He had never tasted defeat and believed it would continue so.
The only disruption in his brilliant life was Claudel.
The marriage to his enemy, her death, was poised to be the only blemish in his otherwise illustrious life.
But the seemingly insignificant woman shed her mask of indifference.
Speaking as if the impending event was natural, she clung to him.
She was scared and wanted him to do something about it.
Yet, she never outright asked to be saved.
This was a first for Kyan.
Those whom he confronted with his sword begged for their lives.
It was always his choice to save them or not.
With Claudel, he lost control.
The woman, who had harbored the fear of death alone for months, had resigned to her fate.
As they say, a drowning person will clutch at straws.
Claudel turned the great and mighty Lord of Temnes, Kyan, into a mere straw.
She was scared and lonely, clinging to the hem of her enemy’s robe.
“Change the bedding? Move rooms?”
He had wondered what thoughts filled her small head.
Now he was sure.
There’s something very strange in Claudel’s head, something beyond common sense.
As soon as he sat in his office chair, the butler approached.
“Lord, the doctor requests an audience.”
“Send him in.”
Shortly after, a middle-aged man with streaks of gray hair entered.
“Greetings to the great Lord of Temnes.”
“How did it go with what I asked you to check?”
“Well…”
The doctor’s hesitance and fumbling made it clear.
Kyan had put a hefty bounty on finding a cure for Herztol.
But so far, there had been no significant results.
Herztol was a disease that circulated only in the coldest areas near Valmont Castle in Valmont Domain.
It was speculated that living on frozen land for a long time caused a susceptibility to it.
In a place like Rowen, warm and temperate throughout the year, there had never been a single case of the disease, so it was difficult to learn about a regional disease of the north here.
Kyan, who believed there was nothing money couldn’t solve, had done things his way.
“I’ve already raised the bounty twice, and the few doctors I’ve entrusted with the task have been analyzing and reviewing any tips or medications that come in.”
But they were all either fraudulent attempts for money or shockingly poor prescriptions, so there was still no way to heal Claudel.
“Not found yet, huh? Then we’ll raise the bounty even more.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s a bit dubious how it was obtained, but we’ve managed to get a reliable prescription.”
How can something with a suspicious acquisition be trustworthy? Kyan’s question was soon answered.
“It came in an envelope sealed with the Valmont family’s crest.”
“What?”
“We’ve brought it here, but there are many suspicious elements.”
“I want to see it.”
Soon, the doctor brought in a shabbily dressed old man, who, upon seeing Kyan, immediately fixed his eyes on the floor and trembled nervously.
“Is it true that you have a prescription for Herztol?”
“Yes, my lord. It is true.”
“Show me.”
The old man, with trembling hands, placed an old and worn envelope on Kyan’s desk.
Kyan picked it up and examined it. The sight of the seal – the crest of Valmont, his bitter enemy – instinctively made his eyes narrow.
“Did you steal this?”
“No!”
“Then how did you come by this item?”
“Well, it’s just that…”
The old man moistened his cracked lips.
“I may look unremarkable now, but until a few years ago, I ran a large herbal medicine shop.”
“Hmm.”
“A man often came to sell herbs he gathered from the mountains, and one day, he handed me money and this prescription, asking me to procure herbs for Herztol medicine.”
The man seemed frightened by Kyan’s gaze and trembled more.
“So you brought an unopened prescription. Did you extort it?”
“Oh no, my lord. Absolutely not.”
The old man jumped up.
“Actually, a fire broke out in the village where he lived. I tried to find him but couldn’t, and before I knew it, ten years had passed.”
“It’s not a lie?”
“Yes, yes, that’s right.”
“And you pocketed that money, didn’t you?”
The old man’s wrinkled face reddened as his shabbiness was pointed out.
“I’ve never done anything shameful under heaven. Please believe me. It’s my own son who squandered my property.”
He spoke tremblingly.
“My wife has been suffering in her old age. I thought, if I could get the reward…”
“Steward.”
Kyan gestured, and the steward bowed.
“Pay him double the bounty.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you, my lord.”
The old man bowed repeatedly, deeply grateful.
Then, suddenly.
Thud.
Something fell from the pocket of his ragged clothes – a flat, round, red jade decoration with an intricate pattern.
Kyan’s eyes narrowed upon seeing it.
“A survivor from the village of Flonu?”
The old man was terrified.
“No! Not me! I was just keeping it for the man who gave me this.”
“Leave it here.”
The old man hastily put it next to the envelope and backed away.
“Keep quiet about this. Triple the payment.”
“Th-thank you.”
As soon as the old man left, Kyan tore open the envelope with Valmont’s seal. Inside was the prescription, even written on gold-leaf paper typically used by the Valmont family.
“This seems genuine.”
The doctor nodded.
“Gather the ingredients as quickly as possible.”
“But there’s a problem.”
The doctor looked serious.
“One of the ingredients might be impossible to get.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s a material used exclusively for Herztol medicine, which is no longer in use, so it’s virtually non-existent.”
The steward, glancing at the prescription, understood.
“The heart of a juvenile wild buffalo.”
Wild buffalo were the origin of the saying, “Not even a bone to pick.”
With their massive bodies nearing three meters in length and their herd mentality, these creatures had a terrible fondness for their young.
If a young buffalo was even slightly in danger, they would become enraged, trampling the attacker into an unrecognizable pattern on the muddy ground.
Whether it was the king of the plains, a lion, or a knight clad in armor atop a horse.
They would completely crush anything until not a single bone could be salvaged, using hooves bearing over a ton of weight.
“There’s probably no way to hunt them now.”
“Are you speaking of impossibilities before me?”
Kyan raised his eyebrows sharply.
“Find a way.”
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!!!
