‘Ah, my back hurts.’
The night before, I was extremely tired from not getting proper sleep. Even when I pushed Jade away telling him to stop, he kept tormenting me several times saying it would be the last.
‘…Is Jade washing up?’
Only Blanche was sound asleep beside me, and I could hear the sound of washing from the bathroom.
Like cotton soaked in water, I had no strength and even getting up was a struggle.
‘I should sleep a bit more.’
At that moment, the door opened and Mary hurriedly came in.
“Young lady, young lady. Please wake up.”
“Mary. Let me sleep a little longer…”
“Now is not the time to sleep.”
Mary approached my side, crouched down and whispered.
“Please look at this quickly.”
Then she handed me a newspaper she was holding.
‘I wonder what happened…’
As soon as I opened the newspaper, the phrases written in the very center caught my eye and chased away my sleepiness.
‘Erna… killed the Emperor?’
In the original story, the Emperor certainly died from a chronic illness. Even then, it was 3 years from now.
‘What, what on earth is going on.’
While I was at a loss in confusion, Jade came out of the bathroom wearing a robe.
“Larien. What’s wrong?”
As I approached him casually drying his wet hair, I almost fell over from shock.
“Be careful.”
Jade steadied me and lightly tapped my forehead.
“Jade, something terrible has happened.”
“…Something terrible?”
“The Emperor died, and they say Erna is the culprit.”
Jade glanced at Blanche who was stirring and gestured for me to follow him out.
His attitude was excessively calm.
‘Normally when you hear someone has died, even if it’s not someone you’re connected to and you’re not sad, wouldn’t you be surprised?’
Without any agitation whatsoever, he seemed like someone who knew this would happen.
“What’s going on…? Did you know about this?”
Jade nodded.
“The Emperor died yesterday. The mistress was framed for poisoning him, and made a deal with the Crown Prince. In exchange for helping her escape, he would grant her one wish.”
With that answer, I understood why Jade had been away during the day and why Serendio couldn’t come.
“…Ah, no. What if someone finds out you helped her escape!”
I was anxious. It wasn’t just a noble, but the Emperor. Even if it was a false accusation, Erna was suspected of poisoning the Emperor, and in that situation, to help her escape.
“No one saw.”
“…If no one saw, that’s fortunate.”
“Larien. The Emperor’s death means the Crown Prince will ascend to the throne. The new Emperor will be the Crown Prince now. It wasn’t something I could choose.”
Jade embraced me comfortingly in a rather affectionate voice.
He was right. In any case, the future master of Langransha would be the Crown Prince…
‘Perhaps this assassination is highly likely to be connected to the Crown Prince. He might have helped Erna escape for now to ascend to the throne without issues.’
If so, it wouldn’t be good to be at odds with him from the start.
“By the way, where did Erna go?”
“To a villa at the Crown Prince’s maternal family’s estate.”
Just as I was about to ask if she was alright, Blanche’s cries filled the air.
“Looks like Blanche has woken up.”
Jade and I hurried back into the room.
[This is the timeline separator]Not long after the Emperor’s funeral, the Crown Prince’s coronation ceremony was held.
Erna was cleared of the poisoning charges during this process and entered the palace. No longer a mistress of commoner birth, she was officially appointed as an imperial consort.
Although she couldn’t become Empress, she was clearly a member of the imperial family, and Serendio became an official illegitimate son, not just a bastard child.
The period of confusion settled down and became stable again, and I was preparing to become ‘Marchioness Rowe’.
Jade wanted to hold a somewhat grand ceremony with the purpose of solidifying my position within the family.
Perhaps because it was the year the former Emperor died, everyone tacitly refrained from holding events like weddings, so I wanted to postpone it to the following year.
Largely because I didn’t want to receive people’s attention unnecessarily.
Jade eventually followed my wishes and I quietly moved to the Rowe mansion.
“It is an honor to serve the lady and young miss.”
The butler and servants lined up on both sides, bowing deeply as they greeted.
In fact, I had been practically living at the Rowe mansion already, so receiving greetings felt awkward. Blanche also just peeked out from behind me.
Perhaps seeing my face, the butler sent the servants back to their posts.
“I will guide you to where you will be staying, my lady.”
