“Only two shots left now.”
Ibnel checked the remaining number of bullets and more carefully assessed the movements of the demon beast. It became clear that attacking recklessly would not be enough to kill it.
But she had definitely taken down a demon beast before. At that moment, the content from the novel flashed in her mind.
‘Right, the core. I need to attack the demon beast’s core.’
She recalled the existence of the core, the only weakness that could take down this massive demon beast in one shot. But the problem was that she had no idea where it was located.
“What should I do?”
She aimed her gun but couldn’t pull the trigger hastily. Perhaps noticing her hesitation, the demon beast suddenly started charging towards Lia, who was standing in one corner.
“No!”
Ibnel aimed at the rapidly approaching demon beast. In this critical moment, her gun barrel began to shake along with her heart.
She couldn’t bear to lose someone else right before her eyes again.
“Yes, kill it now!”
“Kill them all!”
Cheers of joy erupted from the audience at this sight. None of them seemed to have any intention of stopping Lia’s death.
‘Is this really the end?’
Shuher showed that familiar bored look as he watched her helpless face. It was a disappointing result, contrary to his expectations of seeing something interesting.
But Ibnel couldn’t hear anything from her surroundings.
The only thing dominating her mind was the thought that she had to save Lia.
‘So please…’
As if her desperate plea had reached the heavens, Ibnel suddenly felt her vision blur. Surprised, she blinked, and something that wasn’t visible before came into view.
‘What is this?’
She saw something out of place on the demon beast covered in black fur. More precisely, there was a white light shimmering behind its ear on its head.
As if telling her to shoot there.
With no other choice, she steeled herself and aimed her gun at that spot.
‘I only have one chance.’
When all her senses aligned, she pulled the trigger instinctively. The bullet that flew rapidly from the gun hit exactly where Ibnel intended.
The demon beast, which had been charging towards Lia with its mouth open, rendering all previous attacks meaningless, collapsed powerlessly on the spot.
The sudden turn of events plunged the arena into silence. Not a single person made a sound.
Everyone looked back and forth between the fallen demon beast and Ibnel with disbelieving faces. Was it really true that this noble lady, who they thought would die, had taken down that hideous demon beast?
“Impossible…”
Soon, voices of incredulous exclamation arose from among the spectators.
That demon beast was a mid-level one that would give trouble even to several knights attacking together. So they couldn’t help but be shocked that Ibnel, whom they had been mocking, had perfectly taken it down.
“Is it dead?”
Ibnel slowly approached the fallen demon beast to check, and it was indeed no longer breathing. And where she had shot it with her gun, there was something like a shimmering stone.
She could tell that this split object was the demon beast’s core.
‘So the white light I saw was the demon beast’s core?’
As she was looking at the dead demon beast, Lia approached her side. Having witnessed the entire situation, she was just as dumbfounded.
“My lady, are you alright?”
Ibnel looked at her and nodded to indicate she was fine.
“My lady?”
But for some reason, Lia showed surprise when she saw Ibnel’s face.
Ibnel, who had no time to worry about that, looked towards Shuher only after confirming that the situation was completely resolved.
And without hesitation, she aimed her gun precisely at where he was sitting.
Immediately, the knights guarding the emperor all drew their guns from their waists and aimed at her.
Even so, Ibnel didn’t waver at all. Neither her eyes fixed on Shuher, nor her gun.
Shuher too simply watched her actions without moving. His gaze, like Lia’s, remained fixed on her face.
Even in this tense situation where bullets could fly at any moment, Ibnel’s finger was on the trigger.
That’s when Demil shouted.
“Lower your gun now!”
“I refuse. From my perspective, there’s no difference between the demon beast and His Majesty the Emperor.”
To dare utter such outrageous words in front of Shuher, and in the middle of enemy territory where she had no allies, left everyone speechless.
But from Ibnel’s standpoint, it wouldn’t be strange to blow his head off right now. To her, he was no different from the demon beast that had thrown her to be its food.
‘But why is he looking at me like that?’
Although she couldn’t see clearly from the distance, the way he was looking at her was strange. He seemed surprised by something, or perhaps flustered.
As she carefully watched him slowly rising from his seat, her vision began to blur again. No, her whole body was losing strength.
Perhaps what just happened was too much for this body.
‘What’s going to happen to me now?’
She who should have died here by now had survived. No, was she dying now? Was the content of the novel unchangeable after all?
She hadn’t managed to send Lia away yet.
With that final thought, Ibnel’s body completely collapsed.
“My lady!”
‘Run away, Lia. At least you must live.’
With that thought, her vision faded to black.
Lia hurriedly approached her fallen side. Though she wasn’t moving at all, having completely lost consciousness, fortunately she was still breathing.
“My lady, my lady!”
At that moment, a shadow fell over her face. Shuher, who had been in that high seat, was now looking down at the two of them, having somehow come down here.
Even while collapsed, Ibnel’s hand still held the gun. As if it were her lifeline.
That’s when Demil approached his side.
“The bullet hit the core precisely.”
“So it seems.”
Muttering incomprehensible words, Shuher suddenly lifted her into his arms. Then he spoke to those seated in the audience.
