Annette thought a walk might ease her suffocation, but reflecting on her feelings only deepened her gloom.
She worried about maintaining the engagement with the royal family, especially after upsetting the Empress Dowager.
“Is she not seriously unwell?”
The image of the Empress Dowager clutching her chest in pain haunted Annette.
She feared being imprisoned for harming her before Prince Hargent’s arrival.
Her worries weren’t unfounded, recalling how Bridgit, after seeing Annette return from her first monster hunt, complained of a headache and got her confined.
Despite knowing this empire was different, memories of the king yelling with Bridgit on his lap made her sigh…
“Ah…”
Did I just sigh?
Startled, Annette looked around and spotted a small figure under a large tree, lounging on a bench.
There had been a presence since she entered the garden, which she assumed was a small animal, but…
“Uh?”
That’s when the child, who was sighing heavily, straightened up, sensing her gaze.
Golden hair typical of royalty, violet eyes resembling dawn, reminiscent of the Empress, and a pretty face combining the best features of both the Emperor and Empress.
“It must be the Crown Prince.”
Annette realized the boy’s identity just as the young Prince Mikhail, with a stern look, approached her.
His eyebrows raised, hands on his hips in an attempt at authority, he demanded.
“Who are you to dare enter this royal garden?”
Annette, slightly taken aback by his tone, felt guilty, worrying about the accusation against her for harming the Empress Dowager.
Simultaneously, she wryly thought it seemed she’d met all the family, except the groom himself.
Meanwhile, as Annette faced Mikhail’s interrogation.
“You’re guilty, guilty!”
The Empress Dowager, feigning collapse, exclaimed dramatically.
“I imagined a fearsome girl, who even as a child, would intimidate boys with her presence, famed for making monsters fall with a single sword swing. But!”
When the pretty, doll-like child walked in, curtsying, the Empress Dowager was struck speechless by the shock.
The child’s round eyes scanning her warily like a cautious cat, her excitement upon seeing sweets and tea like a treasure, was so childishly adorable…
“How can she be so cute! Why didn’t you tell me she was this adorable, Empress!”
The Empress Dowager accused again, her face stern yet expressing her delight at Annette’s cuteness.
Charlotte, knowing well that the Empress Dowager’s fierce expressions were a sign of her fondness, inwardly shook her head, excusing herself.
“I didn’t expect Lady Annette of Heyworth to be so charmingly cute either.”
Charlotte also claimed to be a longtime admirer of Annette, but she only knew of her heroic tales and was unaware of her true character.
Rumors said Annette kept people at bay, presumably due to her prolonged seclusion and Heyworth Kingdom’s neglect, and she was expected to be emotionally immature, having spent a troubled childhood focused only on monster hunts.
Charlotte was prepared for a cold rejection but was deeply moved and surprised to see Annette gradually opening up and accepting kindness.
She realized Annette’s distance was because no one had ever approached her.
“At last, a girl to wear the dresses I made!”
The Empress Dowager, who loved cute and adorable things despite her cold, sharp appearance, was thrilled. She had a lifelong hobby of making quaint children’s clothing, often crafting for her sons and grandson Mikhail. But she regretted seeing her collection of girl’s dresses unused.
She never expected to see an adult turned child, but living with men of varied abilities, including her husband and sons, she wasn’t shocked by Annette’s physical change.
With her older son’s ability and the second son, Hargent, unlikely to leave Annette as she was, the Empress Dowager was not overly concerned.
Thinking of Hargent, she smiled, suspecting he left for monster hunting in advance to avoid immediate wedding duties.
Despite her tone of regret, she planned to share with Karldeen how adorable Annette was from her arrival to her voracious eating, especially her shy cookie offering, which she found endearingly lovely.
“But she’s too thin, isn’t she?”
Recalling Annette’s thin frame, the Empress Dowager expressed dissatisfaction. She decided to host more tea times, aiming to plump Annette up.
Resolute, she got up to adjust the dresses for Annette, planning to send them by the next day.
Meanwhile, Hargent’s knights were busy with a monster hunt in the dark, rainy forest at the border, known as the ‘Monster Swamp’.
Thunder cracked, revealing the red eyes of hidden monsters.
Then, a masked man charged into the wet forest.
Shortly after…
Thud. A monster fell to the ground, its head severed from its body, as the man’s sword, emitting a vivid black energy, sliced through it seamlessly.
While the knights looked on in awe, Morton Fayren, the vice-captain, remarked, “Your Highness, this should keep them quiet for a month or two.”
Despite accomplishing such a feat, Hargent, the Grand Duke, frowned behind his mask. “Only a month or two…”
That’s when a ludicrous voice echoed through the forest, startling the knights. “Who’s this insane person…”
One knight murmured, startled, since some monsters were sensitive to noise, making such a loud approach in the monster swamp tantamount to risking one’s life.
The source of the commotion was soon revealed: Samuel, the Grand Duke’s aide.
“Your Highness!”
Samuel, a typical scholar not adept at riding, approached at a perilous speed. His horse reared up as he gripped the reins, narrowly avoiding a fall.
“Wow, almost died there!”
Barely clinging to the saddle, Samuel dismounted hastily upon spotting the Grand Duke.
“Your Highness!”
“Do you intend to draw the monsters to us, faithful Samuel?” Hargent sardonically commented.
Samuel, realizing the irony, chuckled awkwardly. Hargent asked sharply, “What brings you here risking your life?”
Samuel flinched at the Grand Duke’s icy tone, implying that only dire news would justify such recklessness.
“Don’t look at me like I’m about to be sliced up! I’m not a monster!” Samuel pleaded, recalling the rumors he himself had spread about the Grand Duke, yet still lacking full confidence.
“The main point,” Hargent demanded coldly.
Jolted to focus, Samuel quickly produced a message. “Urgent news from the palace, Your Highness…”
Before he could finish, the letter was already in Hargent’s hands, his blue eyes quivering as he read.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
