“Seeing the reactions of my colleagues, it seemed like there was some circumstance behind it.”
“That’s…”
“Still, he’s the person you love, right?”
At her warm gaze, a surge of sorrow suddenly welled up within me again.
I wasn’t originally such an emotional person, could this also be the influence of pregnancy?
Or it could be because this place where Esmeralda is feels just like my maiden home, making my heart softer.
As Delphine began to sorrowfully pour out her tears, Esmeralda soothingly murmured in worry.
“You shouldn’t get so agitated when you’re pregnant. The doctor said you must stay absolutely calm…”
However, even with her consolation, the tears did not easily stop.
Just when I thought I could finally feel at ease now that the life on the run was over, the sudden news of war and Lin’s confession came.
Too many things had rushed at her all at once.
I thought I would surely be able to find a solution once I came to Seongguk.
Was I being too complacent?
Is there really no path anywhere for Ioan, myself, and our child to be happy together?
No matter how hard I tried not to lose hope, another wave would surge and engulf me.
Now, even she was gradually growing tired.
“Oh dear… It’s not good for the baby if you keep crying like this…”
As Esmeralda was patting Delphine’s thin back, who couldn’t seem to stop crying, she suddenly exclaimed.
“Ah, that’s right! Delphine, you’ve never been to Jerome, right?”
Jerome?
Where have I heard that word before?
As Delphine lifted her head, wiping away tears, Esmeralda explained with delight.
“It’s the place where our ancestors are buried. A site revered as holy ground by the continentals.”
Ancestors… then.
The first Saint.
The half-human, half-god born from the love between the god who descended to earth and a human.
And finally, three hundred years ago, the one who was killed by the first emperor of the Astrax Empire who made a contract with the devil…
‘Is she referring to that Saint?’
“The general public is forbidden from entering, but we can freely go inside.”
Esmeralda narrowed one eye toward Delphine, who had stopped crying at some point.
“After all, who has the right to stop someone from visiting their great-great-grandmother, right?”
At those words, Delphine let out a small laugh with her wet eyes.
Esmeralda led Delphine outside, saying they should visit Jerome before the sun sets.
Continuously staying in the room crying like that would do nothing to improve her mood.
As if drawn by something, Delphine followed after her and left the room.
Jerome was located about an hour’s carriage ride away from the central temple where the Holy Emperor resided.
“So this is Jerome…”
As Delphine, supported by Esmeralda, got off the carriage, she let out a small gasp of admiration.
It was a huge pyramid situated on a meadow where wildflowers bloomed.
The figure made of white marble flaunted its mystical appearance under the bright sunlight.
The holy knights guarding the surroundings, upon noticing Esmeralda, deeply bowed their waists.
“Three hundred years ago, this structure was built above the Saint’s tomb.”
Esmeralda naturally guided her inside as she explained.
“It’s said it was erected out of concern that the irreverent servant who killed the Saint may return and desecrate her remains.”
No.
That coward fled to the peninsula and established his own kingdom protected by two layers of fortifications.
Perhaps out of fear that people would chase after him and punish him for his sins.
Delphine gave a bitter smile as she thought of the distant ancestor of the emperor she once served as liege.
“We can go inside too. Shall we take a look?”
The holy knight guarding the pyramid entrance naturally stepped aside.
The passageway leading from the entrance to the interior was narrow enough for barely one person to pass through.
Following behind Esmeralda who took the lead, they passed the dim passageway and soon a small chamber was revealed.
In the center of the snugly sized chamber lay a golden coffin, surrounded by all sorts of splendid treasures piled up.
“This place is…”
Delphine surveyed the chamber with an overwhelmed heart.
The murals painted on the four walls told the legend of the Saint.
Delphine fixedly gazed at the painting of a god descending on a cloud and a woman looking up at him with fearful eyes.
“These items are said to be objects the Saint actually used during her lifetime. Amazing, isn’t it?”
Hearing Esmeralda’s explanation, Delphine’s eyes went wide.
“You see, there’s a powerful preservation magic cast in here… Honestly, I’m not quite sure what the Saint wished for.”
Esmeralda murmured with a slightly bitter expression.
Delphine could immediately understand her words.
Her statement meant that the Saint’s remains, which had now become a religion, were being perfectly preserved without decaying.
If their ancestor also possessed the same disposition as them, it seemed she would have simply wanted to rest peacefully after death.
