“I am who?”
“The one who brought me here to this territory, the one supporting me from unseen places, is His Excellency the Grand Duke of the North.”
The curse-like hypnosis that the Red Caterpillar had cast on Cecilia came to mind.
It should have been lifted already, but why?
Medea sported a venomous smile.
Then, from somewhere far away, a loud whistle sounded.
‘The Red Caterpillar!’
My heart plummeted into my stomach.
The night I was tracking the Red Caterpillar, the hypnosis on Cecilia was broken when he whistled twice.
Could this single whistle mean something different… perhaps a signal to re-hypnotize?!
Trembling with tension, I thought, ‘What if Cecilia, under hypnosis again, utters the name of the Grand Duke of the North?’
The Empress and Emperor both looked down at Cecilia.
‘No, please…’
Cecilia, with a vacant expression, whimpered.
“Sob. I don’t know… But I remember the one who hypnotized me. He had red hair and spoke with a southern accent.”
‘!’
Red hair, a southern accent.
She was talking about the Red Caterpillar.
‘The blind old man’s hypnosis triumphed over the Red Caterpillar’s!’
Medea’s face turned pale.
The Empress mused.
“Red hair, a southern accent. So, your backer is from the South?”
“Shut up! Cecilia, how dare you lie like that!”
“Has the Grand Duchess not learned to respect the royal family? Or perhaps it’s respect for the people she lacks.”
The Empress’s voice, calm like a still lake, suddenly turned icy as it fell upon Medea.
Stunned, Medea looked up at the Empress.
Empress Francis Antoinette had been continuously surprised since she entered the hall.
‘Raherdt Grand Duke, Medea Grand Duchess. Why are you behaving like this?’
A clear case where the backer of a fake commoner claiming to be a princess should be investigated. How could such a woman reach this point without any backing?
Yet, here was a Grand Duke of an empire, instead of demanding a proper investigation, urging the Emperor to simply execute the woman.
Not a request, but more like driving a despairing Emperor towards a predetermined answer.
The young Grand Duchess, whom I had only thought of as cute, rebuked the woman who remembered the one who hypnotized her, even cutting off my words.
A cold intuition brushed past my nape.
‘Since when has the Imperial Palace changed like this, since when has the Emperor… fallen so far?’
The stench of swirling lies, origin unknown.
The Empress looked sadly at the Emperor, still standing there dazed. She forcefully held back a surge of tears.
Hiding emotions was something she had practiced enough to master since joining the royal family.
‘Grand Duke of the North, your words might be right.’
The Empress looked down at Medea, who seemed ready to stab Cecilia with a knife.
“Has the Grand Duchess not learned to respect the royal family? Or perhaps it’s respect for the people she lacks.”
Stunned by these words, Medea looked up at the Empress.
‘What? Respect?’
Then, the Emperor weakly defended Medea.
“Empress, the Grand Duchess spoke that way for my sake.”
But the Empress remained unchanged and spoke.
“Your Majesty, no one should lightly intrude on the tragedy of the royal family.”
“…That’s true.”
“Do you, Grand Duchess, have evidence that this woman’s words are lies?”
Medea was speechless at the Empress’s sudden question.
‘Evidence of a lie? Of course not.’
It was just words blurted out in the pretense of caring for the Emperor.
Why is the Empress questioning my words meant to help the Emperor?!
Suddenly appearing, why was the Empress treating her this way? Medea couldn’t fathom it.
Cecilia’s words are the truth. That’s why they want to eliminate her. Why are they obstructing this?
Why is the Empress, who should have just been living quietly in her palace as if she didn’t exist, standing in my way? How dare she block me.
The Empress spoke sternly.
“The Grand Duchess should speak only based on confirmed facts in the future. I’m afraid your careless words might cloud judgment.”
“…I will bear that in mind, Your Highness,” Medea bowed.
‘To humiliate me like this in front of so many nobles.’
A humiliation Medea had never experienced before ignited fury in her heart.
Beneath her bowed head, her eyes blazed with rage, unseen but palpable.
‘Medea, how dare you show contempt towards the Empress?’
I must have unwittingly placed my hand on the hilt of my sword. Arcadia gently pressed my hand.
“I’m holding back, so you should too.”
“?”
“She’s trying to reach my father and now my sister, that wretch. But I’m enduring because I’ll make her, and the Southern Duke, beg for death. So, you wait.”
‘Arcadia.’
…Right, this man. He’s seen all the videos I brought on the viewing stone.
I removed my hand from the hilt, and he slowly withdrew his hand from mine.
The Empress addressed the Emperor.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
