A jawline that couldn’t be ignored.
A nose that naturally drew admiration.
Arrogant eyes that knew all too well how handsome he was.
Today, Nikolai was once again flaunting his presence as the world’s most handsome man.
“Your Majesty, what brings you here?”
“I just dropped by on my way.”
“That can’t be true.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Your Majesty’s main living areas are the 1st floor Alhyun Hall, 2nd floor office, and practice arena. None of these overlap with this place.”
“You’ve done your research.”
He had spent money as well.
He had not spared his enchanting charm either.
“You must have known that I don’t have time to mingle with women?”
Thorns were evident in Nikolai’s tone, as though being treated as a playboy was offensive.
“Honestly, I was surprised. I thought you spent most of your day in the harem.”
“Didn’t you say it yourself? That I don’t seem like the debauched Casanova of the rumors.”
“Sometimes when I see Your Majesty’s actions, I want to believe those rumors again.”
“You’re still holding on to that day’s incident?”
The day he touched my lips with his fingers and tried to kiss me.
I was utterly taken aback by the sudden advance.
I couldn’t control my trembling either.
I acted defensively, not wanting to show that I was startled.
I regretted it ever since.
‘When it came to kissing, why did I act like the world’s most prudish lady? Nikolai must have been dumbfounded.’
Even after being possessed by Elizabeth, the essence of my modest girl remained unchanged.
I was overly prim about gender matters and frequently on guard.
That was me.
It wasn’t a problem when I lived as Kim Yena in Korea.
On the contrary, they liked that part of me.
The problem was that it was a big obstacle in seducing a tyrant.
‘If I were the original Elizabeth, I would have been bolder and more proactive. That side would have been much more advantageous. Why can’t I utilize being a femme fatale?’
I might have seized the position of education supervisor, but my seduction game was stagnating.
Claudia would be back soon.
Perhaps sooner than in the original story.
It was a sign that I needed to shed the past life of a modest girl and be reborn as a true femme fatale.
Shall I practice a little first?
“Keeping that day in your heart seems to be Your Majesty’s doing, not mine?”
I sweetly whispered, folding my eyes.
It took several deep breaths and mind control, but my body remembered Elizabeth’s grace.
“You can never win that way, can you?”
“It was just advice. Ignore it if it bothers you.”
“I can do that. I plan to conquer you in a way different from before.”
Nikolai leaned his arm against the bookshelf and tilted his head toward me.
A blue spark flickered in his green eyes.
It was the gaze of a man, not an emperor.
No, perhaps the gaze of a beast preying on its meal.
Feeling the air thin, I licked my red lips.
“Conquer, huh? I feel like an impregnable fortress.”
“Conquering you is more difficult than conquering an enemy’s fortress.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Could be a tantrum.”
From conquering to collapsing.
Does this man know how dangerous his words are?
Each word, each phrase strikes perilously close to a vital spot.
“You seem honest, but you are full of secrets. You don’t allow anyone to approach or touch you.”
“……”
“Is there another woman who troubles the emperor as you do?”
Nikolai reached out.
The shadow of his five fingers cast upon my face.
Though close enough to hear my heartbeat, no part of our bodies touched.
Yet every hair on my body stood on end.
A bubbling tension welled up from the depths of my stomach.
I bit the soft flesh inside my mouth.
I couldn’t let him take control like this.
“Don’t cry. I’m also very picky.”
He wrapped his right hand around his jawline, with a secret smile.
For a moment, Nikolai’s pupils widened then narrowed.
It felt like something tightly pulled inside him had snapped.
‘Didn’t think I’d touch first? It’s much better to commit than to endure.’
But something unexpected happened.
“Elizabeth.”
A voice, low and cracked, almost a moan.
Slowly curling lips.
Neatly lined, unusually sharp fangs were revealed.
“You are indeed amusing.”
An unfamiliar tone jumped out.
Nikolai had never once called me ‘you.’
Never had he shown such restless greed.
I sensed danger instinctively.
An overwhelming, endless conviction seized me.
‘This is not Nikolai……!’
Something rougher, more impulsive, more savage.
A bright red warning light flashed loudly in my head.
It felt like facing a starving beast in a deadend alley.
‘I need to run away right now!’
But my frozen legs did not move at all.
I couldn’t even breathe properly.
Relying on survival instincts, I barely squeezed out my voice.
“Yo, Your Majesty?”
“……!”
“Is this the Your Majesty I know?”
Nikolai suddenly jerked his shoulder, as if electrocuted.
He halfbent his knees and leaned back on the bookshelf.
His breathing was becoming quicker and it gnawed at my eardrums.
“Hah. Hah…….”
Nikolai looked extremely agonized.
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
