Leo thought that since it was mentioned in the book, it must be a rare ingredient but still attainable.
[This is the time separator]A few days later, at the training ground.
Spears and shields, or training straws and swords.
The training ground was always filled with similar equipment.
But then, strange hybrids appeared out of nowhere. Exercise equipment made of stacks of round discs on a giant iron rod, and so forth.
Creating something from nothing is difficult.
However, making a small change to what was already there isn’t so hard.
Atia, who had created new hybrids using the lesserused equipment in the training ground, curled up the corners of her mouth.
Sweating profusely from the effort of creating the new equipment, Atia asked the knight who was assisting her.
“What’s your 3 max?”
“Pardon?”
“What’s your 3 max lift?”
“Three… max?”
“Yes.”
The knight looked puzzled, not understanding what she meant.
The completed equipment was a bit crude because it was handmade, but it was far more useful than other devices.
“Oh, I guess that concept doesn’t exist here. I got lost in my own world again.”
Atia stepped close to the new equipment she had created and gripped the iron barbell with both hands. Then, she slowly lifted it.
To the eyes of the knights, it didn’t seem particularly heavy, but the rugged equipment was a stark contrast to Atia’s smooth and white hands.
“Huff! Huff!”
The sound that came from the duchess’s mouth was quite odd.
The knights, surprised, opened their mouths wide. There was even a knight who spat out the water he was drinking.
“Hah! Haap! Up! Go! Up! Go!”
Atia exerted all her strength to lift the barbell.
Her face, once pale, turned red like a beet. Her arms and body were shaking.
‘Can’t she lift it?’
Thud!
The barbell, barely lifted to the level of her calves, couldn’t go any higher and fell to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
Atia, soaked in sweat, took a deep breath.
“Huh.”
The surrounding knights gulped.
The frail duchess being at the training ground was surprising enough, let alone creating a strange device and attempting to lift it.
They couldn’t understand why she was doing this.
Was there a hidden meaning behind these actions?
Had the duchess been bewitched by satanic magic?
They had no idea.
All they could do was watch with open mouths.
Atia stared silently at the barbell that had fallen to the ground.
It was humiliating.
Why couldn’t she lift it when it wasn’t even that heavy?
If she were the Gang JeeHa of her past life, she could have lifted this weight with one hand.
No, what’s one hand? She could have lifted it with her toe.
In front of the limitations of the human body, Atia felt a bonechilling sense of humiliation.
The discomfort Gang JeeHa had felt during elementary school days was relived.
‘Is this weight still too much for this body?’
Atia furrowed her brows, retracing the cause of the problem.
Then, after a thorough warmup, she dusted off her hands and feet.
“Hoo! Once more, let’s go!”
The barbell trying to stick to the ground, and Atia trying to lift it away.
The struggle against the barbell, stubbornly resisting from the ground, began.
The stars in the night sky seemed to sparkle in Atia’s eyes, which changed to a fierce glint in an instant.
“Let’s see. Will I die today, or will you? Let’s give it a shot.”
He looked like a beast about to tear into its prey.
His wrist, tightly wound with a strap, rotated harshly.
“Urghhhhhh!”
Casus, who happened to be near the training ground, also heard the strange cry.
It was very different from the usual sounds of the knights.
Thinking something might have happened at the training ground, he quickly entered.
And sure enough.
What Casus saw upon arrival was Atia, her silver hair tightly pulled back.
As always, in her comfortable outfit and hairstyle.
‘That woman again.’
Casus’ head throbbed again.
He kept running into Atia here.
Today, he had come at a different time than yesterday on purpose.
‘No, maybe it’s for the best.’
Casus had been pondering over a land investment.
He thought it wouldn’t hurt to hear Atia’s opinion once more, so he approached her.
Atia was panting heavily, holding a strange weapon and scowling.
There was an unapproachable aura about her.
It was a murderous atmosphere, as if she would kill if he took one more step forward.
Casus stopped advancing and just watched her silently.
“Wooryaah!”
Atia scrunched up her face so much it looked like her features might melt, pouring all her soul’s strength.
The knights watched her in fear, trembling like scared rabbits, wondering if something was going to happen or if the Duchess’s face was going to explode.
Her charisma was so overwhelming, it even made them forget about the arrival of Casus.
“Uaaaaaaaah!”
Atia finally lifted the barbell to the height she wanted.
Then, with a refreshing expression of having surpassed her limits, she put the barbell down on the ground.
Thud!
A faint cloud of dust rose.
The knights stared at Atia, a unique character who appeared at the training ground one day, with dumbfounded faces.
A moment of silence passed.
And when the dust had fully settled,
One by one, they started clapping.
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
“I don’t know what it was, but it was amazing!”
Though the barbell seemed light, Atia’s expression and reaction were like those of a person who had led a war to victory.
The knights all cheered with moved expressions, as if they had watched a fantastic game.
And Casus was ignored by the training ground knights as if he were invisible. No one even knew he was there.
“What is happening now?”
“Um, um, Your Majesty……”
“We are honored to see Your Majesty!”
Casus narrowed his eyes with a chilly look.
“You recognize me now.”
The knights bowed their heads, trying not to meet Casus’s gaze.
Then, Atia, wiping her sweat with a refreshing expression, greeted Casus.
“Oh, you’re here?”
Then she opened her water bottle and took a drink.
Droplets of water slid down Atia’s slender neck.
Casus’s gaze followed the falling droplets.
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
