“Clodel!”
Kain knelt down, attempting to lift Clodel.
In that moment, as he saw her lying there, everything seemed to perfectly align in a bizarre way.
Her red hair spread vividly over the white daisy field, encircled by tiny yellow buds.
Her face, pale and ghostly white, with her once radiant, pumpkin-like golden eyes now losing focus and becoming blurry.
Her body, thin and frail.
The bunch of flowers he had handed her fell from her limp hand, scattering white petals stained with blood as red as her hair.
Click, like the last piece of a puzzle fitting in place.
His realization hit him – her fine coughs and trembling body after a feverish night; her refusal to eat properly, withering away like someone starving alone in the castle; the moments she would suddenly stop talking during a conversation, staring distantly as if everything was futile.
As Clodel collapsed, it all came together perfectly.
He embraced her, the woman beautifully gasping for breath like a tragic scene from a painting, feeling as if he was desecrating some exquisite art with his clumsy, earthly hands.
He didn’t know why she had collapsed, but he understood why she had been living like that.
“Steward! Steward!” Kain shouted hoarsely, clutching Clodel as he ran towards the castle.
The Bermont dukedom, ruled by the Duke of Bermont, was located in the northernmost part of the continent.
The Bermont Castle, built in one of the coldest regions not just in the Oberon Kingdom but on the entire continent, held symbolic significance.
Although the freezing cold made life difficult, people who had been born and raised here accepted it as part of life.
Deep underground, the heat from geothermal energy was so intense that one had to strip off layers of clothing.
The ores mined from these hot depths were all precious and expensive.
An enormously wealthy ancestor built the Bermont Castle in this inhospitable, inaccessible location, believing it demonstrated the power of the Bermonts.
Partly, it was also to monopolize the trade routes across the Northern Sea, controlling trade between the Ita and Sol continents, cementing the Bermont’s diplomatic prowess.
In the Bermont Castle, even in the height of summer, the interior could feel slightly chilly.
Upon the Duke’s return after a month-long journey, the castle’s knights quickly lined up to greet him.
“Enough, return to your duties.”
“Yes, Your Grace. Welcome back.”
As the Duke dismounted, a servant quickly draped a thick cloak lined with reindeer fur over his shoulders – a necessity even in the summer chill of the Bermont Castle.
Hearing of her husband’s return, the Duchess of Bermont promptly walked out to meet him.
“You’ve returned.”
“Hm.”
The Duke instructed his lieutenant who had accompanied him on the long journey.
“There are thirty carts. Check if anything was damaged during the journey and send the knights to distribute the food immediately.”
“Yes, I will follow your orders.”
After long suffering due to a famine caused by drought and political strife with Temnes, the sight of such an abundance of grain, brought by the Duke who had resolved the crisis, was highly respected by all.
“How was Clodel doing?”
At his wife’s question, the Duke frowned.
“Things are progressing slowly.”
“Ah.”
The Duchess, lowering her voice, looked pained.
“I feel like I’ve done something terrible to her.”
“Shh, nonsense. If Clodel hadn’t made her decision, our people would have starved to death next year.”
“Still, she probably would have wanted to be buried in Bermont.”
In the crypts of Bermont Castle lay Evan’s coffin and an empty one for Clodel’s mother, whose body was never found after the fire.
“If only we could have found a cure.”
“It’s been three hundred years since anyone died of Herzol.”
There was no known cure for Herzol, a disease so rare that the complex treatment for it had faded into history.
“It was unavoidable.”
The Duke of Bermont, being in a partnership with his wife in ruling the domain, would discuss important matters with her. However, he never mentioned his plan to use Clodel’s illness to leverage King Balquiter’s partial support to attack Temnes.
The Duchess, who pitied Clodel for losing her parents and shared a bond of sympathy, would have been disappointed and enraged had she known the extent of his actions.
Despite rumors that the Duchess of Bermont had received enormous jewels for including Clodel in the family registry, the truth was different. She had registered Clodel as her foster daughter without any conditions.
“If only you hadn’t bound Evan.”
“Enough. Can we stop talking about that? I’m exhausted.”
The Duke was tired of hearing the same complaint every night for a month since he hastily arranged Clodel’s marriage.
“I wish I was the one coughing up blood and dying. It would be easier.”
The Duchess, who usually spoke softly, changed the subject.
“How’s the situation at Lowen Castle?”
“Temnes’ extravagance is sky-high. Gold plating everywhere…”
Male lead first thought she played hard to get, only to realize she
really disliked him
Short intro:
What she can’t stand the most is the streets full of effeminate men, especially that so-called top beauty whom she avoids at all costs.
Shen Yaoxing looks at Jiang Mingyue, who keeps approaching her with coy shyness.
Shen Yaoxing: Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up!
She fears nothing in heaven or earth, except for him getting close to her.
*
At first he thought she was just using the trick of feigning indifference to attract his attention. Later, he learned that she truly despised him.
This dealt a heavy blow to Jiang Mingyue, and he vowed to make her, like everyone else, fall at his feet in worship!
***
Synopsis:
Before transmigrating, Shen Yaoxing only wanted to find a reliable man to spend her life with. Who knew that after transmigrating, she would become a reliable woman herself…
A forced misandrist, highly skilled, and reliable female lead
vs.
An initially aloof and arrogant, later morbid, obsessed male lead
_____
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