Succeeding the throne (15)
* * *
Among the people cheering at the new emperor’s enthronement, one man stood alone.
Short platinum hair, turquoise-colored eyes.
His build was delicate, giving off the air of a scholar, but his tall stature and sturdy body made him distinctly different from the Silvanians around him.
It was Lu.
He watched his brother waving his hand from up high.
‘It suits you well.’
His younger brother was definitely fit to be emperor.
The coronation robes that were draped over his body and the imperial crown on his head seemed to be a perfect match for him.
‘…Rineh.’
Lu’s gaze deepened as he looked at Aristine standing next to Tarkan.
She was still as lovely and beautiful as ever.
The memories of their last exchange yesterday came flooding back to him.
In all his time at the imperial palace, Lu had never once called Aristine first.
But yesterday was an exception.
Even though she was busy, Aristine came right away when he called.
Holding a tiny, wriggling creature in her arms.
《Sion, it’s your uncle.》
Large eyes blinked at him, embedded with purple irises.
Lu stared at the tiny figure for a long time, unable to take his eyes off him.
《He is the one who protected Sion and Mom. Thanks to him, our little Sion could be born safely.》
《Bah!》
Actsion cooed as if he understood and stretched out his hand toward Lu.
Lu, who had been staring at the baby while frozen in place, unconsciously stretched out his hand to meet it.
The baby’s warm and soft fingers touched his hand.
Lu immediately flinched and tried to pull back, but the baby grabbed his index finger.
Even after using all five fingers to hold on, his tiny hand couldn’t get all the way around one index finger.
His big eyes blinked then he smiled at Lu.
Lu’s breath caught in his chest. It felt like something was stuck in his throat.
This emotion, this feeling, he didn’t know what to call it.
‘I’m glad I saved you, that I was able to save you.’
Lu thought so for the first time.
When he saved Aristine and even after she was saved, Aristine’s safety was the only thing he considered.
He didn’t think much about the fact that the baby in her stomach was safe as well.
He was just glad the baby was healthy because if anything had happened to the child, Aristine would have been sad.
But now, seeing this tiny creature before his eyes, a strange feeling welled up in his chest.
‘My nephew.’
I am truly so glad you’re safe, alive, and born into this world.
His huge purple eyes were ever so clear and innocent.
Lu reached out and stroked the area around the baby’s eyes.
《His eyes look just like yours.》
His long fingers gently slid down, touching the bridge of Sion’s nose.
《Even his delicate nose.》
The soft cheeks were squishy under his fingers.
《The cheeks too.》
《Are my cheeks that chubby?》
Lu laughed at Aristine’s words.
《Not that aspect. But you must have looked like this when you were young.》
The image was drawn in his mind even without seeing it.
Lu enjoyed pinching those soft cheeks for a while, then he removed his hand.
A deep sense of regret followed.
He wanted to keep petting and holding the child a little more, but it was not his place.
Wanting to shake off his regret, he opened his mouth.
《I plan to leave tomorrow.》
Aristine’s eyes shook.
《Now that I’m fully recovered, there is no reason for me to stay here any longer.》
Aristine opened her mouth, then she closed it.
Honestly, when Lu called her here today, she sort of expected this.
《I see.》
So, she swallowed the numerous words she wanted to say and smiled at her friend.
《I wish you the best of luck on your journey.》
Lu gazed at her in silence for a long while.
Because even though his heart was broken, folded, and shattered, he still wanted to engrave her smile just a little bit more.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Lu looked up at Aristine as she stood on those high castle wall, then he smiled.
‘And I wish that you remain radiant forever.’
He stood there until Aristine and Tarkan turned around.
Just as he was about to leave the crowd of cheering people, he saw his father standing at the edge of the castle wall.
It was truly a strange ordeal.
Despite knowing that Nephther could barely see him in this crowd, he felt as if Nephther recognized him.
No, he really did recognize him.
