The Dragon King's Substitute Bride

Chapter 117

CH117 Morgan

She sounded so unsure but I smiled.

""I'm sure."

She nodded. "Then... if you think it best." She chuckled. "I lean on your judgement, though I have to say that the heavens really have brought an amazing young woman into my son's life."

She smiled, her eyes misty. "I can not think of a bride who would forgo her own honeymoon for

another."

I scoffed. "Given the circumstances, I'm not sure why it's such a surprise."

Haruka blinked and then she burst into laughter..

"I really shouldn't laugh!" She cried. "It's been so long since I remembered the fact of how I got to be here..." She shook her head. "And I imagine that your circumstances are not quite the same.

I frowned at that. "What do you mean by that?"

I thought the Trial was pretty much the same throughout time.

She sighed and looked off into the distant, as if she were looking back through the years. She looked utterly blissful and in love. Anya sat beside me, looking just as curious as I felt.

Her fingers traced the edge of her teacup absentmindedly, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips before she finally began.

mountains met the sky. My parents... well, I barely remember them. They died when I was young, leaving me an orphan. The village wasn't kind to children without families, and for the most part, I raised myself. It didn't help

shook her head. "We'll get into how I

her, she glossed over it stating that it didn't matter. Haruka's eyes flickered with old memories-some painful, some bittersweet. For a moment, I saw the girl

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CH117

other orphans. We worked together to survive more or less." She chuckled. I'll have to visit them soon. In those days, there were only two paths for someone like me," she continued, leaning back in her chair, "marry a lord or spend the rest of your life scraping by as a servant. Marriage was considered a way to better your position, but it wasn't

forward in their plans for me, and I had been very forward in how much I had no plans to participate in their plans...

up

moment. "He wasn't the king you know today. He was younger, quieter, still learning what it meant to be

a flicker

didn't know that the gate he'd come through was the Trial Gates," she said quietly. My jaw dropped. She shrugged. "I was injured. He wanted to bring me to the doctor. At the time, the veil was open. There hadn't been a queen in a long time. Hayato is actually the son

Scooped me right up and-hurried through it, calling for a physician

suddenly, I'd gone from an injured orphan

"Just

a soft laugh, but it was filled with irony. "Yep. The way I understand it... your entry into the realm was filled with a lot more

a pang of something bitter in the back of my mind. It wasn't envy-not exactly-but it was hard not to compare her story to mine. There had been no fear for her. Her and Hayato's relationship had started from a place of care. It

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traumatic, and complicated. I was still dealing with the effects of how I'd ended up

that was why she

been with me. I don't know how I would have felt to know for sure

"And... you adjusted?"

all the classes, the endless education, and nonsense that I was certain was just

keep the palace