Seducing the Tyrant Instead of My Favorite - Chapter 10
“Can’t you come to your senses?”
Nikolai yanked the bed sheet hard.
Elizabeth, who had been lying on the sheet, rolled to the side.
Just before she fell off the bed, Nikolai caught Elizabeth by the nape of her neck.
Like capturing a hamster trying to escape its cage.
“Eek! What are you doing in someone else’s room?”
Elizabeth, now awake, widened her eyes.
Those black eyes sparkled like stars.
A flash of unrefined anger and exasperation close to irritation shone together.
The fragrance surrounding her was even more intense, and soon Nikolai completely forgot the foul odor.
‘This is why I didn’t want to come. But I couldn’t stand it any longer.’
Clear air like a sky that had cleared after a storm.
A comfort and languor felt after a very long time.
All of it blurred Nikolai’s reason.
For the first time since his ascension, his awakened senses craved more stimulation.
The goddess’s wolf was also greedily drooling at the scent it had encountered for the first time in its life.
“This room is also mine. Just as this country is mine.”
Nikolai said coldly.
Elizabeth mocked with an expressionless face.
“How foolish of me to expect common sense from Your Majesty.”
“Are you saying I’m ill-mannered?”
“Is it proper manners to enter a lady’s room without knocking?”
“It would be easier if you think of it as a prison.”
“Are you making the head of a marquis family into a slave?”
This time, even Nikolai couldn’t find an answer.
Elizabeth raised her voice.
“Is this a declaration that you’ll trifle with the younger sister of a subject who has sworn loyalty?”
“I don’t trifle with anyone.”
“Who would believe that? You’re so desperate to bring in a new woman because you’re surrounded by empresses.”
Realizing her words were harsh, Elizabeth looked startled.
Even that was just a ploy to upset Nikolai.
“Oh my! I’m so sorry. I’ve committed lèse-majesté again.”
“When did you tremble and beg for your life? What wind has blown now?”
“I realized that method doesn’t work.”
“Elizabeth. Don’t test my patience.”
Nikolai warned in a low voice.
Elizabeth brushed back her bright red hair seductively and retorted.
“Kill me if you want to.”
“!”
“But you can’t, can you? Because you’ve started an interesting play.”
“Don’t you know? Actors can be replaced at any time.”
Nikolai put his lips close to Elizabeth’s ear.
And whispered into her small pink ear.
“I can find plenty of women to replace you.”
He thought she might flinch a little.
He wanted to see such a reaction.
But Elizabeth remained calm.
As if she had anticipated all of this.
“If that were the case, you should have dealt with me earlier. Instead of confining me in a pretty prison.”
“……”
“Shall I tell you? What Your Majesty is thinking.”
Elizabeth poked Nikolai’s chest with her index finger.
It felt as if his soul had been pierced.
He tried to remain composed, but his heart, which he wanted to be indifferent, began to pound again.
‘Doesn’t she know touching the imperial body without permission means death? Is this woman fearless? Or is she toying with me?’
Before that, there was something else to decide.
‘If I can’t handle her, I must kill her. Should I let her live? Or should I kill her?’
Whether Elizabeth knew that Nikolai was contemplating over her slender white neck or not, she continued speaking.
“Your Majesty’s play has begun. You even held a ceremony with the elders.”
“Is that so?”
“An absurd contract. A forceful empress appointment. Threats against Marquis Nettleton… It means there’s a reason you have to endure all this trouble.”
“What’s that reason?”
“I don’t know.”
Elizabeth shrugged as if it didn’t matter.
“What’s important is that Your Majesty isn’t just a promiscuous Casanova as rumored.”
“!”
Nikolai inwardly swallowed an empty breath.
He couldn’t believe that Elizabeth had seen through a secret that even the nobles hadn’t noticed.
Was his acting poor?
Or was there something special about Elizabeth?
It was painfully joyful that she had recognized the mask he had to wear unwillingly.
He almost pressed her on how she knew. Partly out of admiration.
“You might have enjoyed yourself with the most beautiful women gathered.”
“What?”
“But Your Majesty didn’t neglect state affairs. Hartmann’s national power hasn’t changed much since the time of the previous emperor, who was called a wise ruler.”
“So?”
“How could that be possible if the emperor was busy fooling around with women? The nobles seemed busy filling their own pockets.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Let’s rewrite the contract. Properly this time. In a way that benefits both of us.”
Elizabeth smiled, narrowing her eyes charmingly.
The more he looked at her, the more bewildering and strange she seemed.
‘This woman is the femme fatale who indulged in parties and drowned in alcohol? She’s far more intelligent than most lords or kings! Her insight is excellent and she’s surprisingly bold.’
It was hard to hide his admiration.
Any other noble lady would have prostrated herself at the emperor’s feet, begging with tears.
She might have emphasized her weakness, or tried to flatter by flaunting her wealth.
Before that, she would have accepted the fate decided by the emperor.
Because she would know that was the law and there was no other way.
No, she might have even drooled at the name of empress.
The mistress of an empire ruling the continent.
What woman wouldn’t want to become the heart of Hartmann?