The moment Lu saw his father’s face distort, Lu couldn’t do anything.
Other than smile.
He had never felt the love of a father very deeply.
Because Nephther always showed himself to his children more as a king than as a father.
But at this very moment, Lu felt her father’s love more deeply than ever before.
‘May you be healthy.’
The moment Nephther turned his head towards his servant, Lu hid himself among the people.
‘Someday.’
One the day he found the many options that life had to offer and chose one of those options….
They would meet again.
At that time, he would piggyback his nephew, meet his younger brother and old love and reminisce about the past thinking, ‘oh yes, I used to do that.’
As Lu walked away from the imperial palace, his steps did not waver.
.
.
.
Epilogue: The morning of a certain Imperial Couple
–
The scent of coffee tickled her nose.
Although collapsed in bed, Aristine’s consciousness gradually rose to the surface.
“Ugh…”
She opened her mouth, but all that came out was a groan.
The muscles of her whole body creaked, and her limbs felt heavy, as if she had undergone tremendous labor.
Her back was covered in crimson blossoms.
“Rineh.”
Her husband’s voice rang softly in her ears.
His large hand ran up her back, gently apply pressure to her lower back.
A tingle ran down her spine as she felt her muscles relax.
When she groaned, the hand running up her back moved to massage her shoulders.
Aristine opened her bleary eyes and turned her head to look at her husband.
“Are you alright?”
Tarkan asked with worry on his face.
She felt like she could see dropping ears on top of his head.
Although her sullen younger husband looked cute, Aristine eyes became pointed.
Tarkan hurriedly asked.
“Do you want some coffee? I also have black tea, honey tea, and orange juice. There’s milk too. I can add it if you want.”
Aristine looked at the bed tray that her emperor husband had personally brought out.
His preparations were so thorough that he brought out every single drink that Aristine had ever had in the morning.
However, Aristine’s glare remained pointed.
Tarkan glanced at his wife’s expression then he rubbed her back muscles.
“What about a bath? I’ve already set the temp, so you just need whatever bath bomb you want. No need to lift a finger. I’ll do everything.”
“…”
“Then I’ll massage you after.”
Despite her husband’s desperate words, Aristine’s gaze was still as sharp as ever.
“I…”
Finally, her mouth opened. But she could not continue speaking. Because her voice was complete hoarse.
Tarkan quickly offered her water.
After gulping it down, Aristine glared at Tarkan.
“I said let’s stop yesterday, how many, how many times did I…”
By the end, her voice was shaking. She was sad and reproachful.
Tarkan didn’t know how to stop.
Can you imagine? She almost died on the day she was crowned emperor.
Just imagining the declaration that her cause of death was “death by intercourse” made her feel shameful and embarrassed.
“…But you kept saying ‘yes’ in the end…”
“How can I say no in that situation?! After you drove me up a wall like that!”
Aristine barked seeing Tarkan drone on and make excuses.
He kept teasing and teasing her until it was almost torture….When the fire could neither burn nor be extinguished, in the end, only the words Tarkan wanted came out.
Aristine had no choice but to realize it with her own body.
Her husband…was too potent. Was it because he was younger, or because he had a nice body, or maybe both?
“Sorry.”
Finally, an apology fell from Tarkan’s lips.
“It felt so good I couldn’t control myself.”
Aristine looked at her husband, her gaze turning bashful.
Hearing it felt good made her heart start to melt again.
Once her anger subsided, she took in the view of her husband.
His robe was loosely open, revealing his toned pecs.
And those tones pecs were littered with traces of the night before. Not only was it smeared with lip marks and handprints but there were even bite marks.
‘Mm… ‘
After seeing that, she felt a little bad for getting angry.
If you think about it, Tarkan wasn’t the only one who enjoyed it, Aristine also enjoyed it together.
Aristine went “Here”, and spread her arms.
Tarkan immediately understood and picked her up.
“You’ll feel better after taking a bath.”
He soothed his wife and led her to the bathroom connected to the bedroom.
