A Shadow Cast in Paradise (23 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 12
“After the lockdown order was issued, no one has passed through here.”
The bridge over the Kellints River.
At the bridge entrance stood a checkpoint managing passage between Marlehein territories.
“With her injured leg, it would already be impossible for her to have reached this place.”
The knight walking beside him spoke.
There was no horse, the night path was dark, and the road unfamiliar.
Even at a normal pace, it would take half a day to reach this spot—but she was in a state with a serious wound on her leg.
“Perhaps she’s hiding nearby?”
Warrants for her arrest had already been issued wherever the knights had gone.
A small-statured woman with brown hair and light green eyes, injured on her right leg, possibly in disguise.
Knights had been scouring every village asking after Liana and were ordered to report immediately to the duke upon finding her.
Shade pressed his throbbing temples at the knight’s report.
No, something was missing.
It felt as though he’d overlooked something still.
“Kael.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Search every ferry on the Kellints River and confirm whether anyone has crossed it.”
Though the lockdown was in place and it was unlikely she’d crossed the river given the distance, he needed to verify—only then might this unease fade.
“Yes, understood, my lord.”
Kael bowed his head, observing Shade’s agitated demeanor as if chased by something unseen.
Though he’d served Shade for years, this was the first time he’d seen him so unsettled.
The Shade Lester he knew wasn’t like this—a man who remained unmoved even in crises where others sensed defeat, who judged monstrous threats with icy calm. That was why even noble-born knights followed him without question.
Yet now, this same man was fretting so over a mere missing maidservant.
Kael couldn’t understand Shade’s behavior, but as always, he obeyed the order faithfully.
He immediately set off with the knights toward every large and small ferry crossing on the Kellints River.
They questioned all boats and boatmen whether anyone had crossed the river and sealed even the smallest ferries.
Shade stood at the checkpoint of the Kellints Bridge, waiting for the knights’ reports.
Just then—
“My lord, this man claims he ferried a woman across the river.”
Kael dragged a boatman before him.
The stocky boatman knelt nervously in front of Shade.
“You ferried a woman across?”
“…Yes.”
Shade questioned him about the woman he’d transported.
“She was a beauty with brown hair and green eyes.”
He said he couldn’t refuse because the pretty young woman had pleaded so desperately.
“Hah…”
Shade let out a hollow laugh at the boatman’s words.
“Didn’t you see the lockdown flag raised?”
By daylight, the lockdown order would have already reached this place.
Yet this man dared defy his command and ferry a woman across?
“W-well, at that time, the lockdown flag hadn’t been….”
“If it’s found you’ve given false testimony, your entire family will be executed—choose your words carefully.”
Shade gave the boatman a cold warning, watching his eyes flicker.
The boatman’s pupils wavered before he finally confessed the truth.
“I have a young brother in Ashafen who’s ill—I was told she needed medicine and had to return quickly, or her little brother would die….”
The woman had come just as the lockdown flag was being hoisted along the Kellints riverbank.
The boatman claimed he couldn’t say no as she wept and begged earnestly.
“With a sudden lockdown, who knows when it’ll lift? How could she just wait here with a sick brother?”
He bowed his head, saying he couldn’t help but sympathize with her plight.
Shade nodded at his words.
“You’re right. That’s truly an unfortunate story.”
The boatman looked up at Shade, surprised by his gentle tone.
“She said she was going to Ashafen?”
“Yes, yes! She clearly said her brother was there! I dropped her off near the riverside close by.”
The boatman nodded repeatedly, his head still covered.
“Thanks to someone kind like you, her brother’s life must have been saved.”
“T-thank you. We all live by helping each other, don’t we?”
“But tell me something.”
At the duke’s praise, a chilling metallic sound reached the boatman’s ears.
“Your foolishness will cost you your life.”
At that instant—slash—blood splattered onto the bridge.
The boatman kneeling before Shade slumped sideways and collapsed onto the ground.
Everyone froze at the sudden scene.
Yet Shade coldly gazed down at the boatman’s lifeless body.
He knew Luise Ideana very well.
She was accustomed to holding back tears—not to squeezing them out on command.
Luise Ideana fabricating a sob story about her family to sell pity? Ridiculous.
She was the kind of woman who wouldn’t even conceive of such a deceit, no matter how desperate.
Shade recalled the boatman’s face, who’d subtly smiled while mentioning that “pretty young woman.”
His expression had been all too obvious—he’d been bewitched by her looks and given her passage.
After all, she possessed a beauty rarely encountered in a lifetime.
Shade wasn’t merciful enough to spare a boatman who’d defied his orders and brazenly lied.
“She’s left the territory.”
A chilling voice seeped through his tightly clenched teeth.
