I Held the Leash of a Blind Beast (1 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 16
“I’m relying on you, Rona. I’ll never let you go for the rest of my life.”
Illeon believed that giving one’s heart to someone meant creating a weakness.
If sincerity existed—if it truly existed—it became another reason to lose one’s life. Illeon was a commander.
An army whose leader met death would crumble in an instant. Illeon’s life was not his own; it belonged to the Empire and to all his soldiers. Thus, he was confident he would never allow such a weakness to form.
His views on marriage and heirs were straightforward. He thought it sufficient to arrange a marriage beneficial to the ducal house, produce one child with his wife to secure the succession, and guarantee her the position of mistress of the ducal household for life.
Indeed, many noble marriages were arranged precisely this way—for mutual benefit and the revival of their houses. Illeon himself had no intention of pursuing an unusually romantic union. Having been born as the head of a noble house, he naturally understood from a young age that he could not live solely for himself.
Such was the value system held by Illeon, who had spent long years on the battlefield and been raised since childhood as the heir destined to lead his house—yet ever since meeting Rona, he had become more emotional than anyone else. Rona had changed him. He was utterly sincere.
Illeon had never believed that the power of love could summon miracles. But now, he could finally understand why people chased after such illusions. His genuine longing for Rona was so extraordinary and intense that he found himself nodding in agreement, as if anything she said might truly come to pass.
“Rona. Don’t run away.”
Rona was soft-hearted. Though hesitant at first when he said he was thirsty, she eventually gave him water—after all, she reasoned, “The butler did it too.”
Ironically, this was Illeon’s first kiss—never mind romance; he had never even properly dated a woman before. Of course, the butler had never fed him water mouth-to-mouth.
Whenever Illeon was thirsty, the butler would pour water into a small-spouted teapot and gently bring it to his lips so he could sip slowly. Illeon had impulsively done it, certain Rona would never ask the butler, “Did you also feed Lord Illeon water with your mouth?”
He wanted Rona to find it hard to leave his pitiful, wretched self. He wanted her so satisfied with her exceptionally high wages that she’d never consider seeking work elsewhere. That way, he could keep her time—and her heart—for as long as possible.
Illeon believed that such selfishness ought to be permitted by the gods. He had already lost his shining honor and brilliant future. After crawling out of a swamp of despair, he had finally found one small joy in life—if even that single joy was denied him, he would rather have the gods take his life altogether.
To keep Rona by his side, he was willing to act despicably, however shamelessly necessary—so she would pity him more, worry about him more.
“Good night, Rona.”
Illeon closed his eyes peacefully.
[This is the timeline separator]Karina chewed her fingernails. After doing so for a long while, her nails had become ragged and unsightly. Yet she kept gnawing at the already-bare tips.
Knock knock.
The door opened, and Karina’s maid entered.
“What happened? Did you find out?”
The maid nodded, her expression troubled.
“His Highness the Crown Prince said he’s too busy to find time.”
“Did he say nothing else?”
When the maid nodded again, Karina’s face twisted in distress.
“This can’t be.”
Sabiel’s attitude had clearly flipped like the palm of a hand—ever since that day.
The day Karina had boldly given herself to him and hadn’t returned from the imperial palace.
That night, Sabiel hadn’t let her go even for a moment. It had been a dreamily sweet and fantastical night. Seeing Sabiel so passionately infatuated with her made Karina feel almost smug—after all, wasn’t the Crown Prince, the Empire’s finest man, endlessly whispering praises of her into her ear?
The next morning, as Karina stood to return to the count’s mansion, Sabiel’s hand clung to her with palpable regret.
“I have to go, Sabiel.”
After sharing such deep intimacy, his name slipped from her lips with surprising ease.
“Sigh… Must you really?”
“We’re not officially married yet. This would bring shame upon both of us.”
When she suddenly drew a line, Sabiel clung to her anxiously, as if in a panic.
“His Majesty the Emperor must approve our marriage as soon as possible. I feel I won’t be able to sleep without you now.”
On the way back, the Crown Prince filled her carriage with yellow roses. When the Countess of Harrington saw the lavish blooms at the mansion, she gasped in delight.
She learned for the first time that the meaning of yellow roses was “eternal love.”
Karina realized then—she had never known that words hidden in flowers could be so romantic and sweet.
But that was where it ended. Afterward, the Crown Prince never sent a carriage to summon her to the palace. Even when Karina discreetly sent a messenger hinting she might visit, Sabiel claimed to be too busy to see her.
On the fourth day since that night, Karina hadn’t even caught a glimpse of the Crown Prince.
“How can he treat me like this?”
Karina fumed with indignation.
Watching her, the maid felt conflicted.
Crown Prince Sabiel was famously a womanizer. Though he held the title of Crown Prince and bore the name “Oder” as the sole child of the current Emperor, there was hardly anyone in the capital who didn’t know he wasn’t the true Oder.
Every year, noble houses rose up demanding his deposition, ever since Duke Illeon Clevent—son of the Emperor’s sister, Princess Rev Oder Constance—was born bearing the exact traits of the Oder bloodline.
True Oders were born with black hair and red eyes, and their Swordmaster potential would awaken. Rumors abounded that Sabiel, unable to become a Swordmaster, wouldn’t even be able to wield the Imperial Sword—a duty every Oder must fulfill at the Emperor’s coronation.
