How co bothering him was the only thod she thought of?
Her chest tightened and she felt she was suffocating. The feeling ca from being seen through. What he asked might have a different aning contextually, but since he knew what she was, how could that small detail escape his notice?
"Rumina Bolden is a genius. There is no way, even under extre pressure, that she'd only co up with latching onto an equally or more influential man to free herself from the engagent with the crown prince." This must be what he was thinking.
In line with this, he must have realized the improper thoughts she was harboring for him.
'I want to be the future Duchess Wade.'
This was the first ti, she admitted this to herself. Honestly, embarrassnt washed over her for so ti. It showed through her cheeks that first went white before slowly getting dyed red.
But what she could do? In her past life, duties, worries, heartbreak, and sorrows occupied most of her ti. She hardly rembered any instances where she wanted sothing because everything she had and had to carry back then were imposed on her.
The question he uttered played again in her ears. His voice was cold, but still hypnotic for her. She unknowingly raised her head and slowly said, "... I thought of being a nun..."
This was her real answer. Her lips curved into a bitter smile. "... A nun couldn't marry. They are expected to dedicate their whole lives serving the poor and the needy in the na of the Goddess."
"I'm sure you won't cooperate with if I said I want you to tell them the Goddess wanted to enter her convent."
"Desperate tis call for desperate asures. So here I am, talking with you."
"I... swear to be good to you, Luke. Can't I really be your wife?"
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