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.

she said, her voice soft but clear, "on the edge of the Celestial Range, where the 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

into how I came

about her past much. Any time I'd asked 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

of your life scraping by as a servant. Marriage was considered a way to better your position, but it wasn't what I wanted.

forward in how much I had no plans to participate

up

moment. "He wasn't the king you know today. He was younger, quieter, still learning what it meant to be a crown prince under his father, but he was just as kind then

around the cup, a flicker of something deeper

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 of a former concubine

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

laughed. "It was absolute chaos. We got through the gate. The gong sounded, the whole palace went crazy, and suddenly, I'd gone

blinked. "Just

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

of my mind. It wasn't envy-not exactly-but it was hard not to compare her story to mine. There

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of resentment twisting in my chest. My own trial had been so much more dramatic, traumatic, and complicated. I was still dealing with the effects of how I'd ended up here due

was why

been the way it had been with me. I don't

"And... you adjusted?"

greatest defender and apologetic while I got through all the classes, the endless education, and nonsense that I was certain was just made to make

your path to figuring out how to keep the palace afloat and