By the window where the sunset was fading, an old rocking chair creaked.
“Cough!”
A dry cough accompanied by a spurt of blood from the emaciated body.
The crimson bloodstains on the hands indicated the dire state of health.
As the dark magic used on Artia unraveled, the damage was entirely transferred to Lady Harrod, the countess.
It seemed as if accumulated karma had burst all at once.
Lady Harrod was suffering from the side effects.
“Cough!”
Once elegant hands had now wrinkled, and dark veins emerged.
“Damn it!”
Lady Harrod threw a glass from the table.
Crash!
The sound of shattered glass reverberated through the entire room, and blood dripped from the countess’s hand and lips.
“Why is my body deteriorating more and more!”
Once renowned for her beauty, she had transformed into an appearance resembling a withered demon.
Then, a knock was heard.
Knock, knock, knock.
A maid peeked in.
“Um… when can I expect the delayed wages?”
“What?”
“I’m in urgent need of money due to my circumstances…”
Lady Harrod sighed deeply, leaning her head back.
“Cough! Where is the count right now?”
“Well…”
“He hasn’t come in today again?”
Her husband, Viscount Stephan Harrod, had not come home for several days.
“Who is he sticking around with this time? Cough!”
Seeing blood flowing from Lady Harrod’s mouth, the hesitant maid spoke.
“I… I will resign from my position.”
At first, even the maid felt sorry for the unhealthy countess. So, despite the delayed wages, she endured it out of sympathy. However, as the maid saw that nothing was changing, she couldn’t help but decide to quit her job.
“That’s enough.”
“The delayed wages…”
“Get out!”
“…”
“Leave immediately!”
The maid shot a glare at the countess, then closed the door and disappeared.
“All of them… utterly useless. The viscount, the maid, and even this body… Cough!”
Lady Harrod, the countess, looked at the broken glass and the closed door with a resigned expression.
‘Ha, I wonder which woman he’s rolling around with in bed now.’
Due to her husband’s promiscuity from a young age, jealousy had been a constant source of headache for Lady Harrod. That’s why she had hired a dark sorcerer at a tremendous cost a long time ago.
While the expense was considerable, the negative perception associated with using dark magic deterred most people from even considering it.
Lady Harrod recalled the first time she used dark magic.
An unknown young maid, with an unknown face and name.
Thinking about her husband, the only man in her life, lusting after that maid’s flesh and kissing her lips, made her grind her teeth involuntarily.
Not only did he use lips that once whispered sweet words to her during a kiss, but he impregnated another body.
It was unforgivable.
Only nearing the end of her pregnancy did Lady Harrod discover this fact. Faced with this revelation, she pondered on how to make the maid suffer the most.
Then, after much contemplation, she remembered something that was forbidden to everyone.
Black magic.
Most things were possible with determination, but there was a saying that it comes with negative consequences.
However, for Lady Harrod, whose eyes had turned upside down, such concerns didn’t matter.
She intended to use any means necessary to punish the maid and ensure her husband couldn’t fool around anymore.
I must make sure she can no longer conceive. Prevent her from planting seeds in another woman’s body.
To use black magic, one had to pay a substantial amount to hire a sorcerer, and finding them was not easy.
During this extended period, the maid gave birth to her child and died immediately after childbirth.
Even before she could start her revenge, Lady Harrod, who had left the lifeless body of the young maid below her, naturally shifted her focus to the child born from the maid’s body.
Waaah!
To the newborn baby crying without knowing anything.
That was Artia.
Daring to use the body of a humble maid to obtain my husband’s blood.
Just the existence of the crying child enraged Lady Harrod, and she couldn’t bear it.
The vigorously crying child looked like a repulsive monster in her eyes.
Using a sorcerer who knew ancient languages, Lady Harrod implanted a curse into Artia’s body that gradually dried her up and led her to death.
So, the child who was born healthy gradually weakened over time.
So, the child who was born healthy gradually weakened over time.
Lady Harrod didn’t stop there.
Not only did she prevent the child from eating properly and moving within the mansion, but she also subjected her to countless abuses.
However, her mistake was thinking that she could also suppress her husband’s roving eye through black magic.
With massive expenditures and Lord Harrod’s disastrous business ventures, the family’s fortunes declined, and now it was difficult to provide wages to the servants.
As her health deteriorated, Lady Harrod vomited blood again and rose from the rocking chair.
She recalled a recent conversation between Enn and Jay.
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
