Otaku Translation: [BL] Rebirth: Back to Zero

Rebirth: Back to Zero

Author: 祎庭沫瞳 (Yi Ting Mo Tong)

Chapter 01 Another Chance to Love (Part 2)

"Emperor Father summoned me to his study today. He said that he would let you out in a month. However, you will be stripped of your status as Royal Highness Ling and banished from the royal family. You will be exiled from Capital and live your life as a commoner."

"Have you found evidence?" A hint of surprise flashed in Jun Lixuan's eyes.

Jun Liyuan shook his head and sighed "Without doubt, this matter is related to the Imperial Noble Consort and Fifth Brother. Alas, Fourth Brother, Sixth Brother, and I could not find evidence against them."

"Then, why is Emperor Father willing to let me go?" He had believed that the most lenient punishment possible was life imprisonment, which would only be possible if there were definite evidence to save him. Now, the Emperor actually wanted to set him free. While he lost his status, it was a small and negligible sacrifice.

Jun Liyuan bit onto his lower lip and fell silent for a while. Then, he said, "Ling Qiyang offered himself as a wife to the Tarma tribe. In exchange for your life."

"Tamar?!" Jun Lixuan leapt to his feet. The broken teacup dropped onto the ground, shattering into pieces, "How can he go to Tamar?!"

The Tamar people were nomads living on the grassland along the northern border of Ye Empire. The Tamar men were brave and skilled at combat. They often went to war with Ye Empire and was one of the biggest threat to the Emperor. In tough wartimes, settling conflicts through a marriage between the ruling families were plausible but had not happened since the times of Jun Lixuan's great grandfather.

"Tamar took the initiative to initiated a marriage. They promised 50 years of peace after the marriage. With such good prospects, Emperor Father has no reason not to refuse. However, selecting a suitable candidate is difficult. Sending people without status would cause Tamar to find us insincere. Yet, choosing children of the aristocrats will harm the relationship between Emperor Father and the court. After all, this person will never return again from Tarmar." Jun Liyuan sighed deeply. He continued, "Ling Qiyang chose this critical juncture to negotiate with Emperor Father. He knew that he could get his demands. Moreover, Ling Qiyang is an Omega, he can give birth and is a suitable choice for a political marriage."

Jun Lixuan gripped tightly onto the corner of the table. Ye Empire's men can undergo medical treatment to become an Omega, allowing them to give birth. Ling Qiyang was one of these men. However, he once declared that he only wanted to wear a wedding dress for one person, Jun Lixuan. Yet, this person failed him all his life. Jun Lixuan never gave Ling Qiyang the marriage and love that an Omega deserved.

For the first time, Jun Lixuan felt miserable for Ling Qiyang. Why would Ling Qiyang go to such extent for me? For a person who never looked him in the eye, he not only changed his physique, from a man to an Omega but also withered away without the love he should receive. All of these, for me?

"Emperor Father has already decreed, Ling Qiyang will marry in six days. Once he arrives in Tarma, you will be released."

"I heard that the Tarman Patriarch is sadistic. He tortured all of his previous consorts to death. Countless concubines have died in his hands..." Jun Lixuan found his voice trembling, then immediately stopped.

"Indeed. Moreover, that patriarch is already fifty-five this year. Ling Qiyang will be his tenth wife." Hearing Jun Lixuan's trembling voice, Jun Liyuan finished the sentence for him.

"He..." Jun Lixuan's words stuck in his throat. The words Ling Qiyang said when he left surfaced in his mind. Seemed like Ling Qiyang had already settled the path of the two of them.

"Lixuan, maybe we misunderstood him after all. He is not the Imperial Noble Consort's servant." Thinking of Ling Qiyang's sacrifice for his younger brother, Jun Liyuan couldn't help feeling that he owed him a lot.

Jun Lixuan stood there without a word. The snaking cracks on the wooden table revealed a hint of his emotions. Jun Liyuan shook his head, got up and left. He knew that Jun Lixuan needed to be alone. It was useless for him to stay here.

That evening, it was the jailer who brought dinner. Ling Qiyang didn't visit.

In Jun Lixuan's mind, flashes of Ling Qiyang's face surfaced one after another, leaving him with no appetite to eat at all. When he saw the wine on the table, he drank directly from the flask without hesitation.

A toast to his sorrow only fueled his worries. He knew that wine would not cure his pain, but if he did not do something or get drunk, he could feel mania taking over him. He had lived his life proudly and never owed anyone anything. Alas, he never expected that the person who had waited a decade for him for would trade his life for him to live. But what use is this freedom for him now? Right when he realised how vital Ling Qiyang was in his heart, he lost the chance to repay him...

At that thought, a searing pain burned in his stomach. Jun Lixuan felt an uncomfortable sourness in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of black blood. His body lost strength, and he crashed onto the ground. Looking at the flask in his hand, Jun Lixuan smiled weakly. How could he forget that in prison, meals never came with alcohol...

"Alright..." Jun Lixuan's vision gradually blurred, and a smile hooked across his face. He muttered to himself, "Now that I'm dead, you don't have to marry anymore..."

Then, darkness cloaked his eyes, and his breathing stopped.

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