Suddenly, a forgotten sensation overcame him. From the first time he saw her, an inexplicable sense of suffocation. He couldn’t divert his gaze from her. It felt as if his gut was boiling white hot.
Just then, Susan approached them with tea.
The clinking of the teacup against the saucer, the steamy sound of pouring tea—everything was heard clearly. Absorbed in the surrounding silence, Susan forgot she was pouring tea and watched the two.
Due to that distraction, she made a mistake she never had before—the spout of her teapot missed the teacup.
“Oh no!”
As Susan’s spilled tea flowed towards Ines’ Bible, Carson reflexively picked up her book.
“I’m sorry, Miss.”
Susan bowed her head and stepped back, and Ines blankly watched Carson holding her Bible.
And at that moment, a portrait of Carson von Raymond, neatly tucked inside the Bible, fell out freely.
Both Ines and Susan turned pale. Fortunately, the fallen portrait showed its backside, not the front. Susan quickly lunged to pick it up.
But Carson’s long arm was faster.
Picking up the paper to examine it, Carson tilted his head. Seeing this, Ines urgently exclaimed.
“Y-Your Lordship, don’t get the wrong idea.”
“What ‘wrong idea’ did I get?”
Ines bit her lower lip and reached to snatch the portrait from him. But he quickly lifted it above his head.
“Tell me, what ‘wrong idea’ are you talking about?”
Ines wasn’t short, but she couldn’t reach high enough to snatch what was at the tips of his fingers. Nor could she leap up and grab the object from the royal’s hand. The eyes of Carson, whom she had encountered, slightly narrowed, harboring some unreadable emotion.
“Give, give it to me.”
“What?”
“The thing you’re holding in your hand right now.”
“So what is this thing?”
“It’s, it’s a portrait of the lord.”
He glanced at what he was holding in his hand.
“Come to think of it, it does look like that. But where did you get this?”
Ines closed her eyes tightly. What was the point of lying in this situation?
“Susan got it for me.”
“Ah, your maid.”
Carson glanced at Susan once. He grinned, but she seemed uncertain, bowing her head even more.
“Susan got it for you… Does that mean you directly asked her?”
“Yes, that’s right. But many people have portraits of the lord. As you know, the lord is the most handsome man in the empire. Probably half of our family’s maids have one. Susan, Susan has one too. Right, Susan?”
Susan didn’t have one but quickly replied, “Yes, yes.”
Carson was inwardly amazed that Ines could talk so fast, so fluently. He had only thought of her as a woman who left a lasting impression with her deep-set eyes.
But this was not bad either.
“Do you, by any chance, have portraits of other people?”
“No? No, I don’t. But as I mentioned, it’s like a trend within the estate. So other noblewomen also…”
“No, I’m not interested in what other women are doing.”
Carson remained seated. He then carefully slid the portrait back into the Bible. Ines watched his action without even blinking.
“Here it is.”
Fortunately, he handed them back to her.
Ines received the Bible and carefully examined it to make sure it wasn’t wet. She also didn’t forget to check that the portrait inside was safe. It was not the action of a woman who had just been caught off guard.
“Thank you.”
“Thanking me for returning what is yours.”
He shrugged his shoulders and abruptly stood up.
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
