“…Let’s try climbing up this. Can you do it, Delphine?”
“No problem.”
After climbing for a while, they saw an iron door at the end of the ladder.
Lin used magic to easily open the door, then leaped inside first.
However, as soon as he stood up straight, he was startled by the scene inside the room.
“…Lin?”
When Delphine called his name with a puzzled expression, he extended his hand towards her with a stiffened face.
“…Delphine. Don’t be too shocked.”
The moment she grabbed his hand and stepped inside the door.
Delphine covered her mouth with both hands to prevent a scream from escaping.
All the people who had been captured were in this room.
Floating inside giant test tubes.
The sight of the test tubes lined up endlessly on both sides of the corridor was truly bizarre beyond compare.
It was noticeable that each one was connected to a massive pipe passing overhead.
Lin whispered in an agitated voice.
“Damn it! What on earth are they doing in Zone 3? What do they think we are!”
“…Let’s go to where those huge pipes are headed.”
Belly murmured softly.
It’s an empty space anyway.
They started running down the corridor at full speed.
Delphine bit her lip hard, trying not to look at the people inside the test tubes on either side.
If she were to examine their faces one by one now, she felt her heart wouldn’t be able to bear it.
After running like that for a while.
The seemingly endless corridor came to an end, and finally, the end of the pipe came into view.
And there, they understood why Nikolai called this place a ‘factory’.
At the end of the corridor, pipes and test tubes were intricately intertwined.
And what was situated at the end was none other than transparent posium.
The massive pipe connected to the test tube containing posium vibrated loudly, making a humming sound.
Dark blue sparks flew, and the transparent posium turned black.
Behind it, transparent posium was piled up like a mountain.
There was also a moving belt transporting the newly charged black crystals somewhere.
This place was literally a ‘factory’.
One that charged posium using humans as fuel.
“…Ugh.”
A painful groan escaped through clenched teeth.
Lin was equally overcome with grief.
Only Belly maintained a calm expression in front of this hellish scene.
“…Someone will come to collect the charged posium. Let’s get out of here first.”
He calmly gestured towards the exit.
It was a signal to go outside now that they had confirmed the nature of the black crystals.
However, Delphine hesitated, unable to immediately comply with the order.
She couldn’t bring herself to leave.
Her gaze fell upon the pale face of a person inside a test tube.
Do we have to leave all these people behind like this?
“…There’s nothing we can do right now.”
Belly firmly led her out.
Delphine was almost dragged out of that horrific space by his hand.
[This is the timeline separator]They first went through the corridor and back down to the underground space.
“Are you alright?”
Lin asked worriedly, looking at the pale Delphine.
Delphine leaned against the wall, feeling like she might collapse from weakness.
It wasn’t just because of the shock of seeing such a horrific sight.
The moment she saw those human test tubes lined up in the corridor.
The last bit of hope she had for Ioan at the bottom of her heart crumbled completely.
What if there was some other twist when we came here?
Was there perhaps some evidence that he wasn’t such an evil person after all?
Even such foolish hopes had now been completely incinerated, leaving only scorching ashes in her heart.
“That slave. He had an unusually fierce and cruel nature…”
“Pryde, that inhuman and brutal man…”
…But it wasn’t so.
It really, really wasn’t.
Feeling her eyes burning hot, Delphine squeezed them shut.
“We need to leave here before we’re discovered.”
Belly murmured softly, looking around with a cautious expression.
“Right. Back the way we came…”
“No.”
It was then, as they were contemplating their escape.
“…Delphine?”
“My lady?”
Delphine stood up, forcing strength into her still trembling legs.
Her emerald eyes, as she raised her head again, were burning with a fiercer heat than ever before.
Though her face was still deathly pale, it was etched with a determination more resolute than ever.
“Delphine? What do you mean, no…?”
“You just saw it, didn’t you? There must be a room somewhere here storing the posium that becomes the raw material for black crystals.”
They had come this far with just that small piece of posium Lin held.
So if they could recapture more posium, it would change the course of this ongoing battle.
At her words, Belly’s eyes, which had been calm and cool all along, immediately changed.
To the eyes of a gambler.
Recognizing this, Lin immediately exclaimed.
“It’s too dangerous!”
“Yes. It’s certainly dangerous.”
Belly muttered softly, his eyes gleaming.
“…But it’s clearly an opportunity we can’t miss.”
“Come to your senses, Belly. If anything happens to you here, our La Rouge is finished.”
