I Pretended To Be Dead And Ran Away (22 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 9
“Really?”
It sounded so absurd that I asked again, as if checking whether he was serious. In response, Tanasis gave a small nod.
His clear silver hair and golden eyes, like beads forged from molten gold, shimmered beautifully.
For some reason, I almost felt deluded into thinking he was someone utterly incapable of telling a lie.
Perhaps, having been suddenly kidnapped here and subjected to harsh treatment, he simply craved human comfort.
“Yeah.”
He pressed his eyes shut tightly, as if urging me.
A flicker of fear ran through me—what if he changed his mind and bit me at any moment?
At the same time, pity welled up inside me, so I slowly stroked his cheek. Tanasis obediently rubbed his face against my hand and his eyes welled up with tears.
Though his face was stained with blood, it was utterly enchanting.
Tanasis was the most exquisitely beautiful person I had ever seen in my life.
“I’d like to wash your face.”
“…I’d appreciate that.”
His initial coldness from the first day was nowhere to be found—perhaps from all the beatings, he’d become remarkably docile.
I withdrew my hand, dipped a washcloth into the bucket I’d brought, wrung it out gently, and began wiping his face.
His bruised eyes, torn temple, split lips, and sorrowful expression—
I felt strangely tense, as though I were gazing at a masterpiece.
“Do I look ridiculous?”
“Ah, n-no.”
For a moment, I nearly blurted out how beautiful he was, but quickly denied it and continued wiping his cheek.
Despite appearances, I absolutely must not feel sympathy for Tanasis.
After all, in the original story, the very first person to be killed was Leniel Bailla—that is, me.
‘Don’t I seem pitiful?’
‘No, Your Highness.’
‘Please take pity on me. Look how much my master hates me.’
‘…Your Highness.’
‘It hurts so much, Leniel.’
Thus, the original Leniel gradually began sympathizing with Tanasis, eventually siding with him and favoring him.
Then, one day—
‘Guh…!’
‘All along, whenever you looked at me like that, I wanted to kill you. Did you know that?’
With those words, he brutally murdered Leniel.
His kindness had always been intended to lower her guard; even his pitiful demeanor served that same purpose.
Since only I, Felix, or Ianathas ever entered this secret room, and it clearly wasn’t Felix, he targeted me—the comparatively vulnerable one—as his opening.
But I was in no position whatsoever to pity anyone.
I myself could die at any moment, in any way.
If my true gender as a woman were discovered, Felix would kill me; if I pitied Tanasis, he would kill me.
How could someone like me possibly afford to feel pity for anyone else?
“It hurts.”
“My apologies.”
I accidentally scraped the torn area near Tanasis’s temple with my fingers. He lowered his gaze with a sorrowful look, as if deeply wronged.
I forced myself to ignore his pitiful expression and moved on to wiping his lips. He gently bit my fingertip.
Ignoring it, I pulled my hand away and finished cleaning his cheeks. Now that his face was smooth again, I proceeded to wipe his neck.
“My torn skin hurts.”
“I’ll treat it after I finish cleaning.”
“Okay.”
He stayed still even as I cleaned his neck. Soon, his blood smeared the white cloth in blotches.
“Aren’t you going to do my ears?”
“Ears?”
“My ears hurt too. Maybe they’re torn as well.”
Upon closer inspection, I noticed a faint trace of blood from his temple seeping slightly into his ear.
“They’re not torn.”
I folded the cloth over and gently wiped around his ear. He sighed softly, as if ticklish.
His breath brushed against my cheek and spread outward, giving me a strange, tingling sensation—as if fine downy hairs were trembling.
He leaned his body toward my hand. The clinking of his chains echoed loudly throughout the room.
“How long must I stay bound like this?”
“That’s beyond my authority, Your Highness.”
“Why did your master send you here?”
“Because he trusts me, I suppose?”
“Then can’t you at least make me a bit more comfortable?”
“No, I can’t.”
After finishing his ears, I quickly stepped back one pace. Tanasis glared at me coldly.
“Then can’t I at least ask you something?”
“I’m afraid I’m not in a position to answer, Your Highness.”
He quickly composed his icy expression and looked at me again with a deeply sorrowful gaze.
“Ah, I suppose there’s nothing to be done. I don’t wish to trouble you.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
With that, I picked up the first-aid kit.
I opened the box, poured a generous amount of antiseptic onto a cotton pad, and pressed it against the torn area on his face.
“Ow!”
“Of course it hurts—it’s antiseptic.”
I pressed down firmly and repeatedly on his torn wound with the antiseptic. Bubbles fizzed vigorously as the wound was disinfected.
Tanasis winced in pain and twisted his body back and forth.
Yet his body was practically fixed to the wall—he couldn’t even touch his own face with his hands or curl up in pain.
“Can’t you be gentler?”
“If I’m gentle, it won’t disinfect properly.”
