Didn't Plan to Become a Companion (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 12
“So, when you’re hungry and see a lavish feast, wouldn’t you naturally yearn for those dishes? I’ve been stuck in this remote, backwater corner of the monastery for so long—I haven’t had the chance to see a man, let alone one as handsome as you.”
“So you’re saying I’m the delicious meal now?”
“Well… you could say that.”
I pressed firmly against my pounding chest and looked straight into his eyes.
“So you’re saying you want to eat me?”
“Yes.”
The truth.
“Does that mean anyone would like a handsome man?”
“Exactly.”
Another truth.
At that moment, the fine carriage jolted heavily once. That meant we’d entered rough terrain.
“So you’d want to eat anyone you happen to like?”
“Of course.”
Though the question was odd, my answer remained true regardless.
To enter Resotia, one must pass a cliff so sheer that its end is only visible when turning completely around. In those days, the people of Resotia carved hundreds of intricate temples, tombs, and divine faces onto the cliff’s surface.
Legend says the first Emperor, Wesley Schneider, stood motionless beneath them for a long while, so breathtakingly beautiful were those carvings.
Though the content remains unknown, the legend that he received a millennium-long oracle there is still widely believed.
The structures were primarily embossed into the center of the cliff, and their functional perfection and architectural splendor continue to greatly influence Dermayer architectural styles even today.
Thus, most Dermayer palaces feature dazzling, ornate facades, delicately carved columns, and correspondingly grand entablatures.
I pulled back the curtain—half-covering the carriage window—with my hand and spoke.
“Do you see it over there?”
At the tip of my finger stood Aiphnetes, the famously beautiful god. He glanced between the god and me, then gave a soft chuckle.
“So what? Are you saying you’ve taken a liking to that god now?”
“Yes, exactly. If that god were human, I’d adore Aiphnetes just as much as I do you, my lord.”
This too was undeniably true.
“Ha!”
He laughed as if amused, shaking his head. Folding his arms, he sank deeply into his seat and tightly closed his eyes.
“Fine, do as you please. As I said yesterday, no matter what you do, you’re mine anyway.”
“Don’t say such unreasonable things…”
“Because it’s certain you’re the helper of my manifestation.”
With that oddly affecting remark, he ended the conversation and didn’t open his eyes again until nightfall.
Ricardo, with his eyes closed, exuded a completely different aura than when they were open.
He was harmless—in every way.
Though he didn’t seem to be asleep, he showed no intention of opening his eyes, so I openly admired his face. Truly, he was a devastatingly beautiful man—so much so that even Aiphnetes, god of male beauty, might cry.
As he’d said, I did like him. But that feeling was strictly limited to moments when our eyes met.
This painfully vivid emotion had arisen naturally from the very moment I first met him. Yet after Ricardo left, I realized something—if he wasn’t in sight, I could endure just fine.
[This is the timeline separator]I couldn’t close my gaping mouth at the astonishing sight before me.
“Wow.”
So it was true—Dermayer architecture had indeed been influenced by Resotian style.
The carved buildings I’d seen on Resotia’s cliffs now loomed magnificently before my eyes.
The elegance of the lines belonged to Resotia, yet their scale was immense.
The dazzling mansion’s facade achieved overall symmetry thanks to its finely carved white columns.
Yet not a single detail among them was identical. Some were grand yet sharp; others appeared curved but were keen-edged. It felt precisely like Ricardo himself.
As I walked down the corridor, I craned my neck like a tourist and carefully examined even the ceiling.
‘Truly impressive. This is what it means to be the imperial Duke’s household.’
Then my eyes met Ricardo’s, who was staring at me as if I were some curious creature. I awkwardly stretched my neck and feigned indifference.
Beyond the corridor, a forest reappeared.
‘Ah, no—this isn’t a forest, but a garden.’
Though it seemed as vast as a forest, the harmonious arrangement of trees and flowers clearly bore the mark of a skilled gardener. A broad, straight path stretched ahead—wide and smooth enough even for a carriage.
“This wasn’t originally meant for walking.”
“Oh…”
“I thought you might be sick of carriages by now.”
During our journey together into the empire, Ricardo had subtly looked after me. Except for the first day, he never rode in the same carriage as I did—and I knew that too was his consideration.