Early on, Sabiel had grown crooked, and tales spread of his obsession with wine, gambling, and women. But as a commoner, the maid dared not speak such rumors to a noble lady—blasphemy against the royal family was a grave crime. One stroke of the cane, and she’d never walk properly again.
Yet this innocent young lady, newly arrived from the countryside, had fallen instantly into the Crown Prince’s trap. To the maid, Karina seemed too gentle. In contrast, her beauty was lethal—wasn’t it said that beauty one couldn’t protect was poison?
Seeing the young lady suffer heartache after giving her heart completely to the Crown Prince filled the maid with pity. But it was too late now to reveal the rumors—better to pretend complete ignorance than to be blamed later for not speaking up sooner.
“I must go to the palace.”
Watching Karina bite her lip with a sorrowful expression, the maid could only feel deep regret.
[This is the timeline separator]Under the noon sun, the Crystal Palace shimmered like a jewel in its own right.
Set within a geometric garden dominated by blue-green foliage, the Crystal Palace looked like a massive gemstone dropped onto the grass.
Inside the resplendent building, Sabiel exuded a dark and ominous aura.
“Is this all you’ve got?”
“I’m sorry.”
Bowing his head under Sabiel’s sharp glare, the aide continued.
“There are so few servants at the ducal residence that we couldn’t send anyone inside, and since the Duke never goes out, it’s hard to observe him from outside.”
“You useless fool!”
Sabiel snatched the report the aide had presented and threw it at his head.
The paper stated that the ducal butler had hired a maid through a staffing agency in the capital. Her name was “Rona Harapellis,” twenty-seven years old—two years older than Illeon—and she resided in the mansion, attending to him personally. Reading this, Sabiel sneered.
“Attend to him? More like attend to him at night.”
Strangely, even the staffing agency had no identification papers for Rona. In the Empire, even commoners received identification upon reaching adulthood. The inability to produce such documents suggested a dishonorable past—perhaps she was a fugitive convict bearing an unforgivable crime like a death-row prisoner, a war captive, or a wandering gypsy, despised even below commoners.
“Blonde hair and violet eyes.”
Blonde hair and violet eyes—someone immediately came to mind.
Elicia of Hadyunsha, once hailed as the Empire’s greatest beauty.
He’d thought she was dead. But now he’d confirmed she wasn’t.
Yet that was all. Afterward, Elicia neither returned to Hadyunsha nor reappeared. If she were truly alive, such silence would be impossible.
“I’ll take a look myself in place of that blind duke. Who knows? Perhaps a scheming woman is already circling the ducal fortune.”
Though he said this, Sabiel was genuinely curious about Illeon’s woman.
Illeon had graduated from the military academy and left for the battlefield at sixteen. His life—from an all-boys school, strictly off-limits to women, straight to the front lines—had never intersected with any woman. While Sabiel plucked flowers with beautiful ladies at capital soirées, jokes circulated that Illeon was busy severing enemy heads on the battlefield.
“I should’ve seen that woman myself.”
The thought left a persistently bitter aftertaste. He was stunned that Illeon, blind as he was, had so precisely caught his hand. It was just a curtain parted by a mere finger’s width—yet the fact that he hadn’t seen inside haunted him this persistently?
Then a vile idea suddenly struck him.
“So she’s Illeon’s woman. If I make her mine, that bastard’s face will be worth seeing.”
Illeon’s apparent happiness that day had oddly provoked Sabiel. Even though blind, Illeon must’ve been imagining some woman dressed in lace. Just picturing that face made Sabiel want to spit on it or throw ashes over it.
“Rona. I must see her.”
Sabiel ordered his aide.
“Bring her to me. By any means.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Even after the aide left, Sabiel briefly imagined “Rona,” whose face he’d never seen. It was the same fleeting pleasure he’d lost when Illeon’s eyes were taken and he secluded himself in the ducal mansion.
“To take something that belongs to Illeon…”
Why did that thought feel so thrilling, so fantastical? Perhaps he and Illeon had always been bound by such a relationship—ever since Illeon was born bearing the Oder mark that should have rightfully been Sabiel’s. Sabiel had long burned with frustration over his inability to steal anything from Illeon.
He was lost in filthy fantasies about how to toy with “Rona” to make Illeon suffer even more,
when the steward called out.
“Your Highness.”
“Lady Karina requests an audience with Your Highness.”
“Karina?”
“Karina Drephain Harrington—the young lady of House Harrington.”
Who was Karina again? Sabiel searched his hazy memory.
“Ah.”
He recalled a woman with faint silver hair and green eyes—like a faded version of Elicia, whose golden locks had seemed molten and whose eyes held deep amethysts. She was pretty enough, but since Sabiel had never admitted an ugly woman into the Crystal Palace, her beauty hadn’t left much impression. After all, being pretty was merely the basic qualification to enter the Crown Prince’s bedroom.
“And it was her first time, too.”
Women who didn’t know how to enjoy themselves were a headache. That’s why he’d spent only one day with her and never intended to meet again. Yet now she’d come in person—his ominous premonition had been correct.
“Tell her I’m not available.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Sabiel’s thoughts were now entirely consumed by “Rona.” The fact that she shared Elicia’s hair and eye color greatly stirred him.
“Rona… Even her name is rather cute.”
Perhaps he could simultaneously torment Illeon and satisfy his desire for Elicia.
Sabiel licked his lips.
“I’m starting to look forward to it.”
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
Haha, just picturing this is so hilarious. Imagine Duke Illeon fan girling.
The real blind guy is here; calling someone else’s woman his 😂