Stolen Crown Princess (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 6
The next day, noon.
Ibelia strolled through the garden for the first time in a very long while.
Not long ago, the garden had been stripped bare by harsh winds, filled only with stark, leafless branches—but now it overflowed with vitality.
She took a slow step forward and drew in a deep breath. The fragrance of new shoots and blooming flowers, filling the entire garden, seeped deep into her lungs.
“The flowers have already bloomed! They’re as beautiful as you, Your Highness!”
Pailin, walking a step behind, chirped cheerfully in a gentle voice. A faint smile rose to Ibelia’s lips.
“Yes, truly lovely.”
A trace of laughter tinged Ibelia’s voice as she spoke, yet inwardly, not even for a moment could she smile.
Ever since entering the imperial palace, she had always wandered through tangled emotions. Life in the palace, where Pailin was her only ally, offered nothing easy—and yet, never before had she felt such turmoil as she did now.
Today made only the fourth day.
In those four days, Ibelia felt as though she had relived the entire year since her state marriage to Liurian. Though she strolled through the garden feigning calm, her heart remained desolate.
“But Your Highness—might you be cold? The sunlight has grown quite warm, but the breeze still feels a bit chilly.”
“Is that so?”
“I worry you might catch a chill. Perhaps we should head back inside now?”
Hesitating briefly at Pailin’s concerned suggestion, Ibelia admitted the wind did feel somewhat cool, just as her companion said.
Yet if she returned now, the lingering image of Liurian from her bedchamber days ago would surely haunt her again.
Stubbornly, Ibelia took another step forward.
“No. I’d like to walk a little longer.”
Her voice, as she shook her head, was exceedingly soft—but her quickened pace betrayed a resolute determination.
Pailin’s brow furrowed slightly with worry. After silently fidgeting with her lips for a moment, she suddenly clapped her hands as if struck by an idea.
“Then I’ll quickly fetch something light for you to wear!”
“No, Pailin! There’s no need for that…”
Startled by the sudden offer, Ibelia spun around and reached out to stop her—but Pailin was already hurrying toward the Crown Princess’s quarters.
Ibelia watched her retreating figure blankly, then slowly lowered her outstretched arm and pressed her lips tightly together.
She felt guilty for burdening Pailin unnecessarily—but no matter how many times she thought it over, she couldn’t bear returning to the bedchamber where Liurian’s phantom still lingered.
After a brief pause, she resumed her stiff gait.
She wanted to get away—anywhere that might offer escape from him. But the only place she could go was within the palace grounds, and even then, the only spot where she could wander in peace was this very garden of the Crown Princess’s residence.
“You seem deeply troubled.”
A low voice slipped softly between her weary, dragging steps.
Ibelia halted and turned around.
There stood Rayton, his face clear and familiar—the man who had guarded her since her days as a young noblewoman, right up to her present role as Crown Princess.
Perhaps because she knew he cared for her as much as Pailin did, she felt the tightly shut door of her heart begin to crumble, just a little.
“Rayton, I’ve never once regretted any choice I’ve made.”
Ibelia whispered softly—a confession she’d never even shared with Pailin. Rayton listened quietly to her voice.
“But for the first time… I wonder if I made the wrong choice. I feel regret…”
“…”
“Was my choice wrong? If so… what should I do from now on…?”
Her voice, trailing off at the end, was unusually tearful today—an uncharacteristic tone for someone always so bright and fresh.
Rayton blinked silently. He couldn’t bring himself to speak, knowing better than anyone why she said such things.
“Every choice Your Highness has made until now has always been wise and right.”
“Has it…?”
Ibelia let out a brief, hollow laugh. She answered, yet even her gratitude felt as formal and distant as his words.
On any other day, she would have thanked him aloud for his kindness—but sadly, she lacked even the strength to offer simple thanks now.
Ibelia resumed her halted steps. With each forward stride, memories from the past four days surfaced one by one.
At the end of that panoramic reel was Liurian’s retreating back, arm-in-arm with Lellia as they walked away.
A sigh rose instinctively, and her head drooped helplessly.
“I never thought this choice could be wrong. Even when something felt off, I believed it wasn’t a mistake. But… but Rayton…”
It seems I really did make the wrong choice.
Ibelia swallowed the rest of her words and clenched her trembling hand tightly.
He had always been indifferent toward her—a husband who looked only at a woman who might as well have been his mistress. Yet calming her heart, already swollen beyond measure, proved far from easy.
All she could do was endure, so she held on with all her might and clung stubbornly.
The first six months after marriage had been unbearably hard, but the next six had been bearable enough—thanks to Liurian’s unwavering indifference.
He never once checked on Ibelia, no matter the circumstance; in every moment, his eyes and priorities belonged solely to Lellia.
Her repeatedly wounded heart accumulated scars day by day. But from a certain point onward, it no longer hurt. What did one more wound matter to a heart already torn to shreds?
