Female Novel
Chapter 676 Suffer From Your Own Action (Part One)
After leaving the Imperial Palace, Lucas felt very worried. Since Matthew was the one in charge of thematters concerning Lilian's marriage to the emperor of the Great Jade Kingdom, Lucas thought that ifhe could somehow manage to persuade Matthew, Lilian might be able to escape the fate of marrying aman from a foreign country solely for the sake of peace between the two countries.
"Your Highness, Prince Lucas wants to see you."
"Prince Lucas?" Harper asked in surprise. "Are you sure he wants to see me and not Matthew?"
"Your Highness, His Highness has yet to return, and Prince Lucas said that he wants to see youspecifically."
"All right. Let him in." Harper went on reading the book in her hand, which was about the Great JadeKingdom, including many unknown places and customs they had.
When Lucas came in, he saw Harper sitting in the swing in the yard, holding a book in her hand. Sheseemed to be completely absorbed in the book she was reading. "Aunt Harper," Lucas greeted her.
"Have a seat," Harper said in a rather flat tone. "I heard that you did an excellent job in the disasterrelief program this time, so much so that the people were singing praises to you. You look like a realprince now."
"You're probably just teasing me, Aunt Harper," Lucas said with a bitter smile. "I've come here today toask for your help."novelbin
"Ask for my help?" Harper echoed, feeling so curious. "I'm just a housewife. How can I be of help toyou?"
"Please persuade Uncle Matthew to object to Lilian's marriage to the emperor of the Great JadeKingdom."
Upon hearing that, Harper understood in an instant the reason for Lucas' sudden visit. He was afraidthat Lilian might end up having a miserable life if she married the emperor of the Great Jade Kingdomfor the sake of the peace between the two countries, so he wanted to stop the marriage from takingplace.
"Do you have any idea why Princess Lilian volunteered to marry the emperor of the Great JadeKingdom?" Harper asked after telling a maid to serve Lucas a cup of tea. Lucas simply said thanks, buthe just wasn't in the mood for some tea. The two of them, Lucas and Lilian, had grown up together, andhe had been fond of her, so he didn't want to see her fall into such a tragic fate.
"For the peace between the Bright Dynasty and the Great Jade Kingdom."
"You're overthinking things," Harper refuted right away. "She only did that because the emperor of theGreat Jade Kingdom is Chodak, and that is a matter of fact."
"What?" When he heard this, Lucas was so astonished that he got up from his seat. However, hequickly realized that it was an inappropriate behavior, so he sat back down again slowly. "Aunt Harper,are you kidding me? You mean that the emperor of the Great Jade Kingdom is Chodak?"
"Yes, Chodak is actually Rolando, the former crown prince of the Great Jade Kingdom. Because of theturmoil in the Great Jade Kingdom recently, he had to give up his identity as Chodak and resumed hisidentity as Rolando. It wasn't until she found out that Rolando is Chodak that Lilian volunteered tomarry the emperor in order to bring peace between the two countries. You should know better thananyone just how much she loves Chodak."
Upon the words, Lucas' hands couldn't stop trembling as he held the teacup. It took him several triesbefore he finally managed to take a sip of the tea. Never could he have imagined that the new emperorof the Great Jade Kingdom would be Chodak, the imperial monk who looked pure and clean and hadbeen completely disillusioned with the mortal world.
"But...how did you know?"
"Chodak told me himself," Harper lied with a straight face. Truth be told, Matthew was actually the onewho told her that, but she would never tell Lucas that Matthew had actually been aware of Chodak'sreal identity long ago and yet he just let him hide in the Bright Dynasty for five years. After all,disclosing this information would put Matthew in quite a disadvantageous situation.
"Oh, I forgot that Chodak often played games of Go with you when he was serving as the imperialmonk."
"Yeah," Harper nonchalantly said. "There's nothing you can do to stop the marriage, and you don'treally even have to think about stopping it. Going to the Great Jade Kingdom to be with Rolando isexactly what Lilian wants. If you try to stop her, she will only blame you and hate you for it. I think you'dbetter escort her there yourself. That way, you can make it clear to Rolando that Lilian has a deep rootand background in the Bright Dynasty, and that if she is ever treated unfairly in the Great JadeKingdom, you will not let him off and will make him accountable."
"Aunt Harper, I..." Lucas stammered, swirling the teacup in his hand. "Rolando is cruel and heartless. Iwon't object to the marriage if he does like Lilian. But the fact of the matter is that Lilian has beencourting him for five years. Throughout those long years, she concerned him wholeheartedly regardlessof her own reputation or gains. However, he has never really cared a scrap about her. I'm afraid herone-sided love would not have a happy ending."
"At that time, he was an imperial monk that didn't care about worldly affairs. Considering that, therewas no way he could reciprocate any woman's feelings, let alone have a relationship with one. Butthings are different now. He is the emperor of his kingdom. And he will have numerous beauties in hisharem. Perhaps Lilian simply wants to be by his side," Harper explained, trying to convince Lucas.
"Lucas, you are not her, so you probably don't understand how all of this is supposed to make herhappy."
Lucas fell silent, confused as to what Lilian was thinking. In his opinion, Rolando would not be a Mr.Right for Lilian. That being said, if Rolando was not, then who else was? Born as a princess, Liliannever really had a choice but to be married to someone she didn't love. Considering all these, it wouldcertainly be better for her to stay with the man she truly loved. In this way, at least she could see theman she loved every day.
"Aunt Harper, what does it feel to love someone?"
"Someone once told me that when you love someone, you would want him to live, and that after youcouldn't be loved back by him and hated him, you would want him to die. But in my opinion, when youlove someone, even if you die because of that love, you will still feel content," Harper replied. As shespoke, her eyes were brimming with so much tenderness and warmth that Lucas felt very impressed. Itwasn't until much later that he finally came to his senses.
"You love Uncle Matthew very much, don't you, Aunt Harper?"
"Yes, I do love him very much," Harper admitted in all sincerity. "For me, he is more important thaneverybody else in the world."
"I see. Thank you for clearing up my confusion, Aunt Harper. I will escort Lilian to the Great JadeKingdom and make sure she's safe and sound so she could be on Rolando's side. And I will giveRolando a piece of my mind and tell him that nobody is allowed to mistreat this sister ofmine."