Chapter 283
Leon looked at Jessica and asked, “So, you have decided. No matter who came to propose marriage, you’d tell His Majesty you must go to Mostrate to retrieve your parents‘ remains for a proper burial?”
A shadow flickered across Leon’s face for a moment.
Going to Montvale was never an easy task to begin with, let alone retrieving the remains of General Caesar, his wife, and their fellow generals
Even if she did manage to reclaim Montvale someday, they had been dead for years. Where could she possibly find their remains?
It was always going to be an open–ended endeavor, maybe five years, maybe ten, or perhaps an entire lifetime. There was simply no telling how long it would take.
Since no one would wait that long, Jessica wasn’t the least bit concerned about marriage proposals.
Leon looked at her and asked, “Jessica, are you planning to stay single forever?”
“Yes,” Jessica nodded frankly. “After what happened with Prince Waldo, I’ve completely lost faith in love.”
Leon remained silent.
Jessica looked at him and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Tell you? And then what?” Leon said bitterly. “So you’d feel obliged to marry me out of gratitude? But your heart belonged to Waldo all those years.”
Jessica looked at Leon and asked, “Are you afraid that even if I’m with you, it’s just to repay you, not because I like you?”
“Don’t mistake me for some saint who’d devote himself selflessly,” Leon smirked. “Jessica, I’m confident you will fall for me eventually, so what difference does it make whether I say it or not?”
Jessica raised an eyebrow and teased, “If you’re that confident, why did you get drunk and come running to me, crying about how wronged you were, Your Highness?”
“I…” Leon choked on his words.
He knew that any explanation now would just come off as an excuse.
He did feel wronged, after all.
Leon remained silent, lowering his gaze to take a quiet sip of his coffee.
Then, he heard Jessica whisper, “I’m sorry.”
Leon’s towering frame jolted violently as a rare pang of bitterness pierced his heart.
“Now I finally understand how much you’ve suffered all these years,” Jessica sighed, her heart aching as she looked at him.
Jessica thought, ‘What a remarkable man! How could I have been so foolish? All this time, I couldn’t even remember who it was that charged into the blazing fire to save me that day.‘
“Now that you know, make it up to me from now on,” Leon said, his tone light but earnest. His request was simple. Just didn’t take him for some womanizing scoundrel.
After yearning for her all those years, now that they were finally reunited, he was already exercising remarkable restraint.
She was a noble lady after all, and his repeated intrusions into her private chamber were already a serious breach of decorum.
1217 Sat 14 Jun G
Chapter 283
However, Jessica hardly ever gave him a chance in daily life. If he just sat back and did nothing, there was no guarantee someone else wouldn’t con along and steal her away again.
One couldn’t imagine how deep insecurity ran into one’s heart who had his woman stolen before. At the slightest sign of trouble, he paries, thinks” ‘Damn it, someone’s trying to steal my woman again.
He wanted to give her a respectable life befitting a lady, but was terrified of losing her to someone else. Torn between hesitation, anxiety, and impulse, he kept coming back to her, time and again.
“Your Highness, how would you like me to make amends? By marrying you?” Jessica said calmly.
Leon smiled and said, “A life–saving debt isn’t easy to repay all at once… How about paying it back little by little?”
Jessica raised an eyebrow and asked, “How exactly?”
“First, when we’re alone, don’t call me ‘Your Highness.‘ Just call me Leon.”
Jessica felt a bit awkward about it. It was not because of their different statuses, but simply because she wasn’t used to it yet.
She was silent for a long time. Just when Leon thought she wouldn’t agree, Jessica suddenly whispered, “Leon.”
AD
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