The next morning, Diana left her room as usual.
The scenery outside the castle with the spring breeze blowing was beautiful at a glance. The pink rippling garden, the bees and butterflies flying in between.
It was perfect for savoring happy memories. However, the problem was the rumors spreading from the morning.
The black shadows huddled under the warm morning sunlight carried negative energy as if resisting this.
‘What’s going on?’
The shadows stretching long to the end of the corridor had come up from the staircase.
Diana hid behind the wall and eavesdropped on the maids’ stories.
“Is it a young child this time too?”
“I heard she’s about 13 years old?”
“I heard the vice-captain of the Byhar unit caught her breaking into the office. How bold, to enter the Duke’s office?”
“That’s what I’m saying. And her appearance was so unsightly. With frizzy white hair, a skinny, twisted body with not a single decent feature? It was to the level of doubting if she’s really an elf.”
An elf? Diana searched her memories from before the regression.
Father was only after Ayla, the owner of the golden eyes. She couldn’t remember the exploits of the vice-captain of the Byhar unit in detail. You have to be interested to remember…
Diana tried to listen more to the slave story, but soon left the spot.
It was because the maids, caught by the head maid, scattered in an instant, unable to bear the nagging.
Diana passed by the maid coming up the stairs and exchanged greetings with the head maid with a nonchalant expression. As if it was her usual path.
In the annex she arrived at with an uneasy heart, an ordinary daily life was in place as always.
The child was sword fighting with Angela, holding a toy wooden sword.
“Yah!”
“No way.”
Angela dodged the sword with annoying skill. The child waved the sword a few more times, then puffed out his cheeks and whined.
“…Angela is too strong.”
“Oh my~ You have to defeat a strong enemy to be a real hero?”
“How is Angela an enemy! It’s no fun. I don’t want to…”
Ru pouted, put down the sword, and kicked the ground with his heel. Then Angela put the folded blanket over her head and puffed up her body.
“Even like this?”
“Eek!”
It was a moment of a harmonious family that could come out of a fairy tale book.
‘They said thirteen years old.’
It was an age that very much needed an adult’s care.
Diana did not feel the suffering of the mixed-race child as someone else’s business. It was because she was learning the heart of a parent, even if only vaguely, while raising Ru.
‘To be driven to death at that age.’
Thinking about that made her heart ache.
‘Seeing as she broke into the office, she must be a rebel…’
Diana was lost in thought for a long time, stroking her sharp chin.
Before considering the difference in positions, she pondered what her duties were as an adult and as a privileged class.
As expected, there was only one answer.
“Ha…”
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, go and play.”
Perhaps she knew the reason why the goddess Aiona had designated her as a hero. Diana was a person with great meddling compared to the power she had.
[This is the timeline separator]The night was deep. Diana headed to the underground prison, avoiding people’s eyes.
Since Father took a day off, the slave was sent to the cell, not the detention center.
Fortunately, thanks to the reliable support troops named Sebastian, she was able to enter the prison without difficulty.
“Oh, you’re here. Sir Byhar!”
The man who was dozing off jumped up and stood at attention.
“Is the slave doing well?”
“Yes. As you said, I didn’t give her a sip of water and locked her up well in the cell!”
Didn’t give her a sip of water for days? Deep wrinkles formed on the flat forehead.
“…Well done, yes! When is the shift change today…?”
“There are 3 hours left until the shift change.”
“Then give me the key and go now. Don’t tell anyone that I came here.”
The man nodded his head greatly, terrified. He seemed relieved that his ill-tempered superior was passing over his negligence of duty.
“Ye-yes, sir. Do as you please with the torture. The tools are hanging on the wall by type.”
When the rough face froze coldly, the man ran away in a hurry.
Diana hid in a nearby empty room and then ran down the stairs. Sebastian, standing at the entrance of the stone stairs leading to the prison, completed his mission and placed the key at her feet.
“Meow!”
“Well done!”
Diana stroked Sebastian’s head and quickly entered the prison.
The dim underground prison was barely maintaining a dusky light with the torches hung on the walls.
Diana walked further inside, wrinkling her nose bridge at the stuffy smell of blood.
A timid voice seeped into the cells lined up on both sides.
“Excuse me, you’re there, right? I’m not a bad person, so don’t suddenly scream or anything. Understood?”
The last cell located next to the window. The girl who had her knees gathered did not speak, crouched. Diana slowly moved her steps toward the curled up figure like a ball.
Only when she reached in front of the cell, Diana vaguely knew the reason why the girl was being mocked.
The child looked like an old woman due to her innate white hair, but her development seemed to have stopped at most 10 years old.
‘She must have had a hard life even before being caught.’
Diana hesitated for a moment. Is there a need to release a child who can endure a little longer and be liberated anyway? Outside was not particularly safe for the child either.
“…Ecarun.”
“…Yes?”
“Ecarun…”
The child murmured like that while rolling up her sleeves.