“The entertainment is over. Everyone return.”
With those final words, he disappeared through the entrance carrying Ibnel. The people present were confused about what exactly had happened in such a short time.
* * *
After returning home from all the Olympic schedules, Arang left the airport after finishing a brief press conference. Then she looked for Aran, who would be waiting to greet her.
‘I want to see you quickly.’
Whenever she returned from such a big competition, Aran always came to the airport and welcomed her with open arms in celebration.
Since losing her parents in an unfortunate accident as a child, Aran was Arang’s only family. It was because she had a sister who believed in and supported her more than anyone else that she was able to come this far.
Aran’s very existence was the driving force that pushed her forward.
“Sis!”
Just then, she saw Aran standing across the crosswalk in the distance. As soon as she saw her, she waved happily.
“Sis, wait. I’ll come over there.”
“Okay.”
As the traffic light turned green and Aran started crossing the street, for some reason a car came speeding without slowing down.
And before anything could be done, it struck the defenseless Aran.
The entire scene was etched into Arang’s eyes. Her sister falling helplessly to the ground, spilling an enormous amount of blood.
“A-Aran!”
Arang rushed over and lifted her sister, but she just hung limply.
No matter how many times she called Aran’s name in a tearful voice, there was no response.
Unable to believe the reality, Arang sat down and let out a scream-like cry.
After losing her sister like that, Arang blamed herself every night alone.
If only Aran hadn’t come to see her that day, or if she hadn’t started shooting in the first place, Aran wouldn’t have died.
With that scene, Ibnel’s eyes suddenly opened wide as she lay in bed.
‘It’s been a while since I had this dream.’
After staring blankly at the white ceiling, the situation before she collapsed flashed through her mind like a slideshow, and she hurriedly sat up.
Then she clenched and unclenched her hand for no reason. If this wasn’t a dream now.
“Am I really alive?”
“You must have wanted to die quite badly.”
At the sudden voice, she turned her head to see Shuher leaning against the wall, having been there since who knows when. He approached leisurely and sat down naturally on Ibnel’s bed.
“I heard you’re not particularly injured anywhere.”
Seeing him this close, she realized he was taller and more built than she thought, and his intimidating presence was felt more directly.
He was a person overflowing with the air of an emperor, as if to say this is what an emperor is. Especially those inscrutable black eyes felt both familiar and very alien.
‘Wait, then what about Lia?’
To her, Lia’s whereabouts were more important than anything else right now.
“Lia, is Lia alright?”
“This isn’t the time to be worrying about a mere maid.”
“Right now, she’s more important to me than anything else. Where is Lia?”
Ibnel got up from her seat, intending to go look for her herself if he wouldn’t tell her.
Faced with her fierce gaze that seemed ready to pounce on him if he had done anything to Lia, Shuher paused before speaking in a leisurely voice.
“She’s injured, but her life isn’t in danger. She’s waiting in another room now.”
“Are you sure?”
“If I had killed her, I’d have no reason to lie about it.”
As his words didn’t seem like a lie, Ibnel’s legs gave out and she sat back down on the bed. Only after hearing that she was okay did she finally feel relieved.
Shuher couldn’t understand her behavior at all. Her recklessness just now, and even before when she protected the maid in a situation where she could have survived.
“To get so worked up over a mere maid.”
“Don’t say ‘mere’. She came all this way following me, and tried to protect me with her life. You have no right to speak of her like that, Your Majesty.”
“Are you really the young lady of the Estella ducal family?”
Shuher finally had to ask this question. Otherwise, this situation made no sense at all.
Faced with his blatant stare as if trying to recognize who she was, Ibnel turned to face him directly.
“If I’m not Ibnel, then who am I? I’ve been practically imprisoned since it was decided I would go to Caries. If you don’t believe me, check for yourself.”
There was nothing to gain from revealing that she wasn’t Ibnel in this situation. After all, this was essentially enemy territory.
‘But why has he been staring at me like that?’
Feeling uncomfortable under his piercing gaze, she turned her head to the side. But as if not allowing that, Shuher grabbed her chin and forcibly made her look at him.
With that forceful gesture and strength, Ibnel’s eyes met his at close range.
__________
Male Lead, The Black-Hearted Lotus (Female-dominant)
Short intro by Yuushi L:
At first, the male lead despised the female lead. Later, he misunderstood that she liked him, so he condescendingly and reluctantly reciprocated her feelings.
Then, he suddenly discovered that she was kind to everyone in the same way, and there was already someone she cherished in her heart, and that person was not him.
The male lead couldn’t believe it, he became angry and crazy. He was determined to capture her body and heart by any means necessary.
Synopsis:
Want to see how a green tea bitch male lead falls in love with the female lead?
Want to see how he flirtatiously pursues the female lead?
Want to see how he gets slapped in the face repeatedly?
The male lead is a green tea bitch, a poisonous lotus, jealous, ruthless, unscrupulous, with a venomous heart, and he’s also a delusional maniac.
The female lead is righteous, positive energy-filled, kind, a holy mother.
Let’s see how two people with extreme personalities come together~