Kal found it very difficult. But the one good thing was that she was no longer crying.
[Kal, I wish your face wasn’t so flushed right now.]After a long time, Evelia looked at Kal with warm eyes and very carefully cupped his cheek in her hand.
[And if you’re in pain, I wish you’d just say so comfortably.] [But I’m really not in pain…]As soon as Kal uttered those words, Evelia pressed down hard on his bruised lips.
[Ouch…]A moan escaped from between Kal’s teeth. Evelia jerked reflexively and looked very sorry, but she also looked at him firmly.
[You just made a sound, didn’t you? That’s because you’re in pain. You’re in pain, so you made a sound.] […] [How can you say you’re not in pain when your face is this red and blue?]Evelia shouted, her eyes slanting downward. She was obviously very angry. Speculation turned into strong certainty. She cruelly withdrew the warm hand that had been cupping his cheek.
Kal hurriedly grabbed her hand and unhesitatingly placed it back on his cheek.
He didn’t want to let go. Just a little more, he wished she would comfort him. He looked at her, his eyes filled with desperation.
Although she seemed about to pull her hand away again in her anger, surprisingly, she only sighed softly.
It was a relief. Still, her anger didn’t seem to have fully dissipated. So, Kal pondered hard, wondering how he could improve her mood.
The answer did not come easily. While he was thinking, he continued to worry that she might change her mind and turn her back on him again.
While a warm wind began to blow toward the two of them, Evelia looked up, unfazed by her fluttering hair, to confirm her intuition.
Cherry blossom branches swayed in the wind, scattering their petals generously. Soft pink petals danced in the air before gently landing on her cheeks.
Without much thought, Kalif instinctively plucked the petal off her cheek. As he was about to discard it carelessly, he thought she might appreciate it if he handed it to her.
After all, Evelia had said she loved cherry blossoms the most.
He extended the petal toward her, but she merely looked at it in silence.
Was this not it? Just when that thought crossed Kalif’s mind, she whispered softly.
[Kal, I am here….] [….] [I wish your face was only filled with this shade of cherry blossom petals.]Evelia’s gaze remained on the petal as she spoke.
It took Kalif quite some time to understand the words Evelia had said that day.
Only years later did he realize that not everyone lived like him, receiving beatings every night.
So, what Evelia had said to me that day was the best kind of concern and comfort she could offer to someone like me, who lived with fresh bruises every day.
“……Will she remember that?”
Pulled out of his reverie, his softly whispered voice sounded pitiful.
Thinking of his imminent meeting with Duke Retan, he knew he had no time to dawdle, yet his steps were reluctant to move. It was only after trying multiple times to push off from his toes that Kalif finally issued an order to the knight who stood behind him.
“I just remembered something else. I’m sorry, but it seems I’ll need you to go ahead and explain the situation to Duke Retan.”
“Yes, Your Highness. What should I tell the Duke?”
“Tell him that my audience with His Majesty is taking longer than expected.”
“Very well.”
His knight, true to his stoic nature, moved without any questions. Only then did Kalif manage to lift his lingering steps. The direction his toes were pointing toward was where the cherry tree stood.
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