She was light in his arms, as if she weighed nothing.
Tarkan was always worried about his fragile wife.
Of course, Aristine had a very fit woman by Silvanian standards.
‘Guess I’ll have to get some medicine from the demonic beast plains.’
However, Tarkan had no doubt that his wife was the weakest woman in the world and decided to obtain an elixir which was known to be legendary.
‘…Then she’ll have more energy at night.’
Now, he wasn’t saying he was going to get it just because of that.
Definitely not.
In any case, that was how the emperor came to decide the next demonic beast subjugation.
It was an ordinary morning for the Imperial couple.
Right at that moment, a “ppaa!” was heard outside the door.
Aristine’s eyes widened.
Even though she was innocent, her shoulders suddenly stiffened.
“L-Lord Prince, it’s still morning. You can see Her Majesty later.”
“Yes, yes. Lord Prince. Look here, look at this!”
The voices of the nanny and court ladies followed suit.
However, there was no way the ‘mommy-glued’ prince would be deceived by the court ladies’ temptation with toys.
“Ang, uwae. anggggg!”
“Chuchuchu, Lord Prince, look!”
“Here, Your Highness’ favorite rattle!”
“Waaaaa!”
Actsion’s cries only grew louder with no end in sight.
Aristine, who had been stiffly staring at the door, creakily raised her head and looked at Tarkan.
“W-What do we do?”
“It’s been a while since His Majesty Tarkan took the tray in, right? She must have already gone into the bathroom.”
“Then let’s open the door first and let him see she’s not in th—.”
“No!”
Aristine immediately yelled.
Once he heard his mom’s voice, Actsion stopped crying and cooed, “Maa?”.
“Now, now is not a good time….come back later. And even if I go to the bathroom, he’ll try to follow me there!”
She could let her precious baby see her looking like this.
“Maa? Maa! Maaaaaa.”
“Oh my gosh, Lord Prince, you’ll fall like that.”
“W, Wait a moment…”
Since he could hear his mother’s voice but couldn’t see her, Actsion started kicking up a fuss.
“Haa…”
Tarkan sighed and carefully placed Aristine back in her bed.
Then he brought her gown and helped her wear it.
“Khan?”
“What can we do? We have to let him in.”
“Looking like this?”
“Well, they say the better the parent’s relationship, the better the influence on the child.”
“They didn’t mean this!”
But by the time she shouted that, the bedroom door had already been opened.
“Maama!”
Actsion, who was crying, stretched out his hand once he saw Aristine.
Tarkan took Actsion from the nanny and closed the door.
“Ppaa!”
Actsion wriggled in his father’s arms and pounded his chest.
Aristine wanted to die when she saw a tiny baby’s hand smacking a chest full of red marks.
Tarkan handed Actsion over to Aristine.
Seeing her child smiling so gleefully when he saw her, Aristine felt an overwhelming sense of guilt and embarrassment.
Even more so because Actsion’s face looked so ignorant and innocent.
She couldn’t help but glare at Tarkan, causing him to laugh and he put a piece of fruit in Aristine’s mouth.
“Who cares? You enjoyed it.”
Seeing her husband’s unfazed look, Aristine heaved a deep sigh.
‘Of course, the only person ashamed is me.’
How many times did this make it?
Actsion was gurgling and crawling all over the bed.
Watching this scene, Aristine eventually burst out laughing.
Right, who cares?
She picked up a piece of fruit and popped it into his mouth, and Sion happily nibbled away.
Aristine and Tarkan’s faces lit up with smiles.
Like any other day, the three members of the family greeted the morning in bed.
Forget My Husband, I’ll Go Make Money.
《Fin》
Translator’s Corner:
*Woohoo. This marks the end of the main story. The epilogue is so CUTE!!! Gosh, I have liked this story from beginning to end. I can’t say I like all the characters, but I enjoyed reading about all of them.
