I Had the Enemy's Baby (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 12
When the large prey it had been stalking vanished from its sight, the crocodile’s eyes rolled wildly before settling on Clodel.
She lay collapsed on the ground amidst the wreckage of the flimsy wooden platform they had just been standing on.
In an instant, the crocodile bit her.
“Aaah!”
Even with her boots on, its jaws clamped down on her leg—scarcely more than a handful—and the crocodile turned toward its swamp, dragging its prey along.
Kai An’s vision briefly whitened, then his blood boiled so fiercely he felt his heart might burst.
“No!”
He instantly drew his sword and charged at the crocodile.
“Everyone, provide cover!”
Yet not a single knight moved at his command. They looked utterly dazed, caught among the screaming noblewomen who were fleeing in panic toward the forest where resting tents had been set up.
Crack!
Kai An leapt onto the crocodile’s back, stepped up, and drove his sword precisely between its eyes, just behind the crown of its head.
Blood splattered from the crocodile’s skull.
Crack! Thud! Thud!
Kai An repeatedly pulled out his sword and stabbed it back down.
At last, even the crocodile—whose body had endured Kai An’s weight—went limp and toppled sideways.
“…Hah… Hah…”
Out of habit, Kai An flicked his sword to shake off the blood and gore, then turned toward Clodel.
Clodel was in terrible shape.
The woman, dragged violently over twenty meters in mere seconds, was covered in scrapes all over her body, looking nearly like rags.
Yet the crocodile’s jaws hadn’t fully closed around her, so gritting his teeth, he used both hands to pry open the dead creature’s mouth.
“…”
He squeezed his eyes shut.
Her leg—dragged the entire way while clamped tightly in the crocodile’s jaws—was horribly mangled, parts of bone exposed.
The delicate, light-colored deerskin boots, once sleek and elegant, had utterly failed as protection.
Just as Kai An stood stunned by the gruesome sight—
People who had earlier fled in the opposite direction now swarmed around to gawk.
“How fortunate!”
Someone among them exclaimed.
‘Fortunate? Fortunate?’
Through the shock that froze his mind, their chattering buzzed in Kai An’s ears like a swarm of bees.
“Vermonde got bitten! What incredible luck!”
Fortunate?
“Heaven must have intervened. Thank goodness!”
Fortunate? This?
“Thank goodness my lord wasn’t harmed…”
Wham!
Without even looking at whoever had been yammering beside him, Kai An punched them square in the face.
In the sudden hush—as if cold water had been thrown over them—Kai An’s voice, seething with fury, rang out clearly.
“Bring what I need.”
[This is the timeline separator]The much-anticipated crocodile hunt, held for the first time in three years, had ended in utter chaos.
The crocodile was a treasure.
Though troublesome to catch, its large body yielded plenty of meat, and its skin, once stripped, bore uniquely beautiful patterns and was highly useful.
Crocodile hunting was a major event in Temnes territory—feeding men’s competitive pride and satisfying noblewomen’s vanity and anticipation for future luxury goods.
Yet it ended hollowly: Vermonde’s bride, married less than a month, had been snatched by a crocodile while the lord was delivering his opening remarks.
“Figures. What else would you expect from Vermonde? Ruining the whole hunt like that.”
“At least my lord wasn’t bitten—that’s such a relief!”
“Vermonde getting eaten? I guess even the crocodile figured Vermonde was fair game. Heh heh heh.”
“Now that you mention it, her red hair would make perfect bait—highly visible during the hunt.”
Outside the castle, the incident became lively gossip.
Inside, however, the mood was slightly different.
The lord—who had previously never missed a chance to publicly humiliate his wife in front of servants—was now personally tending to Clodel’s bedside.
In Clodel’s bedroom, Hanna sobbed, rubbing the hand of the bedridden Clodel against her own tear-streaked cheek.
“Oh miss… Ohhh…”
Hanna herself bore bandages and ointment on her cheeks and arms.
When Clodel had been dragged away by the crocodile, Hanna had been the first to leap forward, trying desperately to hold her back.
She’d even bravely kicked the crocodile’s jaws clamped around Clodel’s leg—but it hadn’t been enough.
Kai An fixed the doctor with a stern look.
The doctor, though blameless, felt as if he might die just trying to truthfully report Clodel’s condition to this man radiating palpable menace.
“The wounds across her body, while extensive and severe-looking, are only abrasions. No stabbing or penetrating injuries were found.”
“And her leg?”
Yes. The leg was the issue.
“My assistant and I performed surgery to suture the torn muscle and skin…”
“Just give me the essentials.”
It felt as if the doctor’s own heart was now the one being shredded, not Clodel’s leg. But knowing Kai An had personally rescued her and already seen the leg’s condition, the doctor swallowed hard.
“We’ve done all we can. Now we must be extremely careful to prevent infection. If necrosis sets in and the skin or muscle begins to rot, we’ll need to perform additional surgery to amputate the affected area.”
“Aaah! No! My miss—!”
Hanna’s wailing grew louder at the doctor’s words.
“…She may also have difficulty walking again.”
“I see.”
Kai An replied without the slightest change in expression.
“You may go.”
“Yes… Yes, sir.”
The doctor—who had been summoned from the castle infirmary and spent two sleepless nights treating Clodel—fled with a pale, frightened face.
“Wahhh… Oh, miss… What do we do?”
“Quiet.”
Kai An snapped sharply.
“You should leave as well.”
“N-no! I won’t!”
“I’ll stay here.”
Under Kai An’s glare, Hanna finally hesitated, then left Clodel’s room, sobbing loudly enough to echo down the corridor.
