“Crack.”
With the sound of the door opening, the voice of the captain was heard.
“Acker Kyeong. Come out now.”
“Oh, yes. Just a moment, just a moment.”
“Hurry up.”
But the captain urged Lucas to come out quickly, even if it was just for a moment longer.
“Yes. I understand! Herena, you have to do as I say. That’s the only way you’ll stay alive. Got it?”
In a hurry, Lucas poured out his words to me.
I didn’t respond to Lucas’s words.
Lucas, who stared at me with an uneasy look, sighed and turned away.
“Wait, Lucas.”
But in a moment, I urgently called Lucas, who was about to run towards the door.
Lucas paused and turned to look at me.
“By any chance, were you the one who left the Asdel flower petals in the office during the last search?”
“What?”
Considering all the circumstances, it was clear that Lucas was the one who did it.
When I asked with certainty, Lucas visibly flinched.
“Well…”
“Acker Kyeong.”
The captain quickly called Lucas, who was hesitating.
“Oh, yes. I’m going now! Herena, you can’t say anything now. But if you speak well at the trial, I’ll tell you everything afterwards. You know, about what I feel for you. Do you trust me?”
The question of whether I trust myself felt nauseating right now.
However, I made an effort to hold onto him without revealing my feelings to him.
“Can you tell me now?”
“Not now…”
Lucas glanced once more towards the door where the captain was.
“I want to trust you too. I know the feelings you have for me. But I really need the assurance that I can trust you.”
I deliberately uttered words that could manipulate Lucas.
“Assurance?”
“Yeah. Assurance.”
Hesitating for a moment at my words, Lucas soon approached me again.
“I’ll tell you just this. What you expected is correct.”
“Really?”
“The Empress is someone who can do anything to bring down Kaern Laberion. So, don’t forget to do as I say. Got it?”
“The captain will look for you again. Go quickly.”
Instead of an answer saying I will do so, I urged him to leave quickly.
“Oh? Yeah. Got it. Herena, see you soon.”
After bidding me a final farewell, Lucas quickly ran towards the door.
I stared at Lucas’s back with sharp eyes until he disappeared.
Until the trial, Kaern continued to convey the progress through letters, often using the food we ate.
Among them was the news that he safely brought Chloe, the daughter of Owen and Sierra, to the Duke’s mansion.
Upon hearing the news, Sierra burst into relieved tears.
Once again, she expressed gratitude and apologies to me incessantly.
So, time passed once again, and finally, the day of the trial dawned.
To take Sierra and me, the captain, along with Lucas and several knights, revealed themselves at the prison.
“Come out.”
As the door, which had been locked for days, opened, I rose and stepped outside, looking through the barred window.
Sierra, who had been confined on the opposite side, also came out, and for the first time, we could face each other closely.
But that moment was very brief.
“Move.”
At the captain’s command, as I took a step forward, Sierra and I exchanged quick glances.
It was finally the time for the decisive battle.
As we emerged from the underground prison, a bright light poured down.
I squinted my eyes in the sunlight, trying to adapt quickly after a long time.
“Get in.”
Pointing to one of the two carriages standing in front of the prison, the captain spoke.
As I approached the carriage, the captain reached out his hand to me, but I refused his extended hand and got into the carriage.
Seeing the carriage door close as I boarded, it seemed that Sierra was getting into another carriage.
The carriage soon set off and stopped again after a short while.
“Get off.”
As the door opened, I slowly stepped out of the carriage.
Of course, this time, the captain didn’t even look at the hand he offered.
Since the time they came to search our house, I had considered the captain a conspirator with the Empress.
And since that thought remained unchanged, I did not want any small help.
In front of me stood a much larger, white, and neat building than the ones inhabited by the nobles.
I had never been here before, but this building was where the Emperor’s office and conference room were located.
Seeing that I was brought here, the trial was likely to be held in the conference room today.
“But why hasn’t Sierra come yet?”
The carriage I was in arrived, and some time had passed, but the carriage carrying Sierra had not arrived yet.
I looked at the captain with a puzzled look and asked him.
“The maid who was with me isn’t coming here?”
“That maid has a place to visit briefly, so she went there.”
“A place to visit?”
“Yes.”
The captain ended the conversation with a brief response, indicating that he wouldn’t provide more details.
“Go inside.”
With concerns about Sierra, I was about to move my steps to enter the white building.
“Herena.”
The familiar voice I wanted to hear all along called me from behind.
With a smile, I turned around and greeted that person with a joyful voice.
“Kaern!”
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
