A Shadow Cast in Paradise (23 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 15
Liana recalled the sight of the harbor burning crimson. The acrid smell of smoke that had seeped into her lungs also refused to fade.
“When you pass through your deepest night, I’ll be there.”
Those words kept circling in her mind, refusing to leave.
Liana looked at the man seated across the table.
He seemed utterly unfamiliar.
His cold eyes, his raven-black hair, his fine shirt, his impeccably pressed trousers, and even his polished black leather shoes wiped clean of dust.
A perfectly refined nobleman.
An arrogant man brimming with the confidence that he could do anything he pleased.
A man whose authority rendered kindness and consideration utterly unnecessary.
He was unquestionably a different person from the slave boy she once knew.
But still…
“When you pass through your deepest night, Miss, I shall be by your side.”
Why did his voice overlay so clearly upon that memory?
Do you remember that promise, too?
Somewhere within the person you’ve become—does that moment still remain?
Liana remembered his rough yet gentle hands that had pulled her from nightmares in the dead of night.
She had often suffered nightmares as a child.
Nights crushed beneath sleepless dread invaded by fear.
Whenever his fingertips dispersed every nightmare and dreadful despair, she could close her eyes again without fear.
Yet now, he had willingly become her nightmare, dragging her down into the mire.
Liana bit her lip.
Words long held back rose all the way to her throat.
On the day I abandoned you, I desperately wanted to protect you with everything I had.
The harsh words I hurled at you weren’t sincere.
They were selfish lies.
I feared that if I didn’t say those things, I’d be left with regret—afraid I might someday come to you, burdened by this curse, begging you to wake me from the nightmare.
So… I lied to you.
But the words that had risen hotly to her throat cooled into heavy lead and sank downward.
Honesty was her sin.
If sincerity was a virtue for angels, then deception was the virtue of devils.
A demon’s honest confession only spreads curses.
Heresy, a crime of treason, spreads like a plague.
Anyone entangled in rebellion is treated as a fellow criminal and punished alongside the guilty—even if innocent.
To keep that contagion from spreading, she had to seal the horror away in silence.
Thus, she kept swallowing that leaden truth, burying it deeper and deeper inside her chest.
Though her chest felt tight, heavy, and aching as if she’d overeaten, there was nothing to be done.
It was the burden a sinner must bear.
That was precisely why she’d tried to run away.
Because swallowing lead every day was unbearable.
Because going to Ideana would mean swallowing even more lead.
‘I’d barely managed to bury it…’
For eight years, she’d struggled to distance herself from those memories—only for Shade Lester to appear and tear them all back open.
Just then, a sharp “knock knock” slipped between them, finally creating a slight gap in the suffocating air.
“Your Grace, your meal is ready.”
It was Werner’s voice.
“Come in.”
At Shade’s permission, the door opened, and Werner entered with maids carrying the meal.
They set the food on the table in the bedroom and quietly withdrew.
When Werner closed the door behind him last, Liana once again felt locked in a sealed chamber.
At that moment, Shade, seated somewhat farther from the table, turned his gaze back toward Liana.
“Sit.”
He gestured with his chin toward the chair opposite him.
When Liana hesitated, his brow furrowed again.
“I’ll say this once more—I dislike repeating myself.”
He gave a low warning, as if this were his final chance.
Liana lowered her head.
Following Shade’s command, she walked to the chair across from him.
After a brief hesitation, she sat down awkwardly, as if the seat bristled with thorns.
On the table lay the meal the maids had prepared.
Simple tomato soup, bread, pickled turnips, and roasted vegetables.
Though somewhat plain for a duke’s meal, the food retained a freshly made warmth that made it look appetizing.
To her embarrassment, Liana suddenly felt hungry.
Now that she thought about it, since the night before last, all she’d consumed was a cheap mug of beer at the tavern yesterday evening.
Having walked and run endlessly without a moment’s rest, the hunger rushing in with the food’s aroma twisted painfully in her stomach.
“Eat.”
Shade spoke to her.
He sat back like a mere spectator, arms crossed and legs crossed, as if he had no intention of eating at all.
‘Is he… really telling me to eat this?’
Though she clearly heard his command, Liana remained still, unable to pick up her spoon.
Shade’s eyes narrowed further.
“Do I have to say it twice…?”
“Why… why are you treating me like this?”
Just as Shade was about to snap in irritation, Liana asked.
She couldn’t understand Shade Lester.
