It was the first experience of its kind in her twenty-five years of life.
The moment when someone became imprinted on her soul.
Was it like the moment parents first meet their child or when a baby opens its eyes and recognizes its parents?
In this vast garden, all she could see was Grace.
Terran repeatedly looked around, closed and opened his eyes.
‘I can’t deny it anymore.’
He had been uncertain, but now that he realized it, he couldn’t back out.
The soul-stirring impact drained the color from his face.
“Terran, are you feeling unwell?”
Leah, startled by his sudden pallor, asked.
They were having a normal conversation, and then he suddenly turned pale, as if he had seen through her.
“Sit down here.”
Leah quickly helped Terran to a chair. His gaze stopped on her hand that had grabbed his arm.
He tightly clasped her hand.
Unlike Leah, who was surprised, Terran looked at her desperately.
‘Why does it feel like you might fly away?’
Overwhelmed by the emotions he had just realized, he was engulfed in ardent desire.
“Grace, can you always support me like this?”
Leah blinked at his unexpected question, then smiled brightly and replied.
“Of course.”
She had worried unnecessarily. She was just asking for help.
“Kind…”
Finally, Terran showed a satisfied expression. Just then, raindrops started to fall.
“Let’s go inside.”
“Yes.”
Leah tucked the newspaper under her arm. Though her time with Terran was short, it felt good. But she was followed by guilt.
‘I wonder if I’m allowed to live this comfortably.’
Her self-reproach eventually became a reality.
Leah returned to her room after parting with Terran and unfolded the newspaper as usual.
‘How could this be!’
Leah trembled as she read the article.
The Hamilton Trading Company had turned into McDowell Trading Company. Not only had the name and owner changed, but the company’s backbone, the grocery stores, were all being sold.
‘That bastard, Allen McDowell!’
Leah’s limbs trembled.
The grocery stores scattered across Galdencia were precious to her father.
The Hamilton family started from wool trading and grew from a street stall to grocery stores, forming the foundation of the Hamilton Trading Company.
‘Unforgivable!’
It was like cutting off the roots of a tree full of leaves.
Leah clutched her head. Her father always said the same thing when visiting the grocery stores.
“Leah, even if the trading company fails due to poor business or management, the Hamilton grocery stores must be preserved.”
“Why not keep more profitable things?”
“No, the grocery stores are the roots of Hamilton Trading Company. Even if we fall in bad times, strong roots allow us to revive.”
Knowing her father’s attachment to the stores made it more painful. It felt like her heart was being torn apart.
‘What am I doing here? I should go to Galdencia right now and bite off Allen’s legs.’
The more she thought, the more ashamed and suffocated she felt. Her enemy was destroying what her father built, while she was leisurely living abroad.
‘I must stop this.’
Leah felt dizzy.
She should have returned to Galdencia as soon as she regained consciousness to find a way.
Delaying under the pretext of waiting for the right moment for revenge, or finding her father’s necklace, led to this outcome.
“I must shoot Allen McDowell in the heart! It’s not the time to leisurely impersonate Lady Bizard!”
Leah cried, beating her chest with her fist, and covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her sobs.
Suddenly, she sprang up and ran to the window. Opening the door, she was met with a fierce storm.
“Let’s die together, Allen McDowell.”
No matter how much she pondered, there seemed to be no other way. She had heard from Polline that there was a rifle in Terran’s office drawer.
“Killing Allen is the end of it.”
Death was the ultimate revenge. Allen’s ambitions were futile against it.
Suddenly, Polline ran into the room, shouting.
“Miss! What’s wrong?”
Polline hastily closed the window and then ran out to fetch a dry towel.
Yet Leah stood motionless, half out of her senses.
“I should have killed him that day.”
She regretted not shooting Allen, who epitomized hypocrisy at her funeral.
“Why are you getting drenched?”
Polline, appearing at some point, dried the soaked Grace with a towel.
“You’re completely drenched. You’ll catch a cold!”
Leah barely heard Polline’s nagging, lost in her thoughts.
Leah unfolded a newspaper to check the train schedule to Galdencia. The roads were unsuitable for a carriage, and it would take too long, so the train was the only option.
She didn’t bother packing much. Just a handbag with fare to Galdencia and a rifle.
“I’m sorry, Terran.”
At around four in the morning, with everyone asleep, she entered his office and took out the rifle.
Usually, the drawer would be locked, but that day, it was inexplicably open. She had never even touched a gun before.
“Allen, you’re going to hell with me.”
After getting ready, she put the bag with the gun back in the wardrobe.
She needed to say goodbye to the people of the duke’s mansion. She didn’t want to flee cowardly.
“Polline, where is the Duke?”
She asked Polline, who had come with some clothes.
“Secretary Luke is speaking with him, but they should be almos
Hesitating to knock, Leah repeatedly raised and lowered her hand. Just when she decided not to hesitate anymore, the door suddenly opened from inside.
“Miss! Have you come to see the Duke?”
“Yes, Luke.”
“My report is finished, please go in.”
Luke politely opened the door, revealing Terran. Leah’s heart began to race violently.
“Terran.”
“Have you arrived?”
Terran greeted her with a calm smile on his lips.
“I have something to tell you.”
At Leah’s words, Terran rose from his chair and walked towards the sofa. Leah sat opposite him.
However, she trembled uncontrollably, from her legs to her fingers. Even her tongue seemed unable to move properly.
On the other hand, Terran was secretly pleased that Grace had come to see him first.
‘Does the Duke know about the missing rifle?’
Leah’s mind was filled with worries. But judging by his expression, he seemed unaware of the missing rifle.
“Um, well…”
She struggled to start the conversation. What should she say?
“Don’t be afraid to speak.”
Terran encouraged her in a gentle tone, unusually kind for him.
“Terran, I… want to break off the engagement.”
“What?”
There was a moment of silence as both processed the conversation. Leah needed to digest the words she had uttered, and Terran the words he had heard.
“Are you serious?”
Surprisingly, his expression remained unchanged, even calmer than usual.
“Terran, you don’t love me. I remember. When I begged you to marry me, you were tired of my tantrums.”
She recounted what she had seen in a vision before the possession as if it were her own memory.
“I don’t want to bind you in an engagement.”
“Why such a sudden decision?”
Terran’s gaze became piercing, as if trying to read her mind.
“I want to marry a man who loves me and whom I love. That’s not too much for a woman to dream of, right?”
Marriage and love were no longer her dreams. They
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