Though his reason for ferrying her might have been a lie, it was likely true he’d dropped her near Ashafen.
Shade wiped the blood from his blade, sheathed it, and turned to Kael.
“Shall I send men to Ashafen?”
Quick-witted Kael stepped forward and asked.
Shade glanced down at the corpse sprawled on the ground, paused briefly, then shook his head.
“No. Not Ashafen.”
He knew Luise Ideana well.
She wasn’t foolish enough to reveal her destination to someone while fleeing.
The boatman might have dropped her near Ashafen’s riverside, but Liana would never have actually gone to Ashafen.
Excluding Ashafen, the places she might go narrowed to just a few.
Among them, he eliminated areas where she might encounter Baron Godwin’s people and cities with active trade ties to the Lester territory.
Therefore—
“Brillon.”
He recalled a port town within Marlehein.
Brillon had no large merchant ships, only fishing boats and small vessels coming and going.
If she boarded a ship there, it wouldn’t be easy to find her again.
Shade immediately mounted his horse.
“We ride straight for Brillon.”
He couldn’t afford to lose her again.
Before she left, he had to catch her—no matter what.
[This is the timeline separator]“We’ll depart before dawn. If you’re late, we won’t wait—be on time.”
Liana nodded at the rough boatman’s words, reeking of sea salt.
Beyond the horizon, the sun was slowly sinking.
‘Thank goodness I barely slipped past the lockdown order.’
The lockdown likely meant Shade had noticed her absence.
‘The cross-flag announcing the lockdown went up at the Kellints Bridge just before sunrise…’
Though discovered sooner than expected, she still had some time.
Even if they’d started searching by now, it wouldn’t be enough time to cover all of Marlehein.
Besides, Brillon was half a day’s journey from Lester territory—unlikely anyone could be sent here to search before the day ended.
Liana left the harbor piled with nets and headed into the town.
She needed a place to rest briefly until dawn.
She hadn’t closed her eyes since last night, walking nonstop.
She’d been awake nearly a full day, walking without rest. She’d hitched a ride on a cart or wagon partway, but her leg throbbed painfully. The new shoes from the Lester household didn’t fit well, and blisters had already formed.
It was a wound that would heal quickly if she used power—but she had no desire to face that curse again.
She headed toward a tavern near the harbor.
To avoid missing her ship, it was better to kill time at a tavern than stay at an inn.
From the tavern right by the sea, she could clearly hear the sound of waves and seagulls, and the harbor was visible in the distance—she could even confirm when the ship departed.
The loud, boisterous chatter of sailors would likely keep her awake. After all, if she accidentally fell asleep, she might not wake before the ship left at dawn.
“What’ll you have?”
The tavern keeper, his arms thick with curly hair, asked gruffly.
‘My travel money…’
Liana hesitated, seeing her light purse—she intended to get a meal here but realized she needed to keep at least enough for a day’s expenses after arriving by ship.
She hadn’t had time to prepare properly, so money was tight. It seemed she couldn’t afford a proper meal.
“Just a mug of beer, please.”
She ordered the cheapest beer available, just to wet her throat, and headed to a long bar table by the window.
There were no chairs, so she sat sideways on a nearby crate and gazed outside.
The sun, which had just moments ago painted the water red, was now gradually sinking below the surface.
As darkness spread behind the crimson twilight, lanterns began lighting up one by one in the tavern and along the streets.
More people entered the tavern as night fell.
Liana quietly hid among the crowd, anxiously waiting for time to pass.
The beer, worth only a few deniers, was flat and reeked of poor-quality grain—but Liana had to sip it sparingly.
Staring at the distant harbor, she worried about how she’d survive in the uncertain days ahead.
‘Still, once I leave this place, I’ll find a way to live.’
As she fiddled with the rough tankard, a bright flash of light erupted from the distant harbor.
Liana bolted upright and dashed outside the tavern. The sailors, who had been singing and shouting boisterously, did the same.
And then came the cry shaking the night air.
“Fire!”
“Damn it, the harbor’s on fire!”
Flames that started at one spot rapidly spread sideways.
Though the wind wasn’t strong, the fire shooting up from the harbor quickly grew into a massive inferno.
“No…!”
Liana ran straight for the harbor.
Every ship anchored there was engulfed in red flames.
It was as if the twilight that had just vanished beyond the horizon had been violently dragged back up—painting the sky crimson in the huge blaze.
The fire burning fiercely upon the water created a tragic spectacle.
Liana stood frozen before that despairing scene.
And then—
“…So you were here.”
A large shadow approached from deeper within the harbor.
Walking forward as if the spreading flames belonged to him, with the false crimson twilight at his back.
“So, was your escape enjoyable?”
Above the pitch-black silhouette standing against the fire, his pupils glowed fiercely.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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