Anyway, she was a person who would die soon, so it was right to step away from between them.
Still, it strangely hurt her heart.
“If I die and disappear… I am useless. So, it’s right to connect those two.”
Right, there was no reason not to follow the original story upon thinking it over.
Their kiss was also like an accident, merely for comfort.
Atia decided to suppress her emotional turmoil and focus on what needed to be realistically done.
“Get a grip.”
Atia first pondered on how to connect the two.
The problem was,
She was alive, her eyes wide open.
As long as she was alive, they could not naturally exchange emotions.
“Ah, my head… Let’s eat first.”
(This is a time separator.)
Dinner was to be held in the duke’s annex.
Casus and Atia took the lead.
Following them were nine people rescued from the slave market, along with the knights, heading to the annex.
It was then. Hari’s eyes widened.
“Huh?”
They had to cross a garden to get to the annex, and just then, a black beast was walking in the garden with a gardener.
The sight of the animal covered in dark red fur startled Hari.
At that moment, the black beast’s red eyes targeted Hari.
Hari shrunk her shoulders as if scared by the large and intimidating beast.
“Growl!”
A low and threatening sound.
“Ah! Scary!”
Hari, who was walking right behind Casus, clung to him at this moment.
And screamed while holding on to Casus’s solid waist.
As if a small rabbit frightened by a large predator.
The knights, who were watching, couldn’t help but feel protective instincts rise.
They looked at her endearing appearance with affectionate eyes.
“It’s okay; it won’t bite.”
“Although it looks like that, it’s gentle.”
Knights, who were like uncles, each said a word to comfort Hari.
Woosh.
As Hari clung to Casus, her blonde hair fluttered in the wind.
Her transparent green eyes sparkled beneath her long eyelashes.
Her light coral lips puckered adorably.
It was an extremely lovable face.
However, Casus’s response was cold.
Casus narrowed his eyes and pulled Hari off his waist.
It was a clear signal to keep distance.
Not getting the reaction she expected, Hari’s eyebrows momentarily furrowed.
A shade passed through her once endearing green eyes.
“Grr…”
As Atia approached the growling black beast, it quickly calmed down.
“Who’s a good boy? Look how chubby your cheeks got.”
“Growl.”
“You happy?”
“Growl.”
“Want more? Okay, okay~.”
Atia gently caressed the face of the black beast, and the creature that had been snarling moments ago now responded like a puppy.
Hari opened her mouth at the sight.
“Is that… not a magical beast?”
Although she didn’t know its exact name, even Hari could tell it was a dangerous magical beast at a glance.
The redhaired knight beside her responded.
“Yes, the Duchess tamed it.”
“Her?”
“Yes.”
Hari tilted her head.
The Duchess with that frail appearance.
How could she have tamed this huge magical beast with her weak body?
Moreover, she had never heard of a human taming a magical beast before.
Magical beasts were targets for hunting, not pets.
“How on earth…”
“She’s scarier than she looks,” said Zen, narrowing his eyes at Hari in a meaningful way.
His eyes were smiling, but they seemed to contain a warning.
“Scary…?”
“Yes, it’s best not to cross her.”
Hari was truly surprised.
She herself was afraid to even make eye contact with the magical beast. How could this Duchess act so boldly?
Hari worried whether the dark magical beast might suddenly attack the Duchess with its sharp claws, but that never happened.
Instead, the creature acted coyly in front of the Duchess.
Even a dog raised for ten years wouldn’t be so tame.
The corner of Hari’s mouth twitched.
“This place is really interesting.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
At Zen’s question, Hari smiled without replying.
A handsome man next to another handsome man.
Both the Duke and his escort knight were goodlooking.
Casus truly looked like a prince one might see in a fairy tale.
Hari had dreamed of this for a long time.
‘So good. Thrilling!’
The lavish mansion was incomparable to the home she had in the Kingdom of Zernes.
And the intriguing Duchess.
After the fall of her country, she was captured and had been wandering aimlessly. Hari was tired of that life.
Once a holy maiden of the Kingdom of Zernes, her powers were not what they used to be.
She only had faint healing abilities left.
Captured as a prisoner, she had escaped several times.
When she was captured in the slave market this time, she had thought, ‘What sort of hardships will I face now?’
But it felt like she had found an oasis in the monotonous and tiring daily life.
‘What a windfall!’
What would it feel like to live in such a spacious mansion?
Even in her heyday as a holy maiden, she had never seen such luxury.
She felt full just by looking at the grand mansion that could easily house hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
‘How many wives does the Duke have living here?’
She had heard that men often took multiple women, even if they had wives.
Hari lifted her head and asked Zen.
“Besides the silverhaired one, does the Duke have other wives?”
“Other?”
“Yes.”
Zen was slightly irritated that she dared to refer to the Duchess as ‘the silverhaired one,’ but he didn’t press the issue.
“You’re asking if His Grace has other wives?”
“Yes! Exactly!”
Hari said, her voice bubbling with enthusiasm.
In the Kingdom of Zernes where she lived, it was normal for capable men to have multiple wives.
Zen raised an eyebrow as if she was asking about everything and anything.
“No, only her.”
Hearing that the Duke only had one wife, Hari’s face brightened considerably.
“Really? Really no one else? Wow…”
Zen glanced at the admiring Hari.
What she was thinking was written all over her face.
It seemed like she was already considering herself as the second wife.
It even seemed like she had already decided on the color of the wedding dress.
“Why would someone as amazing as him only have one wife? He could easily have thirty…”
Hari pursed her plump lips and blinked her big eyes.
Zen spoke in a low voice.
“She’s difficult to handle.”
“What?”
“The Duke is not someone a normal woman can handle.”
“Wow! Then that’s even better?”
“?”
As Zen looked at her, Hari responded with a broad smile.
‘I’m not fond of men who are too easy.’
However, Zen could easily read what was on Hari’s mind.
To Zen, she was just one of the many girls smitten with the duke’s charming looks.
“Hehehehe.”
Zen was dumbfounded by her mocking laughter.
However, he replied calmly to Hari, who seemed to dream of a prince from a fairy tale.
“A trivial joke, indeed. The only person who can handle His Grace the Duke is the current Duchess.”
Yet, Hari seemed already lost in her dreams.
Into the sweet fantasy she’d concocted.
“Huh? I have no idea what you’re talking about, sir knight.”
Hari chuckled and lifted the corners of her mouth.
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.]