She believed that enduring like this would suffice. She knew she’d never win Liurian’s heart, but at least she wouldn’t bring shame upon her father and family, who had cherished her with love.
She believed that preserving the honor of House Caroline was the only way to fulfill the responsibility of her choice—to dare become Crown Princess.
But now, cracks began to form in that once unshakable conviction. The title of Crown Princess weighed too heavily, and the palace itself kept growing more frightening.
“I thought I had no heart left to hurt… yet it aches so much.”
Facing Liurian had become unbearable. He was strangely different from the Liurian she remembered.
[“So you, my consort, must never forget that you are always a noble person.”]No matter how she thought about it, those weren’t words he would ever say. Noble? Impossible.
To Liurian, Ibelia Caroline was nothing more than useless weeds—growing thick and wild anywhere, with no purpose.
His occasional glances sought flaws he could use to oust her from the Crown Princess’s seat at once, and his rare words were always insults meant to drive her away of her own accord.
He was cruel only to her—the one person in the world who was his wife. Thus, under no circumstances should he ever look at her and call her noble.
That was simply the kind of man he was. Then… why had he said that on that day?
“Rayton, I…”
“…”
“What should I do…?”
Ibelia squeezed her eyes shut with a heavy sigh. She tried desperately not to assign meaning to it, but her heart refused to obey.
His eyes from that moment kept flashing in her mind—crimson eyes so clear and honest they held no trace of falsehood. They haunted her constantly, ruthlessly shaking her heart.
Even knowing full well that she alone would end up hurt, Ibelia kept wavering.
“As you always have, Your Highness need only make your choice. Whatever it may be, I will do my utmost to protect you.”
Rayton tightened his grip on his sword as he looked at Ibelia, who couldn’t even lift her head.
His resolve to protect her with all his strength was unmistakable—but it was a sincerity that couldn’t reach her.
He found that bitterly regrettable, yet knew there was nothing else he could do. All he could offer was silent guardianship from behind her—that was all.
Her slowed steps wandered the garden a while longer. They had nearly reached a point where the entrance to the Crown Princess’s quarters was visible in the distance.
Rayton, matching Ibelia’s pace, suddenly turned nimbly to the side, keenly sensing an unexpected presence.
But the moment he recognized who it was, Rayton had no choice but to relax his stance and bow deeply.
It was the Crown Prince.
“I pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Rayton offered a respectful bow. Only upon hearing his voice did Ibelia realize the situation and quickly turn around.
“…Your Highness.”
The title slipped from her trembling lips toward Liurian. Only then did Liurian tear his gaze from Rayton and stride firmly toward her.
“So you were here.”
“…What brings you all the way to the Crown Princess’s quarters?”
Keeping her eyes lowered, Ibelia asked the formal question. She pretended indifference, yet both her voice and fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
His visit bewildered her—and understandably so. He never came to the Crown Princess’s quarters unless absolutely necessary.
“I was on my way to see you. But to find your lady-in-waiting absent and only a guard attending to the Crown Princess… it seems discipline in your quarters has utterly collapsed.”
Unconsciously, Ibelia bit down hard on her lower lip. Among his lengthy words, only “I was on my way to see you” struck her heart like a hammer. Her mind went blank, and her senses dulled as if time itself had frozen.
But unlike Ibelia, Liurian’s gaze—sharper than ever—was fixed not on her, but on someone else.
“Ah, should I exclude your guard since he was merely protecting you?”
At the end of his sharply honed stare stood Rayton.
“The loyalty of a consort’s guard toward their master is truly remarkable. The way you look at me…”
“…”
“To be so insolent…”
He uttered the words with a chilling smile, grinding his discomfort between his teeth.
When yandere male lead believes she loves him — but she never did
“How dare you!”
“How dare you make me love you, only to cast me aside as nothing more than a friend?!?
“I will never accept that.”
“I will never let you return to him.”
“Even if I have to burn myself to ashes.”
“Even if I must shatter my purity, my dignity, my very soul.”
“I will never let you escape me!”
This was the first novel that introduced me to the matriarchal genre. I’ve read it three times already!
At first, the male lead despised the female lead. Later, he misunderstood that she liked him, so he condescendingly and reluctantly reciprocated her feelings.
Then, he suddenly discovered that she was kind to everyone in the same way, and there was already someone she cherished in her heart, and that person was not him.
The male lead couldn’t believe it, he became angry and crazy. He was determined to capture her body and heart by any means necessary.
Synopsis:
Want to see how a green tea bitch male lead falls in love with the female lead?
Want to see how he flirtatiously pursues the female lead?
Want to see how he gets slapped in the face repeatedly?
The male lead is a green tea bitch, a poisonous lotus, jealous, ruthless, unscrupulous, with a venomous heart, and he’s also a delusional maniac.
The female lead is righteous, positive energy-filled, kind, a holy mother.
Let’s see how two people with extreme personalities come together~
_____
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This chapter is the old chapter I think?