He’d become a courteous, well-mannered nobleman—so much so that recalling the sharp, sensitive Ricardo of the past felt impossible.
Moreover, he wasn’t wrong; I truly was weary of carriages. Though we’d stayed occasionally at lords’ manors, we’d ridden continuously for days—though I’d lost count by then.
“The weather’s nice too.”
Indeed, as Ricardo said, the sky was perfectly clear. Looking around, I saw countless beautiful flowers in bloom, though their names slipped my mind. The promise of year-round mildness now felt palpable in my very body. What was this flower’s name again…?
Just then, Ricardo raised both hands and swept back his hair.
That single motion instantly sharpened the previously relaxed atmosphere.
“I’ve been thinking.”
His suddenly crisp tone made me turn my head instinctively.
“About that claim I made—that seven years ago, I went to save you.”
“Oh…”
As I listened to his low voice and looked around the garden, a memory suddenly surfaced. The flowers blanketing the fields in white and red were cyclamens.
“Maybe I really did go. Even if I don’t remember, perhaps some emotion remains.”
I let his voice drift into the distance and fixed my gaze on the cyclamens blooming abundantly beside me.
Every flower bears a legend. Cyclamen, too, carried a sorrowful tale as beautiful as its bloom. Though exuding noble grace, it also appeared somewhat lonely—and from that floral grave arose a faint, soothing fragrance that gently closed one’s eyes.
“But how far can an emotion go if it has no memory behind it?”
Cyclamen was the most beautiful and kind-hearted of spring’s fairies. The gods especially loved her.
“So it’s nothing at all.”
Yet the world was cruel to her. Her young lover betrayed Cyclamen and whispered love to the river nymph.
“Don’t attach any meaning to that event, my lord.”
As Ricardo’s words drifted away on the breeze, I recalled the cyclamen’s sentiment. The flower’s meaning—jealousy and love lost—spoke for the heart of the maiden whose lover was stolen by the river nymph.
“But, my lord…”
At my calm address, Ricardo halted abruptly. For the first time by my own will, I stood facing him directly, locking eyes fully.
Thump-thump—my heart raced senselessly every time our eyes met, though I didn’t know why. Still, I believed holding someone in your heart was never something to be ashamed of.
“Are you certain your words just now were truly meant for me?”
“What… do you mean?”
“I wondered if they weren’t words you wanted to say to yourself.”
His lips pressed tightly shut. His ashen eyes, unreadable at first, flickered briefly before his Adam’s apple bobbed once, decisively.
“You’re right, my lord. You have no need to remember that event or assign it any meaning.”
“…”
“If something leaves no memory, what emotion could possibly cling to it?”
Though cyclamen’s flower language spoke of love long past, the bloom itself remained beautiful. Even if her young lover had betrayed her, unless she allowed herself to be wounded, no one could truly hurt her.
“It’s merely my memory and my feeling. So you needn’t worry about what meaning it holds for me.”
Ricardo’s tightly closed lips twitched faintly, but no reply came. I forced a brighter, cheerier smile.
“Let’s go quickly—they’re waiting for us.”
And quite a lot of them, too.
At the garden path’s end stood no fewer than a hundred people, come to greet him—no exaggeration.
Only then did it truly sink in: I was about to enter the household of the greatest among the Empire’s three ducal houses.
For a moment, anxiety gripped me—had I been too bold with this apex predator of the empire?
Glancing around unnecessarily, I took a deep breath and straightened my back.
I’d entered House Fennel at age five and received no education until twelve. Then House Fennel fell, and I lived like a servant.
My very existence was alien to this household—my position was clear.
I would fulfill whatever Ricardo desired and return home as soon as possible.
With my goal clarified, my steps grew firm.
[This is the timeline separator]It’s already been three days since I entered this vast ducal estate.
“Sigh…”
Restless, I went for a solitary stroll in the rear garden. Since my arrival here seemed to carry no urgent purpose, Ricardo had left me tucked away in a luxurious room and hadn’t sought me out.
Thankfully, I could move freely within the estate without guards or attendants—an undeniable blessing, though…
I ended up lost in this place so vast I couldn’t tell if it was a house or a village.
I’m certain I heard the sound of blacksmiths hammering metal just now…
“Ah, whatever. If I keep walking, I’ll eventually find a familiar path.”
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.
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