The Rose's Perspective

The old lady may look mellow, but the stern tone of her voice demonstrated otherwise.

"What is it you said about believing? You should know why I favor Xiaoyue more. She listens to me, and she often visits me. She is the only person who hasn't forgotten about me while you and your two brothers are always out and about. But precisely her kindness that makes me question your treatment of her."

"Grandma, don't scold Beichen. He has been nice to me," Yanyue expressed differently.

But if she could, then she wanted Grandma Lu to scold Beichen more. But it was unfortunate that she must play the good wife in front of the old lady to garner her sympathy.

"Xiaoyue, you are too quick to defend him. He's the reason why you were at the hospital for a week. If he had protected you well, then you wouldn't have been so ill," Grandma Lu countered sternly again.

"Grandma, getting sick has nothing to do with Beichen. I took care of the pneumonia patients and didn't protect myself well. I only have my careless self to blame."

The old lady weaved her brows in concern.

"Poor child, you have a good heart."

Then, she shifted to Beichen grimly. "As Xiaoyue's husband, you need to stay at home and take care of her. She's heavily pregnant with your child, so she cannot do things on her own easily and may need help."

Yanyue froze. She would rather not be in the same building as Beichen. When she thought about it, he was possibly her brother's murderer. So, she didn't want to risk staying with him lest she lose control and accidentally butcher him before accomplishing her revenge plan.

She hastily convinced, "Grandma, let's not bother Beichen. We just got back from the northern territory, so there must be a lot of work for him at the company."

But Grandma Lu was always stubborn. If she didn't get her way, then no one could either.

"Don't speak for him, Xiaoyue. As your husband, he is responsible for returning home every night to take care of you. I will not change my mind."

Beichen never yielded to anyone. Even the king sometimes could not obstruct him from doing things his way. But, there was one person that he could not push past. It was his grandma. However, since Yanyue came into the picture, his grandma has become more stubborn. She wasn't always on his case and allowed him freedom regarding his relationships.

But let alone that, nowadays, he couldn't even wander in his own home without his grandma's people keeping a tab on his every move. He was someone whom most of everyone feared, but he couldn't even decide on who to show his affection to or when to leave and stay home. And to Beichen, there was only one person to blame for his situation.

He looked at the pretentious woman beside his grandma and sneered in his heart. Her mouth refused the proposal, but he knew that she must be secretly grinning seeing the old lady coercing him. But, since his grandma had a plan for them, then he too had his own plan.

"Grandma, I will listen to you and stay at the Eastern Palace."

The old lady didn't smile victoriously seeing her grandson caving in so quickly to her demands. From the beginning until now, she never wanted to control her grandson. As an adult, he was capable of making decisions on his own. However, some things were not up to willpower. So, she could not let her grandson make a decision that would interrupt his already ill-fated predestination.

As they stopped upon a flower bed, the old lady pointed to a lone flower on the side. Her eyes tangled sadly, and she sighed meaningfully before saying, "All the other flowers are flourishing, but this one is dying. Sometimes, we feel that everyone is living a happy life... but we don't know that. We only look at the world through the withered flower's gaze, so everywhere else looks nice and bright. But what if the other person is also looking at the world through the same withered flower's gaze? And when you think about it, the flower is only wilted because it is in a bad position. If someone could move it just a tad bit further out of the shadow into the sun, then it would bloom in just a couple of days. And such is the nature of human love. When we find the right person who is willing to push us out of the shadow, then that is when we will bloom, and our world won't be so dull anymore."

Then, she looked at the two muted people who seemed to be in deep thought. She took one of Yanyue's hands and held it on top of Beichen's.

"Grandma may be gone any day, but my wish is to see you both live a happy life loving each other. Not only that, but my great-grandson also needs a complete home, and that can only happen if you both are in harmony."

Yanyue did not know what to say, and Beichen was as impassive as ever.

For Yanyue, perhaps, the old lady was correct. Once, she had been pulled out of the dark by him. But, when she gave all of herself to him, he ruthlessly pushed her back into the darkness. So, there was no such thing as true love or another half. Even if she were to be in the shadow for the rest of her life, Yanyue believed that she wouldn't live in complete darkness as long as she avenged her loved ones and her nation.

The old lady sighed when she didn't receive any affirmation from Yanyue or Beichen. But she knew that somewhere deep in the young people's hearts was a wave that was surging up to tide. Someday, they would realize what she meant.