Diana saw the red tattoo engraved on her arm and guessed the meaning. ‘She’s telling me to give the password.’ There were red numbers tattooed on the child’s arm.
That was probably the trace of magic Eledore had placed.
‘Was this child also raised as a human weapon like Ayla.’
Eledore, one of the elders, captured young children and trained them harshly.
〈Loyalty is not cultivated overnight. It is acquired through endless real combat experience.〉
He constantly instilled hostility toward humans by driving children to death.
〈Don’t think of anything else. Humans are just enemies to be annihilated, and no mercy should be shown.〉
Ayla also had difficulty getting close to the male protagonist because of this prejudice.
It was also because of the sense of kinship with the same mixed race that she opened her heart to Raoul first.
“Ecarun…”
“Moros.”
Diana answered with a smile. Then the child brought her face close to the cell as if relieved.
“Ecarun Moros…”
“…Oh my gosh.”
When the child grabbed the cell, the loose clothing flowed down, revealing wounds.
The wound torn from the left hand to the elbow was a trace of being cut by a sharp blade.
‘Wielding a sword at such a young child…!’
Diana cursed the vice-captain of the Byhar unit inwardly and hurriedly unlocked the cell.
Creak-.
As the door opened, the child hesitantly put her foot outside the cell.
She looked like a frightened herbivore, stretching her neck like a meerkat and looking around. Diana embraced the child, who came up to about her solar plexus, and carefully stroked her hair.
“It’s okay now.”
“…”
The child’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden hug. Looking closely, she was cute with distinct features, far from unsightly.
Although she looked like a skull because she didn’t have much hair, it was probably because she couldn’t properly take in nutrients.
Diana sat the child against the wall and took out the gauze and medicine she had brought just in case from her brown shoulder bag.
“Give me your arm.”
“…”
“Quickly.”
When Diana carefully grasped the small hand like a treasure, the child touched the clasped hand as if it was amazing.
“It might hurt a bit. I’ll apologize in advance.”
When Diana rolled up the sleeve and squeezed out the pus, the child appealed for pain by applying strength to her hand.
“Does it hurt a lot? I’ll finish it quickly, so just endure it a little.”
When Diana wiped the affected area with gauze and applied medicine, the open part slowly began to heal, though slowly.
Having nothing else to do for her, Diana wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead and soothed the child.
The child, exhaling rough breaths, slowly lifted her eyelids at the gentle touch.
Under the long white eyelashes, colorful eyes were revealed, and it felt like the world was brightening up.
‘Come to think of it, this child has odd eyes.’
Just as Diana was despised because of her black hair, in the elven world, odd eyes were treated as eccentrics.
For some reason, she felt a sense of kinship and her heart ached.
Diana waited for the condition to improve and then left the castle with the child. By then, quite some time had already passed.
[This is the timeline separator]At that time, beyond the northern castle walls where monsters swarmed, a bloody wind blew.
Ayla wiped the blood stains on her face and lightly slashed the air with the opposite hand.
At the same time, a blade storm swirled, and dozens of monsters sucked into it instantly turned into chunks of meat.
“It’s about time for him to come.”
Thud!
Then, a round object rolled out from inside the bushes.
Ayla stopped the sack rolling at her feet with her foot and looked up at the man.
“You’re later than I thought.”
“I thought I came on time.”
“That’s why I said ‘later than I thought’.”
Ayla grinned and picked up the sack. When she undid the string and opened it, the trembling face of a stranger was revealed inside.
“I thought you’d do it easily.”
“…”
“But your cheek… Don’t tell me you got hit?”
Ayla burst into a hearty laugh and approached him.
“Come here. I’ll treat you.”
But Raoul firmly refused.
“If you have the energy for that, go treat the soldiers.”
When he rebuked in a sharp tone, the atmosphere turned cold.
Ayla sighed as if it was starting again, putting her rejected hand on her waist.
“Among the priests, there are some who have exhausted all their divine power. You know I’m not deliberately ignoring the soldiers.”
Raoul was disgusted by Ayla acting like a tragic heroine.
‘Then why do you offer to treat me?’
At that moment, the bushes shook and the two people’s gazes simultaneously turned to the opposite side.
“Who is it?”
“Ah, don’t be surprised. It’s one of us.”
Ayla relaxed and approached the child. The child who suddenly appeared was covered in blood all over her body.
‘Did she kill a monster or something.’
That’s when it happened.
“Move.”
“Wha-what. All of a sudden!”
Raoul, who had been staring beyond the forest with indifferent eyes, ran to the girl in one breath.
He sniffed the scent sticking to her skin like a beast, then scratched his neck and bared his teeth at the girl.
“What’s really wrong with you?”
“Where.”
“Raoul!”
“Hurry!”
The girl pointed into the forest. Raoul disappeared as he was, following the smell of blood without looking back.
The smell of blood sweet enough to make one’s mouth water.
It was Diana’s blood scent.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
