I Pretended To Be Dead And Ran Away - Chapter 49
Unlike usual when she tried to be vigilant, alert, and keep her wits about her, she was quite relaxed now.
Before she knew it, she had finished disinfecting and pierced his ear again.
“……”
He naturally handed her the needle again.
She pierced three holes in his ear like that.
“Does it hurt?”
“No.”
“Why doesn’t it hurt?”
“It’s hard to focus on the pain.”
The slight stinging was nothing compared to Reniel before his eyes.
All he could fully feel now was the heated Reniel holding his ear.
Soon he watched as she wiped his ear with disinfectant on cotton and removed the earrings with trembling hands.
Felix enjoyed the clear sensation of coldness and pain piercing his ear.
“Reniel.”
“Yes.”
“How do you feel?”
He asked, looking into her eyes. But the emotion reflected in her eyes was palpable without having to ask.
“My heart is pounding.”
At her words, he smiled slightly and accepted her finishing putting in the earrings and tightening the clutches like an obedient beast.
Reniel found her current state unfamiliar.
Her heart was pounding, but it didn’t seem to be from the usual fear she felt towards Felix.
This drowsy yet heart-racing state was fascinating.
Her body was languid from the alcohol, but thanks to being drunk, she felt like she could see him properly.
She often couldn’t meet his eyes properly out of fear.
She only met his eyes reflexively while smiling to prove she wasn’t lying or when reading the atmosphere.
If he had treated her with an expression like now normally, she might not have feared Felix as much in the early days of becoming his personal maid.
She looked at his ear.
The earrings held the same blood-red color as his crimson eyes.
Yet it was fascinating how even among rubies, the colors were subtly different.
“By the way, Master.”
“Call me Fel.”
She was about to mention the rubies when her heart sank again at his sudden words.
“That’s……”
“You don’t want to?”
“No! I’d love to, Fel.”
She quickly replied, afraid he might withdraw his words.
When else could she call her superior by name, and such an irreverent nickname at that?
Logically, a commoner would never call a noble by a nickname. Moreover, Felix was also her employer.
She felt good, as if calling the CEO of a company intimately.
“You’re smiling.”
“Because I’m happy.”
She said, beaming brightly.
Felix wasn’t sure if she was smiling because she was drunk or happy that he allowed the nickname, but he thought her smile was quite nice to look at.
“You really do resemble a fox.”
Not only did she look like the fox he had encountered before, but her grinning was similar too.
“Doesn’t Ianathas resemble a fox more than me?”
“That one… well.”
“My goodness, Master. Do you have no eye for people at all? Haven’t you seen Ianathas’s vile smile?”
For a moment, Felix wondered if Ianathas had ever smiled properly in front of him.
All he knew were just formal, polite smiles.
“No, Ianathas is loyal. It’s a stretch to compare him to a fox.”
“Oh my.”
Reniel thought Felix was naive in this aspect.
In her opinion, no one smiled as vilely as Ianathas.
Of course, that was because she couldn’t see her own expressions in real-time.
“What were you going to say earlier?”
“Ah.”
She frowned strangely before coming to her senses.
“The earrings in your ears, Master. Both the amethyst and ruby suit you well.”
“Is that so?”
Felix thought it was obvious, but he deliberately asked because he wanted to see her expression more as Reniel spoke with sparkling eyes.
“I thought your eyes were like jewels. Like rubies.”
“I see.”
“But with the actual ruby nearby, it’s different. Your eyes are like blood.”
“……”
“Like coagulated blood.”
Felix was a bit confused whether Reniel was making this comparison because she was drunk, or if she had complaints about him.
However, seeing her expression as she spoke with enthusiasm, it didn’t seem malicious, so he remained silent.
“The one on your earlobe is the same amethyst as mine, right?”
“That’s right.”
“It looks brighter than the ones pierced above.”
Of course it did. The one on the earlobe was originally a magic stone with a location tracking spell.
The amethyst had been hollowed out, the magic stone inserted, and placed in a gold earring setting.
“Your eyes are like violets. Insignificant, yet eye-catching.”
“I am a bit insignificant. So don’t bully me.”
She said with a grin.
“Tell me whenever I’m bullying you. Then I’ll be careful.”
He said, looking into her eyes as if to reassure her.