Once the room grew quiet, Kai An could finally take a proper look at Clodel.
Strangely, each time he saw her, she seemed smaller than before.
Last time, he’d thought her face might fit entirely in his palm—but today, she looked even smaller than that.
How long had it been since he’d last seen her sleeping peacefully?
During her ordeal with the crocodile, her delicate skin had been scraped raw; her cheeks and arms were covered in scabs.
But none of that mattered.
Her leg.
The unease he’d felt upon seeing the crocodile’s teeth embedded in that slender, fragile limb—so thin it seemed barely a handful—now weighed heavily on Kai An’s chest as he recalled the doctor’s words: even if healed, she might never walk properly again.
“Why on earth did you save me?”
Hadn’t she hated him?
After everything that had happened since she arrived at Rowen Castle, he’d assumed she resented him deeply.
Yet she had saved him.
She was his savior.
Considering the bitter enmity between House Vermonde and House Temnes—where mutual destruction seemed preferable—had he simply left her to suffer severe injury or even die from infection as the doctor warned, Duke Vermonde would have been overjoyed.
As Temnes’s legal wife, she could have inherited his estate and started anew—so why hadn’t she?
“Could it be that you…”
…liked me?
The woman who had always kept him at arm’s length with an expression bordering on indifference—
Had she, in truth, thrown herself into danger and risked her life because she was drawn to him?
…Like I am to her.
“Aaah…”
His faint, half-formed thought dissipated as Clodel moaned softly and opened her eyes just a sliver.
“Ugh…”
Clodel let out a small whimper.
Yet given the severity of her injuries—enough to warrant screaming and wailing—her muted reaction felt strangely detached, creating a subtle sense of dissonance.
“How are you feeling?”
“It hurts.”
Her weak reply made his chest ache.
“I know.”
“Was I badly injured?”
“A bit.”
“I see.”
Kai An remained unsettled by Clodel’s responses.
‘Is she just not one to exaggerate pain?’
On battlefields, he’d seen countless wounded.
Even full-grown men would cry out in agony, wailing “I’m dying!”
Noblewomen, whose beauty was a core element of their appeal, faced a far different situation than men—who could wear one or two scars like medals of honor.
Yet her reaction was so restrained.
Should he call it courage—or indifference?
Could someone really be so indifferent even toward themselves? She was only human, after all.
But Kai An didn’t want to tell her about her mangled leg right now—it wouldn’t help her recovery—and part of him was even relieved, so he stayed silent.
He summoned the doctor’s assistant waiting outside and had medicine brought in.
Clodel swallowed the entire dose at once—medicine the doctor had warned might be so bitter she’d vomit if given too generously.
Why was she acting so listless? She never held back from saying “It hurts” or “It’s bitter.”
Kai An ignored the persistent, uneasy feeling pricking at him.
“Try to rest a bit more.”
“Yes.”
When she closed her eyes, Kai An sighed.
“Don’t worry too much about your leg.”
Gently, he took the sleeping woman’s small hand in his.
“I’ll find a way to heal it, no matter what.”
[This is the timeline separator]Kai An had changed.
He now treated Clodel with deliberate kindness, as if he’d completely forgotten the days when he’d snapped at her, scolded her, and humiliated her at every turn.
Hanna grumbled as she arranged the flowers Kai An had sent.
“I thought he was trash, but I guess he’s still human after all. Guess he has a conscience.”
Her judgment of “trash” depended entirely on whether someone treated Clodel well or not. Since Kai An’s attitude toward Clodel had visibly softened after the accident, Hanna—who had been full of complaints—now seemed slightly more approving of him.
“How’s this?”
Hanna proudly displayed the vase she’d just filled generously with roses. Clodel nodded.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Flowers aren’t at fault, after all.”
Satisfied with her own work, Hanna smiled warmly.
“Which do you prefer—the ones from today or yesterday’s?”
“Today’s.”
At Clodel’s words, Hanna took down the vase from the bedside table and replaced it with the newly arranged one.
Now Clodel’s room looked like a florist’s shop—Kai An sent fresh flowers every day.
“It’s almost time for lunch.”
Hanna set up a small table and chair beside the bed.
“I was so worried you weren’t eating enough before. It’s a relief you’ve been eating better lately—you’ll recover faster if you keep it up.”
By now, Clodel only had bandages on her leg.
The wounds on her body had long since healed cleanly.
Though deep, her leg injury had luckily avoided the worst feared outcomes.
Hearing it would heal well with only a scar left behind, Hanna finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Knock knock.
“Yes, come in.”
Hanna answered cheerfully.
But contrary to her expectation that it would be maids delivering lunch, the person who entered was Antyone.
Antyone had deliberately chosen ballet-flat-like shoes, tied neatly with ribbons around her slender ankles. Wearing a calf-length dress that exposed her ankles to ensure the shoes were visible, she smiled sweetly at Clodel and said,
“Heard you’ve become a cripple?”
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
Chapter Comments (1)
Inline Comments (102)
“Then tonight—don’t sleep. Wait for me.”
Dude are you fucking serious, just because it doesn’t hurt doesn’t mean you won’t worsen it
“Hey! Don’t you dare move!”
Is she going to get the ring back for clodel. I love hanna
That was utterly unthinkable.
The hero and heroine live in a parallel world, oblivious to what’s happening behind their backs.
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Every time I see the FL, I feel like crying! Also, I laughed so hard when I learned about the emperor’s feelings for the ML; I expected their relationship to be brotherly. It’s funny how he hates him.