The group roamed the whole garden before heading back inside to the hospital. Grandma Lu insisted that Yanyue and Beichen return together. So they sat in the car, and unlike a snuggly couple, they sat apart like enemies. The atmosphere was as uncomfortable as ever for Yanyue, who could not bear to breathe in the same air as Beichen.

"Grandma will not know if you don't stay every night," Yanyue spoke first to break the stuffy atmosphere.

Beichen looked up from his binder. "Then? You will have something to complain to grandma about me?"

"Why would I tell grandma? I'm not that sensitive," Yanyue answered.

"She scolded me the moment I appeared, and you want me to believe that you never grumbled about our affairs? If you hadn't, then she wouldn't have coerced me to stay at the Eastern Palace. Grandma will put her spies in the Palace, so I can't escape even if I want to."

"Why would grandma put spies there?" Yanyue asked, confused.

Beichen was nonchalant as he replied, "You should know the answer better than I do."

Just as Yanyue tried to say something, her phone rang from her bag. She hurriedly scavenged the bottom of the bag for the phone. A smile emerged on her face when she felt the tip of the phone and pulled it out like a kid reaching inside the magician's hat and drawing out a flower.

"Hello, Yanfeng," she answered. Her soft tone was starkly different from when she spoke with the man beside her.

Beichen lifted the corner of his eyes and secretly looked at the woman. When he caught himself staring at her, he silently reprimanded himself, persuading him that it wasn't his business whether she spoke to Yanfeng or anyone else. But his better judgment betrayed him when he heard the intimate way she bade the other person goodbye.

"Okay, see you then," Yanyue promised gently.

Beichen's face darkened in a subtle frown. He understood that Yanyue had only known Yanfeng for a few months, but they seemed to have gotten very close to each other. The way she spoke to him was as if she was with someone dear to her. Beichen was further bothered when he noticed the corner of Yanyue's lips raising in a loving smile.

"Remember what your identity is," he casually reminded. However, his voice was more stern than he had meant it to be.

Yanyue tucked the phone back into her bag.

"How can I remember my identity when I have a husband who barely stays home and always keeps a mistress by his side 24/7?"

The faint frown on Beichen's face deepened, and he replied coldly, "Do you perhaps need me to remind you again what your identity is?"

Yanyue flinched a little. "No thanks," she answered. "I look at my stomach every day, and that is enough to remind me."

"Then, you should be aware not to have contact with unknown men. Your status is not just any other Mrs but the princess consort," stated Beichen.

Yanyue crossed her arms arrogantly. "Sorry, but Yanfeng is not just any other man because he is my close friend. If you can have a mistress by your side, why can't I even associate with a friend? Aren't you a little too controlling when you hate me so much?"

"Wanyue is... a special existence, and you are my wife in name," replied Beichen slowly, and he almost couldn't find the words to describe Wanyue. But deep in his heart, he believed that she was special.

Yanyue chuckled at the man's ridiculous words. "Then, you shouldn't care who I talk to or meet with because I don't have anyone 'special' to warm my bed."

Beichen put down the binder, pausing his activity. "Jealous?" The junctions of his lips lifted to an almost invisible smirk. "But remember that you climbed to my bed yourself, so you have no say in who I interact with."

Yanyue's mouth gaped open slightly as she couldn't believe that he would even register that she was jealous. Maybe she was when Shen Yanyue's memories still occupied her brain, but that was history. Shen Yanyue was gone, and now she was herself, a new self brought to life by the past that she couldn't escape.

Yanyue changed her expression and turned pitiful. "And if I say that I'm jealous, will you change your mind to love me?"

Beichen paused and couldn't respond right away. When he finally answered, he said something that Yanyue had already predicted.

"You can stay with me because of the contract and marriage. As for love, I only love Wanyue," Beichen replied firmly with no emotions bearing on his handsome face.

Yanyue was quiet. As if very heartbroken, she turned towards the windows and never looked at Beichen throughout the whole ride.

The driver did not want to listen to his boss' affairs, but he couldn't help but empathize with his lady boss. She was a lovely woman but was treated very coldly by her husband. He sighed for the lamentable-looking woman, but he had no position to say anything and drove to the Palace in silence.

Of course, no one knew that Yanyue was not sad at all. The truth was she had no emotions because she couldn't care less who he loved. In her opinion, his blind love and trust for Wanyue would be his number one enemy once he found out how she had backstabbed him. And Yanyue couldn't wait for that day when her camera captured his betrayed expression.