“…What’s this?”
Delphine, who had been looking around the chamber with a lonely face, suddenly muttered in a low voice.
Among the treasures filling up the chamber, there was one item that especially caught her eye.
Carefully lifting it up to examine, Delphine soon realized the reason.
It was an object very similar in shape to the walkie-talkie used in the empire.
With a large piece of possum embedded in it, which she hadn’t seen since coming here.
‘I’ve never seen such an item in the northern continent…’
Who could have brought such a thing and placed it next to the Saint’s tomb?
Just then, as she was inspecting the item with a curious face, the possum lightly brushed against her hand.
At the same time, the transparent possum flickered with a faint iridescent light.
Chijijijik-.
Startled by the sudden sound, Delphine muttered in bewilderment.
“…What is it?”
For an item from three hundred years ago to suddenly operate.
Above all, this is the sound that occurs when a walkie-talkie connects with the other party…?
[This is the timeline separator]The sound of the emperor’s trailing robe echoed through the dark underground.
Pryde was following the old emperor to the underground tomb of the first emperor, where the devil’s sealing method was said to be.
This imperial palace, built with the power of the devil, had many secret spaces that were passed down only to the legitimate eldest son of the imperial family.
Following the narrow passageway further and further down, even below the underground prison, the old emperor finally stopped.
“T-This is the place…”
Pryde slowly entered the underground chamber the man had guided him to.
A crude and narrow room carved out of bedrock.
In the center lay a single wooden coffin.
It was a place so shabby and desolate that it was hard to imagine it as the tomb of a man greedy enough to kill the Saint and make a contract with the devil.
Surveying the underground tomb, Pryde’s lips curled into a chilling sneer.
“…So this was the end of the first one to make a contract with the devil.”
There weren’t even any common burial goods to pay respects to the deceased.
Beside the tomb, there was nothing but a single notebook and a walkie-talkie with a now dull possum embedded in it.
‘Why are such items here…?’
Did this man also have someone he desperately wanted to reach?
Pryde silently picked up the thick notebook and opened it.
It was a diary containing records scribbled by the first emperor before his death.
Thanks to the preservation magic cast on it, the paper was stiff as if brand new.
“…”
Pryde flipped through the pages containing a man’s final records one by one.
The man who established an empire on this peninsula, eradicated all magic, and gained absolute power.
The man who possessed unrivaled might with the devil’s power and enjoyed all sorts of wealth and glory.
Surprisingly, the records he wrote before his death were filled only with regret.
[Only when faced with death did I realize.What I truly wanted was not these piles of gold and jewels, nor the power to make everyone tremble with a single word from me.
It wasn’t the countless beautiful women, nor the mystical power to achieve what I wanted with a flick of a finger.
Just one thing.
There was only one thing I sincerely wanted and yearned for all my life.
…Only her.
My saint, my love, who was always out of reach no matter how far I stretched out my hand.
And it was none other than I who killed her, blinded by greed and an inferiority complex.]
The diary continued on with words of remorse.
After killing the Saint, he fled to the peninsula in fear and regret, even establishing this empire.
But in reality, it was written that he lived a life of constant regret until right before his death.
For being blinded by a momentary desperate wish and making a contract with the devil.
[However, there was no way to reverse the choice anywhere.My soul had already been eternally corrupted, crossing an irreversible river and caught in the devil’s grasp.
The most frightening thing is the fact that the devil will forever reign as the true ruler of this empire I founded with my own hands.
Feeding on human despair in this empire…
But humans can never kill a god.
This is an invariable truth.
Thus, I secretly dispatched people to the northern continent to find out a way to seal the devil.
Three conditions are necessary to seal the devil.
One, the contractor’s body to imprison the devil.
Two, the contractor’s soul to block the devil’s contract.
Three, the noble blood of a saint to suppress the devil’s rampage.
The specific method to seal the devil is as follows.
First, mix the blood of the contractor and the saint on water…]
The diary even contained detailed procedures for the sealing ritual.
As Pryde read through the records, a question suddenly flashed through his mind.
If he found out the sealing method right before his death, why did the first emperor not directly seal the devil in his own body?
Despite living in such deep regret all his life?
‘Could it be…’
With an unhindered motion, Pryde opened the lid of the thick coffin in the center of the underground chamber.
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
