Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

After leaving the Imperial Palace, Lucas felt very worried. Since Matthew was the one in charge of the matters concerning Lilian's
marriage to the emperor of the Great Jade Kingdom, Lucas thought that if he could somehow manage to persuade Matthew,
Lilian might be able to escape the fate of marrying a man 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 you specifically."
"All right. Let him in." Harper went on reading the book in her hand, which was about the Great Jade Kingdom, 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. She seemed 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 disaster relief program this time, so
much so that the people were singing praises to you. You look like a real prince now."
"You're probably just teasing me, Aunt Harper," Lucas said with a bitter smile. "I've come here today to ask for your help."
"Ask for my help?" Harper echoed, feeling so curious. "I'm just a housewife. How can I be of help to you?"
"Please persuade Uncle Matthew to object to Lilian's marriage to the emperor of the Great Jade Kingdom."
Upon hearing that, Harper understood in an instant the reason for Lucas' sudden visit. He was afraid that Lilian might end up
having a miserable life if she married the emperor of the Great Jade Kingdom for the sake of the peace between the two
countries, so he wanted to stop the marriage from taking place.

"Do you have any idea why Princess Lilian volunteered to marry the emperor of the Great Jade Kingdom?" Harper asked after
telling a maid to serve Lucas a cup of tea. Lucas simply said thanks, but he just wasn't in the mood for some tea. The two of
them, Lucas and Lilian, had grown up together, and he 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 the Great 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, he quickly 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 the turmoil in the Great Jade Kingdom recently, he had to give up his
identity as Chodak and resumed his identity as Rolando. It wasn't until she found out that Rolando is Chodak that Lilian
volunteered to marry the emperor in order to bring peace between the two countries. You should know better than anyone just
how much she loves Chodak." Upon the words, Lucas' hands couldn't stop trembling as he held the teacup. It took him several
tries before he finally managed to take a sip of the tea. Never could he have imagined that the new emperor of the Great Jade
Kingdom would be Chodak, the
imperial monk who looked pure and clean and had been 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 one who told her that, but she
would never tell Lucas that Matthew had actually been aware of Chodak's real 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 imperial monk."
"Yeah," Harper nonchalantly said. "There's nothing you can do to stop the marriage, and you don't really even have to think
about stopping it. Going to the Great Jade Kingdom to be with Rolando is exactly what Lilian wants. If you try to stop her, she will

only blame you and hate you for it. I think you'd better escort her there yourself. That way, you can make it clear to Rolando that
Lilian has a deep root and background in the Bright Dynasty, and that if she is ever treated unfairly in the Great Jade Kingdom,
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. I won't object to the marriage if he does like Lilian. But the fact of the matter is that Lilian has
been courting him for five years. Throughout those long
years, she concerned him wholeheartedly regardless of her own reputation or gains. However, he has never really cared a scrap
about her. I'm afraid her one-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, there was no way he could
reciprocate any woman's feelings, let alone have a relationship with one. But things are different now. He is the emperor of his
kingdom. And he will have numerous beauties in his harem. 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 her
happy."
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, Lilian never really had a choice but to be married to someone
she didn't love. Considering all these, it would certainly be better for her to stay with the man she truly loved. In this way, at least
she could see the man 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 you couldn't be loved back by
him and hated him, you would want him to die. But in my opinion, when you love someone, even if you die because of that love,
you will still feel content," Harper replied. As she spoke, her eyes were brimming with so much tenderness and warmth that
Lucas felt very impressed. It wasn'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 than everybody else in the world."
"I see. Thank you for clearing up my confusion, Aunt Harper. I will escort Lilian to the Great Jade Kingdom and make sure she's
safe and sound so she could be on Rolando's side. And I will give Rolando a piece of my mind and tell him that nobody is
allowed to mistreat this sister of mine."