With eyes full of hatred, he performed tender acts—leaving behind strange ambiguity.
Liana would have preferred if he’d simply cursed, loathed, and despised her outright.
Yet even as he cursed her, Shade granted her gestures tinged with lingering warmth.
“Why… if you hate me so much…?”
“Liana Serpens.”
At Liana’s question, Shade rose from his seat.
“Still haven’t adjusted, have you?”
“What do you…?”
“I’m saying you need to recognize your place.”
Shade impatiently swept a hand through his hair.
The right to ask questions, the right to harbor doubts, the right to question commands—
none of these belonged to a maid.
A duke owed no explanations to a servant, no need to justify his orders or consult her opinion.
All that was permitted to her was obedience.
“Even if that soup were poisoned, you’d still have to eat it if I told you to.”
Shade slammed his hand irritably on the table, making the dishes clatter and jolt.
Liana swallowed hard.
A heavy weight pressed on her chest, making her forget her hunger entirely.
Yet as a maid, she obeyed Shade’s command.
With trembling hands, she picked up the spoon and took a mouthful of soup.
She couldn’t tell its flavor or scent.
The smooth soup lingered in her mouth like coarse grains of sand.
“Swallow it.”
When Liana held the soup in her mouth without moving, Shade spoke.
She forced the tomato soup down her tight throat.
Midway down her esophagus, it felt as if a chunk of tomato were lodged there.
After barely managing to swallow, Liana quickly set the spoon down and stood up.
Immediately, Shade’s large hand pressed firmly on her shoulder, forcing her back into her seat.
“Keep eating until I tell you to stop.”
Liana opened her lips as if to protest again—but closed them instead.
Then, obeying his command, she picked up her spoon and fork once more.
Though it was merely a simple meal on one plate, it looked to Liana as distant and overwhelming as a grand banquet.
The soup seemed endless, no matter how much she ate.
The pickled turnips and roasted vegetables appeared as vast as an entire field’s harvest.
She kept forcing down food, waiting desperately for Shade to finally say, “Enough.”
Shade watched her from his distant seat, as if keeping guard.
Her fork moved slowly.
She chewed a small bite of bread as if it would take an eternity to finish.
Almost as if staging a protest.
She must surely be starving.
She hadn’t eaten anything since meeting him—and likely not even before that.
Yet she handled the food he offered as if it were garbage, as if eating it were torture.
He couldn’t fathom what thoughts filled that tiny head of hers.
There was a time when he could see straight into her heart—when her mind was as clear and unguarded as a tranquil lake, revealing even its deepest depths.
But now, it was veiled in mist—impossible to read even a step ahead.
What was she thinking? What did she desire?
Could that be why?
Though she stood right before his eyes, he felt that if he closed them for even a moment, she might vanish.
If he reached out his hand, she’d dissolve like smoke—untouchable.
What should I do with you?
How can I make this gnawing anxiety disappear completely?
He hadn’t slept a wink since yesterday, yet his mind burned as if aflame, refusing to quiet.
His heart pounded as though he’d taken a stimulant, while his head throbbed with pain.
Right. If I kill you, will this suffocating anxiety end?
No, I can’t do that.
It would be unfair if it ended so easily.
Death is far too simple and comfortable.
Shade knew this well.
Life, after all, was a far more dreadful punishment than death.
Perhaps death was the only salvation God granted to humankind.
Humans relentlessly run through this hell called life, desperately chasing that salvation called death.
He couldn’t possibly gift her that blessing so easily.
Even now, wasn’t she standing before him with a look of utter despair, as if already plunged into hell?
For some reason, that sight angered Shade, and he downed the wine in his glass.
Just as he was about to set the glass down irritably, his gaze paused on Liana’s legs. Beneath the dark hem of her dress falling below the table, a sliver of her calf was visible.
Shade fell silent, lost in thought for a moment, then rose from his seat with his sword in hand. Liana’s head lifted slightly as Shade, who had remained seated until then, moved abruptly.
Like a beast walking without a sound, he approached quietly from across the table.
And in an instant, the cold tip of his blade pressed firmly against her ankle.
At the icy touch, Liana flinched.
The gleaming silver blade slowly traced upward along the soft curve of her leg, its chill brushing against her skin.
The hem of her dress, covering her calf, was gradually lifted by the sword’s tip.
And then—
“It’s gone.”
His violet eyes murmured as they gazed upon her pale calf.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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