I hope you enjoyed following along with this story like I did. There are 21 side stories to come. Considering their length, they will also be split. Stay tuned!
We are now on the side stories. At this rate, I expect to finish the side stories by December (if my math is right). After that, this novel is officially done. For those who also enjoy [Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth], that novel will be moved to 2/week once this ends. Thank you so much for the support! ❤
If you aren’t reading ETL, thank you so much for supporting my translations and I’ll see you in another novel!!!
- Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 59 - September 2, 2024
- Forget My Husband, I’ll Go Make Money – Side Story 6.2 - September 2, 2024
- Forget My Husband, I’ll Go Make Money – Side Story 6.1 - September 2, 2024
thank you thank you thank you for your hard work and dedication.
I enjoyed this series with you and my fellow readers ♥️♥️♥️♥️💋💋💋💋
Fantastic story and amazing translation, Ruby! Thank you. ☺️
Thanks you for all your hard work in translating this! It’s been an absolute pleasure in reading FMH, and I look forward to reading some of the other stories you’ve translated!
Ahhh.. I love this novel so much. Thanksies Ruby for all of your hardwork. I had been glued to my screen each time there’s an update. xxx
what a trip… i kinda wished we able to see actsion having a sibling but this is nice too. thank you so much ruby
hey ruby!! leaving my first comment after reading this series for I think more than a year now (!!) thank you so so much for translating this series and being so dedicated even when life happens! love coming back here after every weekend, catching your update, and then reading the chapters ❤ stay safe, happy, and healthy love MWAH!
THANKYOUUU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE HARD WORK MISS RUBY!!!! YOUR THE BEST!!! I hope you get plenty of rest♡
I cant believe it ended already 😭 I love this story so much. Im looking forward to the side stories ♡
thank you so much for a wonderful translation!
Thank you so much for sticking with this series all the way to the end of the main story, Miss Ruby. Your translation has been one of the best quality I’ve read among the fan translated novels. I look forward to the side stories and more of Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth.
The interaction between Hamill and Nephther was bittersweet. It’s sad that Nephther never truly acted like a father to his children, always prioritizing his status as a king above all. He does love all of them, it seems, but it was only after Hamill died that he felt regret over never expressing himself as a father to him.
In fact many of his children’s lives almost got irreparably damaged by the queen because of his priority as a king over being father. Then again, from what I know about these Korean-written fantasy worlds, the queen is undeniably in charge of the princes and princesses. To get involved is to encroach on an area beyond his authority. It would make him subjected to criticism by the nobility.
of course, that can be seen as an excuse when the queen was basically abusing the children who weren’t her own, but it truly would have been difficult in many ways to interfere.
Regardless of the extent of Nephther’s guilt over what happened with his children, that interaction between him and Hamill was sad. At the very least, it seem Hamill will appear before Nephther and his sister eventually, when he feels ready. It’s not a permanent farewell, but a momentary one.
On another note, Tarkan and Aristine’s moment was cute. It’s nice that he tried his best to take care of her since he did wear her out the night before. It’s a shame that the much needed care taking had been cut short by their little mommy’s boy. But it’s sweet how much they love their son.
AAAAAH I’m so happy!
This was so beautiful and breathtaking, and it’s this kind of novel that you wish never ends!
We lived with every single character, laughed and cried with them
The ends of novels are always hard for me, and I think it’s even harder for the author and translator
Thank you so much Miss Ruby, I can’t express my gratitude for the joy and excitement we had reading this novel.
ps. 1) “those high castle wall” should be walls instead of wall I guess
2) where can I recommend a novel to get translated if you accept recommendations? I’ve tried recommending “The princess imprints the traitor” on the place for it on the website but it didn’t work, maybe I made a mistake
thank you so much for the translations!!! It’s not my first story reading here, but this was a great trip!
Ruby! Thank you for another well translated story! Truly appreciate your time and effort for us ♥️♥️
Thank you for your hard work, Miss Ruby!!! 🫶🏻