“Not now. You’ve been so nice today, Master… I feel a bit strange.”
“Are you in pain?”
“My ear doesn’t hurt anymore. But it’s hot……”
She rolled her eyes again, feeling her ear was very hot.
“My heart feels a bit strange too. Maybe it’s the alcohol……”
Felix smiled at her words.
He took her hand and placed it on his chest.
“Ah.”
Felix tore off the remaining buttons of his shirt all at once so she could feel his heartbeat better.
The buttons were ripped off and scattered on the floor.
Reniel was startled by his strength at first, then even more surprised to see her hand entering through the open shirt.
He made her hand touch his chest.
What she felt under her palm was hard yet warm human skin.
When he pressed gently, she seemed to feel something.
“I can’t tell well like this.”
“Is that so?”
“I want to listen to your heartbeat like you did.”
At her words, Felix smiled again and leaned back. Then she put her ear to his chest.
Then she began to hear his heartbeat.
His heart was beating very large and powerfully. She thought it sounded like listening to a running horse’s heartbeat.
“I think I understand why you wanted to listen to my heartbeat.”
“I see.”
“Listening to it makes me… sleepy.”
That wasn’t his intention in having her listen.
He liked that she was unfamiliar and dull in these aspects.
It felt like he had obtained the most valuable toy in the world.
Yet it also felt strangely like that toy had somehow become his master.
“You can sleep first today.”
“Then who will put you to sleep, Master?”
“I’ll fall asleep anyway. With you here.”
“I see… That’s right.”
Reniel felt her eyelids getting heavier, perhaps due to the alcohol.
As she drifted in and out of sleep, she opened her mouth while heavily blinking.
“It’s so strange to spend time like this with you, Master.”
“Even if you’re not used to the nickname, try changing it slowly.”
He was now a bit bothered that she kept calling him Master.
“Fel.”
“Yes, like that.”
“I like being with Fel.”
Perhaps because of her honest words, he unconsciously embraced her.
“How about Fel?”
Soon her gaze turned to him.
Seeing her eyes looking up at him with her ear against his chest, he unconsciously let his true feelings slip out.
“Not bad.”
She thought that was a positive answer and closed her eyes.
“How will you do it if you wear both dream earrings, Master? We won’t be able to meet in dreams.”
“That’s true.”
He planned to eventually persuade her to wear one even if he wore both now.
Earrings that connected dreams were useless if worn alone.
However, wearing both alone did allow one to see what they desired most in dreams.
Felix, who was now embracing the sleeping Reniel, pushed away the first aid kit and needle with his other hand. He thought it might be dangerous if she touched them in her sleep.
He moved to one side of the bed while holding her.
Not long after, Felix too.
He did not resist the drowsiness slowly coming over him as he held Reniel.
He was very curious what dream he would desire and have.
What he didn’t expect was that he would see Reniel, whom he was holding as he fell asleep, again in his dream, and that in the dream he would see her completely as a woman.
****
Thanasis was now running out of patience.
He had waited until 1 AM, when Reniel usually came down, but he grew worried when she didn’t show up.
“This idiot, is she hurt or something?”
At that thought, his heart sank.
Come to think of it, the traps he had seen on his way to this secret room were not insignificant.
He was worried that the slow-witted Reniel might have accidentally stepped on a trap and been seriously injured.
Thanasis craved the scent from her that stabilized his magic.
Perhaps due to his worry for her, the magic surrounding his heart seemed to become unstable again.
‘Then let’s escape together tonight.’
“Damn it.”
He took a deep breath and decided he needed to go up himself to rescue Reniel.
Then he poured magic into all the restraints around him while controlling his power.
Whoosh!
Soon fire began to catch, and he recklessly transferred that power to the surroundings as well. The flames instantly began to spread to easily combustible materials.
The flames that caught on the bed, curtains, and cotton spread into very fierce flames.
“Good.”
He clenched his fist, feeling the magic that had stabilized again in his chest the moment he decided he needed to save Reniel.
Then he burned down the door and moved forward.
Of all times, even Ianathas couldn’t come at dawn now because of Felix’s orders.
“Just wait right there.”
Thanasis began tracking Reniel’s alluring scent with an arrogant smile.
Like a predator starved for three days.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
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