“I would like to ask. Can you handle it?”
The banquet hall buzzed with the clear response from Cassus.
The nobles watched Owen and Cassus’s conversation with great interest, as if they were watching a thrilling duel.
Even the attendants and knights in the banquet hall.
Cassus faced Owen without avoiding his gaze.
‘How many dare to provoke me like this in the empire.’
Owen looked into Cassus’s clear eyes.
Eyes like a sea whose depth cannot be fathomed, just like the Duchess.
However, there seemed to be a fleeting anger, like enraged waves, in those eyes.
‘Well, after the disgrace of the Duchess, how ridiculous must I appear.’
Owen, whose sharp gaze gleamed like a hunting predator targeting its prey, soon leaned back his head.
“Hahaha! Hahaha!”
The nobles were amused.
It was laughter that could shatter the glasses they were drinking.
“The entertainment is quite interesting. It pleases me.”
After laughing for a while, Owen wiped the tears gathered in his eyes with his left hand.
‘It would be perfect if he retaliates here.’
Owen secretly hoped that Cassus would get angry at his laughter.
For example, losing his composure, grabbing the collar without reason, or smashing a glass.
It would be even more amusing.
Owen looked at Artia and raised the corner of his mouth.
“Look forward to it. What I want is something very big.”
At that moment, Cassus’s gaze became even sharper.
Only then did Owen sense a subtle tremor in Cassus’s calm face, like gentle waves.
‘It’s strange. It’s probably not for my wife.’
But being able to provoke Cassus’s feelings using the Duchess.
If that’s the case, Owen felt he could do anything.
Owen laughed again, ha-ha, and left the banquet hall.
Artia gave a faint smile toward the table where the noble ladies were sitting.
“Then, until next time.”
Bianca stared at Artia’s back as she left the banquet hall, escorted by Cassus.
No, the entire banquet hall was in turmoil.
“Did you see that? Not even blinking an eye?”
“Yeah, he’s stronger than you’d think… It seemed like he was about to cry right there on the spot.”
Artia’s large, round eyes were moist as if ready to shed tears.
However, despite expecting to squeeze out chicken-like tears, the nobles were disappointed.
Then, the talk in the noble circle shifted to the Wellington Duke and Duchess.
Coming from the far north and having a bad relationship with the royal family made them a perfect prey for the nobles.
“How much longer can the Duchess endure here?”
“By the way, why did the Duke come here?”
“I don’t know, but… Anyway, I hope the Duke stays here a little longer. He’s handsome, isn’t he?”
Laughter echoed from all directions.
“It’s a big deal for the Northern Duke to participate in a hunting competition against the Crown Prince.”
“Winning the hunting competition, let alone enduring a few days in the royal palace, seems challenging.”
In response to someone’s comment, one of the nobles made a provocative remark.
“I bet 500,000 gold that he’ll run away without his tail within a week.”
Upon hearing this, others began placing bets.
“Then I’ll go with 300,000 gold.”
“It looks like we’re in for quite an entertaining event.”
On the first day at the royal palace.
Leo, who couldn’t attend the royal banquet hall without an invitation, waited in the palace corridor for Artia to return.
Passing palace knights looked at him curiously as he stood in front of Artia’s door.
A somewhat rebellious and naive noble boy.
However, Leo seemed indifferent to what they thought, putting his hands in his pockets as he guarded the entrance to Artia’s room.
Soon, Leo spoke to the palace knights who met his eyes.
“I need a moment to ask something. Who’s coming and going at the banquet hall?”
The knights blinked at him with puzzled looks as he confidently asked the question.
One of the knights whispered to the one next to him in a low voice.
“That kid, isn’t he the younger brother of the Wellington Duke from the North?”
“Oh, really?”
Only then did the knight answer Leo.
“Banquet hall? Nobles go there.”
Leo narrowed his eyes and asked persistently.
“Nobles? So, does that mean nobles from the empire are all coming?”
“Yes, you can think that almost all the nobles in the empire will attend.”
“I’m a noble too. Why wasn’t I invited?”
“It’s probably because you’re too young.”
Leo grumbled in dissatisfaction and let out a short sigh.
“Ugh! What does age have to do with the banquet hall?”
At that moment, Artia and Cassus appeared in the distance.
Leo frowned at Artia.
‘Wait, what’s wrong with that appearance?’
The elegantly dressed dress was a mess, covered in wine and food.
Especially since the dress was a pastel shade of blue, the traces of wine were even more noticeable.
Although it seemed hastily wiped, there was undoubtedly some incident at the banquet hall.
Leo muttered in dissatisfaction and punched his chest with his fist.
Then he said to Cassus.
“Hyung, I didn’t want to say this, but I’ll go in your place next time.”
Cassus’s eyelids narrowed slightly.
“What did you eat wrong.”
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.]