“Hm? Don’t I already have a place to stay here?”
“That was a guest room, my lady should use the mistress’s room from now on.”
At first I was going to stay in the familiar guest room, but I followed the butler.
‘Well, it would be funny to still use the guest room.’
I felt the need to be a bit more aware that I was now the mistress of Rowe.
Holding Blanche’s hand, I climbed to the third floor and quietly walked down the hallway following the butler.
The only sound in the midst of silence was Blanche’s pitter-patter footsteps.
“Ahem, only members of the Rowe marquis family stay on the third floor, so only a few permitted servants can come up.”
The butler, barely holding back laughter at Blanche’s footsteps, carefully explained about the third floor.
“Keep the existing servants as they are, and include Mary among the permitted personnel.”
“Understood, my lady.”
Mary was still at the Boston earl’s mansion. She was set to manage the Boston earl’s mansion for the time being.
‘With Mary managing it, I’m less worried, but I should drop by occasionally too.’
Meanwhile, I was curious where Jade was, as he hadn’t been seen since I arrived.
“Where’s Jade?”
“The master is attending a state council meeting.”
With the change in Emperor, Jade was included among those attending state council meetings. I felt embarrassed for forgetting momentarily as I wasn’t used to it yet.
“Ah yes, Rowe has a tradition of inviting the collateral branches for a banquet on the day the new mistress arrives.”
“A banquet?”
“Yes. Since you didn’t hold a wedding ceremony, I dare say it would be good for you to attend the banquet. The master will also return from the palace before sunset.”
The butler was concerned about my position, especially since we didn’t hold a wedding ceremony.
‘If it’s an old tradition, it would be better to keep it. Plus Jade will attend too.’
I nodded, expressing my acceptance.
“I will take full responsibility for preparing the banquet perfectly. My lady, please go upstairs and rest from your journey.”
“Thank you, butler. I’ll be counting on you from now on.”
I was grateful to the butler for being considerate and reassuring in many ways. So I just said words of thanks, but the butler suddenly shed tears and shook his head.
“I’m the one who wants to thank you for coming, my lady.”
“…Butler?”
“Thanks to you, the master has become more generous. He was going to live alone for life… I mean, after breaking off his engagement and rejecting marriage proposals, we were so worried, but you came…”
The butler realized he had misspoken midway and closed his mouth, watching my reaction.
He seemed to have worried that Jade would live alone because of his poor personality.
“I didn’t hear anything.”
I smiled gently, having had similar thoughts myself. The butler guided me even more kindly than before.
“We’ve prepared the room across for young miss Blanche.”
While looking around the splendid mistress’s room, the butler also opened the door across the hall.
“We’ve remodeled it so that you can connect directly by just opening this middle door.”
I was relieved that Blanche’s room was adjacent to where I was staying.
The place the butler headed to next was a spacious bedroom.
“This has been the marital bedroom used by generations of Rowe marquises and their wives. It had been closed for a long time since the previous generation. It was newly refurbished by the master’s order this time.”
“…A marital bedroom.”
“Please feel free to ask for anything you need anytime.”
The butler bowed and withdrew with a kind smile on his lips.
It wasn’t strange for a married couple to share a bedroom. Rather, not sharing one could lead to unfavorable rumors.
‘Thinking about continuing to sleep in the same bed with Jade makes me a bit shy.’
After the butler left, Blanche actively looked around the room and then gazed out the window.
“Blanche?”
“Mama, Sha Sha is over there!”
Where Blanche pointed was the stable with the pony Jade had gifted her.
“Mama, let’s go see Sha Sha!”
“Alright, Blanche. Slowly, you might fall.”
I followed after Blanche, trying to restrain her from running.
[This is the timeline separator]Before the banquet began in the evening, I was getting dressed with the help of maids.
“How about taking it all down?”
“No, it’s the first time meeting the collateral branches, so it’s better to look more dignified.”
“Then how about gathering it to one side?”
“Hmm, that sounds good.”
Once we decided what to do, the maids gathered my hair to one side with very quick hand movements.
As the dressing was nearing completion, one maid looked me over and said.
“Even Lady Rochenia’s nose will be put to shame, you’re so beautiful!”
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