I dismissed his plea and opened the ointment jar. Scooping some onto my fingers, I applied it to Tanasis’s face.
“They say I’m a monster. So be careful.”
‘They say I’m a monster. So be careful around me, Leniel.’
Suddenly, I recalled Tanasis’s words from the novel.
‘Why would you say such a thing?’
‘My father said so—he called me a monster that breathes fire. Without the control device, you’d probably be in danger too.’
The original Leniel had pitied such a Tanasis.
“Yes, I’ll be careful!”
But I wasn’t her.
Once I’d finished applying the ointment, I quickly pulled away from him.
“I’ll loosen your right arm—would you like to eat?”
“What about feeding me?”
“I’ll extend the chain so you can eat whenever you’d like.”
I immediately headed toward the lever on the right wall.
“Hey!”
“Yes?”
“What’s your name?”
And I gently released the pulley.
With a creaking sound, he was now able to move two steps forward from the wall. I placed the food nearby.
“Just… call me ‘steward.’”
With that, I turned around, carrying the first-aid kit, the bucket, and the washcloth.
“Wait!”
“The medicine there includes an antidote and fever reducer! Please take all of it!”
I quickly left the room.
I feared that if our conversation dragged on, I might soften like the original Leniel.
It seemed best to escape the room as quickly as possible.
****
Once I was completely outside, the next problem arose.
Since I could only see Tanasis at dawn, it meant it was currently dawn.
And at dawn, Felix wandered the third floor like a sleepwalker.
‘That woman stole something important yesterday.’
I didn’t know what he thought was stolen, but encountering Felix again while appearing as a woman would be disastrous.
“Though it seems he still doesn’t remember.”
Thankfully, he didn’t seem to remember me at all.
After all, with the ring on, I was a perfect man.
Ever since entering as a steward, I’d undergone annual physical exams, and physicians had consistently found nothing unusual during regular check-ups.
There was absolutely no way he’d suspect I was actually a woman.
“I guess this is the only way.”
Today, I deliberately left the mansion.
Outside the mansion, there was an emergency ladder leading all the way to the top floor.
I’d climb to the rooftop using that ladder, then descend via the stairs.
Since the on-duty room was on the fifth floor of this seven-story building, I only needed to go down about two floors.
I climbed the emergency ladder.
Clinging to the outer wall of a seven-story building, all I could think was that I must never look down—and my breath came short, making my body feel incredibly heavy.
Moreover, the world at dawn was pitch black.
When I cautiously glanced at the ground, it was so dark I couldn’t see anything—as if the ladder were floating above a black hole.
“Scary.”
I shook my head and kept climbing the ladder.
It felt like climbing a helicopter’s rope ladder, but I forced my pounding heart to calm and kept going until I reached the top.
“Hah…”
My heart was still racing, but once I reached the rooftop, I felt slightly better.
Looking down from the rooftop, it no longer felt as terrifying as before.
I decided to open the rooftop door and head downstairs.
Carefully stepping to avoid making noise, I made my way to the fifth floor, where my personal on-duty room was located.
The fifth floor was utterly silent—understandably so, since I was the only one there at this hour.
Feeling reassured, I entered my on-duty room without worry.
“I need to wash up.”
Shortly afterward, I changed into clean clothes entirely and lay down on the soft bed in the on-duty room.
Just as drowsiness began creeping in—
Knock knock.
Someone was knocking on the door.
If it were Felix, he would have rung the bell. So it must be another servant.
“Yes?”
Thinking that, I opened the door. But—
“Found you, Leniel.”
Outside the door stood Felix, holding a knife in one hand, gazing at me with a dazed smile.
“Master?”
“I’ve been looking for you for a while, Leniel.”
In an instant, he grabbed my hand and pulled off the ring. Then, shoving my shoulder, he walked into my room.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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Chapter Comments (22)
Inline Comments (54)
‘The missing Princess of Nuremberg is a mana purifier—one born only once per cen
Could it be her? Is it possible that she’s living in a state of shock and no one knows her identity?
Reniel trailed off uncertainly, unsure whether this warranted gratitude.
Could it be her? Is it possible that she’s living in a state of shock and no one knows her identit
“Th-thank you…?”
Could it be her? Is it possible that she’s living in a state of shock and no one knows her identit
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Wait, what? For real? How come the Nuremberg Princess is hiding her gender and work at the mansion of the Duke who technically her archenemy? And Renal is Tanasis’ fiancee? Wow, never expected it to be revealed this early.
Very good story and i do prefer it if any person will give it a try worthy of your time
So apparently Renal is regarded as a threat for imperial family for her purifying ability and decided to make her Tanasias’ fiancee for close monitoring and helped him control his artificial ability. But Renal must’ve sensed or found out something that can put her life in danger. Thus she went into the hiding in the enemy’s nest and disguised as a man with the ring’s help. I wonder what kind of finding Reniel got to the point it threatened her life.