Lin shouted roughly, his brow deeply furrowed.
“This isn’t a gambling table!”
“No. I told you. The course of this game has already changed. …From the moment she walked into our headquarters.”
Belly murmured softly, looking at Delphine’s sparkling emerald eyes.
“…So let’s put our faith in our goddess of fortune, shall we?”
[This is the timeline separator]From the office located on the top floor of the factory, the northern wall could be seen in the distance.
Pryde stood quietly in front of the balcony, gazing at that distant wall.
The end of Zone 3.
The massive wall separating this fundamentally twisted empire from the rest of the world.
It had been a long time since he had visited this factory.
Originally, he wouldn’t have paid any attention to such a place that existed solely to fulfill the Emperor’s selfish desires.
The reason he suddenly participated in the human hunt himself was obvious.
In truth, there was only one person in this world who could move him.
Delphine.
Delphine Pembrook.
A few days ago, on the night of the full moon, she had suddenly asked him.
“Ioan. Please tell me the truth…”
He fiddled with the black crystal in his hand, deep in thought.
“You, you definitely liked me too…”
Why did she say such a thing? Suddenly.
Did she know?
The feelings that miserable slave had harbored for her back then?
‘…As expected, she knew but pretended not to.’
A bitter smile crept onto Pryde’s lips.
One thing that bothered him was a single word in her sentence.
The ‘too’.
Surely it was said without much thought.
Just like when she had applied ointment to the slave’s back in her childhood, without deep consideration, completely unaware of what consequences her actions would bring.
Even now, it was only he who was dwelling on her words, his thoughts spiraling, acting unlike himself.
Even though she still treated him as that slave from back then…
He felt ridiculous and pathetic.
“Why the sudden interest in black crystals, Lord Pryde?”
Pryde slowly turned around at the voice that suddenly came from behind.
Duke Purcell was sitting pompously on the office sofa.
He was a newcomer who had recently gained the Emperor’s favor and been invited to join Veritas.
Swirling the wine glass in his hand, he added with a sly grin.
“It’s not like you need such things anyway, right?”
“…”
Pryde sat down at the office desk without any response.
Undeterred by this cold attitude, the Duke continued talking.
“I truly envy you. I’m now afraid of returning to my previous uncivilized life. Haha!”
The man was full of arrogance.
It was a common sight among those who first learned the empire’s secrets and joined Veritas.
The chosen people’s consciousness of being specially selected by the Emperor to share the empire’s secrets.
The arrogance from suddenly acquired power.
Everyone belonging to that ridiculous name Veritas, including the Emperor, was like this.
…Such dirty business.
And that cowardly, timid old Emperor. He wanted to cut them all down in one stroke.
But to protect her perfectly in this empire, this was something he had to endure.
Protecting Delphine.
That was the only purpose of his life.
‘And yet, she asks me to tell her the truth?’
Ridiculous.
Pryde smiled bitterly.
He would prevent her from approaching this dirty truth at all costs, even if he had to stake everything he had.
No matter what it took…
“Lord Pryde!”
Just then, the shout of Walter, the vice-captain of the knights, was heard from outside the office.
For him to forget even to knock when he was always so neat and polite, something must be wrong.
Sensing that an unexpected situation had occurred, Pryde immediately rose from his desk.
“What’s the matter?”
There was no chance of an unexpected accident occurring inside the factory.
Everything in this factory moved automatically, powered by black crystals.
This place perfectly embodied the obsessive nature of past Emperors who couldn’t trust people.
Walter shouted towards him with a pale face.
“It’s, on the lower floor…!”
The Male Lead’s Obsessive (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: She is his lifelong obsession, to the point where he was willing to be a third wheel, scorned by society, just to wedge his way into her relationship with her fiancé.
Synopsis:
Cold-hearted and indifferent female lead + Scheming and subservient CEO male lead
Summary:
Rong Xiu’s biggest regret in life was missing out on Fan Xia.
He secretly loved Fan Xia for 7 years.
Watched her go public with her boyfriend.
Watched her kiss her boyfriend at their wedding.
Until that man blissfully nestled in Fan Xia’s arms, obtaining everything he could only dream of.
The crazy jealousy stripped away his hidden secret love, layer by layer, burning like wildfire.
Fan Xia, how can I have you!
【Reading and Trigger Warning Guide】
1. Female dominant, male submissive, male pregnancy
2. Male lead schemes his way to the top, male competition