Atia tilted her head.
‘What does he mean?’
It didn’t seem like a good thing, anyway.
Casus gestured towards the stable, arms crossed.
“Choose the horse you want to ride.”
“How much time do I have?”
Atia asked.
“Until this hourglass runs out.”
Casus took out a blue hourglass.
It looked like it would take about 30 minutes for all the sand to fall from the top to the bottom.
“Can I choose any horse I want?”
“Yes.”
Atia approached the stable with Kesha and started to examine the horses.
“Hey, kids, hello? Who among you will give me a ride?”
“Neigh.”
The horses in the stable only ate the feed from the feedboxes, showing no interest in Atia.
“Isn’t there anyone? A good, pretty horse friend who’ll give me a ride?”
“These horses are quite snobby. Maybe because they’re precious warhorses.”
Kesha puffed up her cheeks as if offended.
“Who will pair with me? Or rather, which horse will pair with me?”
Among the indifferent horses, just one, a thin horse in the furthest corner, looked at Atia.
“Oh! You’re making eye contact with me, do you have something in mind?”
Atia approached and stroked the horse’s head.
The horse with black spots on a white background was much thinner and smaller than the others.
“Neigh.”
Fortunately, it didn’t reject Atia’s touch.
“I’ll choose this one.”
As Atia chose the horse, the stable hand led the horse outside.
“This guy’s name is ‘Pity’.”
Seeing her standing in front of Casus with the horse, Casus let out a chuckle.
He muttered to himself.
‘She has no eye for horses.’
The horse Atia brought was the smallest and weakest, overlooked by everyone in the stable.
Of all the horses to choose, she chose that one.
Casus took out three pieces of lottery paper from his pocket and handed them to Atia.
“Pick one.”
Atia picked one and unfolded it, revealing the letter C.
“Oh, too bad. It’s the C course.”
“Huh?”
Casus, unlike the horse, seemed to be in a good mood for some reason.
“What’s that?”
“There were three courses: A, B, and C. You picked the hardest one.”
“Do I have to ride the horse and run the C course?”
“Yes.”
Casus, as if granting a favor, slowly raised an eyebrow and said.
“I’ll give you another chance to draw.”
“No, let’s just do it. I’ve already picked.”
Kesha was shocked and grabbed Atia’s arm tightly.
“Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am, why don’t you redraw? It’s a good chance!”
“It’s fine. I’ll leave it to fate.”
“Ma’am…….”
Kesha could not understand Atia at all.
‘And she was so eager to go to the training ground.’
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“If you complete a full lap of that place within the time limit, you’re good.”
Casus gestured towards the floor marked with a “C”, speaking to Atia.
“C course.”
Past the white starting line, there were numerous obstacles.
The objective was to navigate all of them within the time limit and reach the exit.
Atia, who had been petting the horse, climbed onto its back.
“Neigh.”
The horse, PT, snorted.
“Is this it?”
Atia’s handling of the reins was clumsy.
So much so that it caused anxiety just to watch.
“Neigh!”
PT neighed as if displeased.
“Ah, no, not this, is it this?”
Riding a horse without problems requires a certain level of compatibility between horse and rider.
But Atia had trouble even sitting properly in the saddle.
“Ah, this, it’s done like this, I was confused.”
Kesha squeezed her eyes shut.
The only thought in her head was ‘we’re doomed.’
“Start!”
Thud.
Casus yelled as he placed a blue hourglass on the table.
Blue sand started falling from the top to the bottom little by little.
“Let’s go, PT!”
Atia started to run, holding the reins.
But the horse was not fast at all.
Kesha, who had been watching, touched her forehead.
She had a vision of what the outcome would be.
Could she reach half within the time limit?
No, not even half, could she reach a quarter?
While contemplating,
Casus sat in his chair, looking leisurely at Atia and the hourglass alternately.
The knights were also watching while pretending to train.
Meanwhile, Atia was slowly getting used to the horse she rode for the first time that day.
‘It feels different riding a horse after such a long time.’
They arrived at the first obstacle.
It was a manger.
It was full of special Agrade organic feed that a horse couldn’t resist.
It looked delicious even to humans.
PT had to resist this temptation and move on to the next obstacle.
“What? Why is there a manger here?”
As soon as Atia spoke, PT buried its nose in the manger.
Chew, chew.
PT was leisurely chewing the feed.
It seemed to be savoring the taste.
Atia, who had dismounted from PT’s back, quietly observed him.
“Did you not eat earlier because you wanted to have eye contact with me and drew a big picture to eat this?”
“Neigh.”
Atia stroked the horse, which was thoroughly chewing the organic feed.
“You’re eating well.”
“Neigh.”
“Yes, yes, eat a lot.”
She patted the butt of the horse, which was having a realtime mukbang.
She expected it to make a slapping sound, but it didn’t.
“Look at this skinny thing. Did they put you on a diet in the stable?”
Atia pressed on the horse’s meridian points to aid digestion.
Then, one point under her fingers stood out.
It was a knotted meridian point.
Atia massaged the area around it more intensively.
“Neigh. Neeeeigh.”
PT snorted as if it felt refreshed.
It was then that Atia realized.
‘Ah! You were skinny because you were constipated and couldn’t eat.’
Her gaze at Atia was a plea for help.
‘Seeing the relatively soft organic feed probably made you hungry.’
As if to prove it, the feed diminished rapidly.
She could immediately feel the bones under PT’s thin skin.
“Do you feel better?”
“Neigh!”
PT, whose face was all smeared with feed, snorted loudly as if thanking her.
While continuing to massage PT’s meridian points, Atia thought about how much time had passed.
‘Maybe 15 minutes? More than half must have passed.’
Atia estimated the time roughly and looked at the remaining course.
It seemed difficult to reach within the time limit.
Moreover, this was just the first obstacle.
‘There are probably many more ahead.’
In her contemplation, Atia sensed that entering the training field was nearly impossible.
Coming here and seeing it made her suspect Casus of deliberately planning a trap.
‘It seems like it’s meticulously designed to prevent me from entering the training field.’
If she couldn’t exercise in the training field, she would find another way.
It wasn’t necessary to be a training ground, there would be plenty of open spaces in the duke’s territory.
‘That’s something to think about later.’
Atia, at the moment, thought it was first and foremost to save the only horse’s life.
“Wow, you eat well, eat well. What would have happened if I hadn’t passed by here, you?”
Seeing Pitty eat well was satisfying in its own way.
“Slow down. Eat slowly.”
It was then.
The moment Pitty, who had finished the organic food feast, sharply raised its head with a grave expression.
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.]