But Elizabeth was different.
Nikolai, without realizing it, began to take interest in things other than her scent.
Things like wisdom that never loses its light unlike beauty, and her fidelity towards the man she had promised to marry.
“It’s unfairly one-sided, but I’m the one who stamped such a contract. I’m not shameless enough to ask for everything to be withdrawn.”
“Your shamelessness has already gone too far.”
“I’ll stay in the imperial palace as Your Majesty wishes.”
“……”
“But I won’t be an empress. Even less so the empress consort. Of course, I don’t want to be a maid either.”
“Do you like Douglas that much?”
“Pardon?”
Elizabeth, who had been looking puzzled, sighed.
“You mean he’s a man you can’t forget even though you broke off the engagement.”
“Think as you like.”
“You’re saying you can’t become an empress because you need to marry him again?”
“I can’t harm Douglas and Susan because of me. Don’t touch those two.”
“Why should I do that?”
“If you accept my conditions, I’ll accept the seduction game. I’ll gladly participate in Your Majesty’s play as well.”
It was an enticing proposal.
If he gained Elizabeth’s cooperation, it would be much easier to root out those colluding with enemy countries.
It also aligned with Nikolai’s intention to use her without giving her any emotions.
But he didn’t feel like it.
Though he didn’t want to admit it, it was because of the pink-haired parasite occupying Elizabeth’s heart.
“The one who seduces first wins. The loser must unconditionally follow the winner’s will.”
“You’re excessively confident.”
“Let’s see who wins, shall we?”
With a charming smile, Elizabeth held out her small hand.
‘When did she call me a tyrant bastard, and now she wants to get along? She’s really playing me.’
She didn’t know that Nikolai had held that hand before.
She would never know in the future either.
As if it were the first time, Nikolai grasped Elizabeth’s hand.
“Prepare yourself. I never play games I lose.”
***
The seduction game had officially begun.
Nikolai offered me the position of ‘Crown Prince’s Education Officer’.
He said it was Careth’s idea.
「It seems you’ve become his ardent fan. What did you do to my subordinate?」
Recalling Nikolai’s words, I stroked my chest.
My steps were light as I followed Careth towards the Crown Prince’s palace.
‘It’s fortunate that my charm worked. Being Nikolai’s closest aide, he’ll be useful. I should manipulate him well from now on.’
There was no need to try particularly hard.
With just one wink, Careth was already in a state of desperately wanting to be manipulated.
“It’s not an easy position, but I thought it was best for Miss Elizabeth. It’s rare for an unmarried woman who is neither a maid nor an empress to stay in the imperial palace.”
“Thank you, Lord Careth.”
“Please just call me Careth. I beg you.”
Careth looked at me with moist eyes.
The Minister of Internal Affairs and the emperor’s right-hand man, the top elite Count Careth, wanted to impress a mere commoner woman.
I swallowed any feelings of guilt.
To win the seduction game, I needed to be even more brazen.
‘If I win, I can make Nikolai a puppet as planned. I must stop Claudia and use the emperor’s power to find the second divine object!’
Even if my charm didn’t work on the opponent, Elizabeth’s beauty, figure, and wealth gave her a fighting chance.
The position of Crown Prince’s Education Officer wasn’t bad either.
Although I detest looking after children, I was looking forward to having free access to the imperial library.
According to Careth’s tip, the imperial library had more theological books than the Ministry of Theology.
There must be clues about Morashinthia’s divine object there.
“Alright, Careth. What kind of person is His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“He’s a lively and energetic person.”
“At 10 years old, that’s to be expected.”
“Sometimes he’s excessively lively and energetic, which can be problematic. But there shouldn’t be any dangerous situations.”
“What does that mean? It sounds ominous somehow.”
“It would be faster for you to meet him directly rather than me explaining.”
Careth seemed to want to change the subject hurriedly.
I felt slightly uneasy.
‘The Crown Prince is a character that barely appeared in the original work. The informants knew very little about him, as the security was so tight. They said he was a 10-year-old blonde boy. What kind of child is he?’
Nikolai had hair that shone like black silk.
Whatever care it received, his hair was in excellent condition.
I even felt the urge to run my hands through it once.
Franz’s birth mother reportedly died 6 years ago, around the time Nikolai ascended to the throne.
Numerous rumors circulated, and quite a few people seemed to have doubted the Crown Prince’s legitimacy.
They all died incurring the emperor’s wrath.
As a result, it seemed that the perception that one would be executed for speaking wrongly about the Crown Prince had been ingrained among the palace servants.
‘Franz’s mother must have been an older blonde woman. She was probably Nikolai’s first love.’
Nikolai was 28 years old this year.
Since Franz was 10 years old, it meant he had a child with his first love at 18.
‘Biologically, it’s not impossible, but isn’t that too early? Is this normal in this world?’
Even if he wasn’t a reckless playboy, Nikolai’s visible private life was far from educational.
What on earth would the child learn from observing him?
Clicking my tongue, I arrived at the Crown Prince’s palace.
What awaited me was not Crown Prince Franz, but naked boys crying.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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