Olivia looked at the Duke for a moment. His rubyred eyes, sparkling with anticipation, gazed at her.
“After all, we are to be married.”
“Right. In a marital relationship, calling each other by name is a very natural thing.”
“It might even look more awkward if we don’t.”
Her small face gradually flushed.
It feels like it might burst if touched. The Duke firmly clasped his hands. He had barely set the mood, and if he acted rashly, the lady might run away like a rabbit.
How cute.
Her innocent green eyes wavered a little. Finally, her red lips began to part.
“Your Highness.”
A raspy voice interrupted, and Olivia’s eyes widened. The slowly opening lips quickly closed.
Suppressing his rising anger, the Duke looked towards the driver’s seat of the carriage.
“What is it?”
The heavy voice seemed to seep out. He had been patient, keeping Olivia’s rabbitlike eyes in mind, but his emotions had inadvertently flowed out.
Haha. The Duke laughed awkwardly. The coachman spoke hesitantly.
“Your Grace, there’s a carriage parked ahead; it seems you need to check it.”
“A carriage?”
The Duke’s resolve hardened as he looked out the window, not willing to let any carriage obstruct him. Olivia, too, looked curious.
It was then that the Duke drew the curtain. Olivia blinked.
What is this?
“The moonlight is too strong.”
“What? All of a sudden?”
“It’s getting late. The night air is cold, so it’s better to draw the curtains.”
It was a random statement. The curiosity of what was outside surpassed the Duke’s strange behavior.
Suddenly, the insistence on being called by name vanished. Olivia deliberately pretended to be curious about the outside.
The Duke, who had been holding the curtain, urged the coachman to move on. It was when the carriage began to pick up speed again.
“Olivia!”
The booming voice calling her name was familiar. Olivia unwittingly reached for the Duke’s hand. The hand obediently came down, and the curtain fluttered, revealing the outside.
“Jade……”
Olivia murmured softly. There, in front of the Duke’s sturdy gate, stood a man with shimmering silver hair.
Undeniably, the carriage in front of the Duke’s house had the Madelleine emblem on it.
Jade’s face was visible in the moonlight. The moment his sharp face met Olivia’s, the Duke drew the curtain again.
“Let’s pretend we didn’t see him. It’s fine just to pass by.”
As if comforting her with his gentle words, Jade’s voice was heard again.
“Come out. Olivia.”
The Duke smiled kindly towards her as if it didn’t matter, but Olivia was bothered by Jade outside.
Why? Why on earth had he come to the Duke’s house this late at night?
So far, she hadn’t even looked for me, so it couldn’t be that she came to pick me up.
Olivia swallowed her cynical smile and looked at the Duke. Though she merely looked at him, the Duke seemed to understand Olivia’s intention. The Duke, who quietly sighed, pouted his lips.
“Do you really want to talk about Lady Madelleine?”
“I plan to drive her out so she can’t come back.”
Half was true, and half had other intentions. Olivia said calmly.
The Duke’s concern was clear. But thanks to Jade, she had long become numb to the sharp words.
“If that’s what you want, Miss.”
The Duke shrugged his shoulders and stopped the carriage. Jumping off the carriage, the Duke stared at Jade with piercing eyes while holding Olivia’s arm.
“You really can’t time it right, ViceCaptain.”
“……Your Highness.”
Despite the frosty words, Jade kept his gaze fixed on Olivia instead of shrinking back.
In an instant, the Duke warmly extended his hand to Olivia, who grabbed it with a blank expression, staring at Jade.
Jade felt something was wrong at that moment.
How could… Olivia look at me like that?
A part of his heart felt bitterly empty. This feeling was similar to the last day of the victory feast when Olivia had passed by me.
“I’m going to erase Madelleine from my life.”
But Jade gritted his teeth. It had to be a lie. I knew better how obsessed Olivia was with Madelleine. So even if I tormented her like that, she would never leave Madelleine.
“I’ll keep my distance. If it’s urgent, just scream.”
The Duke, who had sent a cold gaze towards Jade until the last moment, withdrew.
It’s as if he’s surrounding Olivia like a family. The Duke, who had been glaring at him, suddenly felt confused.
Like a family.
This universal modifier felt strange. A family should be embraced. Then what is Olivia to me?
Jade didn’t think further. Instead, to vent the stuffy feeling clumped like a knot, he burst out in anger.
“What are you doing here?”
“……”
“You’re erasing Madelleine? You think that’s all if you say something ridiculous and disappear? I, I.”
Seeing Olivia brought a strange sense of relief. Because of that, he couldn’t properly remember what he wanted to say.
Esella said she had to see you, so I came here and fainted. Your maidservant is crying with Esella. So come home.
These simple words wouldn’t come out. It was then that Olivia slowly raised her head.
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
