Prodia spoke in a calm voice from behind him.
“Wake up when I ask you nicely.”
“You never asked nicely.”
“Close your eyes again[Dash] breathe in and out quietly[Dash].”
Irtis’s insides began to boil.
As if she already knew his feelings, Prodia continued.
“Lay down all the wrong thoughts in your mind.”
“…….,”
He was hit with realization. What am I doing here now?
He wanted to turn everything upside down and return to Matop.
But he knew he couldn’t.
If he goes to the substitute war like this, he will be caught in the oath ceremony.
That he intends to participate in the tournament with a hidden blade.
Because you cannot lie at that ceremony.
Those priests always say, ‘The Lord knows everything.’
But Irtis knew that reality was different.
That is, the relic.
In the substitute war, there is a separate relic that discerns the truth.
So at least during the ceremony, there must be no deception in his heart.
But this damn meditation or whatever is really too hard.
No, it’s sleepy.
He had never succumbed to any sleep magic. To be so sleepy now, really…….
“Kuuuuuul[Dash].”
Thwack!
“Augh!”
The cane struck his nape again.
“Again, set your mind straight[Dash].”
Indeed, the fuzzy feeling he had felt towards Prodia earlier was not excitement but undoubtedly anger.
‘She’s like a devilish teacher.’
Irtis suppressed his bubbling heart and closed his eyes again.
A few days of training had passed like that.
(This is a time divider.)
“Did you sleep well?”
Prodia greeted Irtis, who came down to the Count’s dining room for breakfast.
“……Yeah. You too?”
Irtis’s response was unusually demure.
Moreover, his eyes were a little different from before.
A feeling as if he had let go of everything and resigned.
Prodia caught this with eagle eyes.
‘Good, the training has taken effect.’
It was all thanks to the special training Irtis had been receiving.
In the past few days, Prodia had been ordering him to do things he couldn’t understand at all.
Socalled ‘mind training.’
Making him write the character for ‘patience’ over and over, or suddenly telling him to make tea.
She also had him do strange exercises that folded his body, and told him to walk barefoot on the ground when walking.
Irtis complained.
“Will this really make me patient? Your being a claw teacher, it’s all a scam, right?”
“You still have an angry heart left. I will run another set of mental training.”
The training continued even during mealtime.
Prodia emphasized to him.
“Say ‘thank you’ every time you chew a grain.”
“Do you eat like that normally?”
“…”
“No? You’ll get a scar like that?”
“Ha…….”
Moreover, before going to bed, Irtis wrote a diary summarizing the day.
‘I’m a child….’
I had to even be examined by Prodia, which hurt my pride.
Then Prodia gave a strange stamp of two children laughing.
“Well done, Irtis.”
“Why does it feel bad to be praised?”
“I’ll add one more set.”
I’m going crazy.
What does this have to do with controlling the will to live!
But strangely enough, after rolling around for a few days, my mind felt at ease.
Inside, I was saying this.
‘What to do by taking revenge, what to do by killing….’
A few days of special training turned Matap’s mad dog into a gentle puppy.
Prodia looked at Irtis and nodded with satisfaction.
‘Hmm, good. We have to go to the proxy war right today. It won’t last a few days anyway.’
People don’t change easily.
It was a very realistic judgment.
I must get rid of it before the effect wears off. Just somehow get through the oath ceremony.
‘Next is, whatever, whether he wreaks havoc at the tournament or not. All I have to do is win.’
She grinned as she said this.
“Irtis, how about going to the proxy war right today?”
“Today…?”
Irtis’s expression hardened for a moment.
At that reaction, Prodia asked.
“Is there any problem? I think it would be good to hold the ceremony when the training effect is best.”
Then Irtis quickly spoke with an indifferent expression.
“No, let’s go.”
“……Yes. Then we’ll leave as soon as you’re ready.”
But Prodia could not shake off the feeling that something was wrong.
Because Irtis’s reaction looked uncomfortable somehow.
Then suddenly, something flashed across her mind.
‘Wait. Irtis is a wizard, right? Magic power and sacred power….’
Don’t they contradict each other?
Prodia summoned Irtis.
“Irtis, I have something curious.”
“What?”
“What happens if a person with magical power enters a sacred area?”
At that, Irtis chuckled.
“You get side effects and suffer.”
“You…! Why are you only telling me now!”
She exclaimed in surprise, but Irtis’s reaction was as if it was no big deal.
“It’s just a little fever.”
“Have you been to the sacred area?”
“No. But according to the wizards who have been there, it’s nothing.”
Then it would be even less of a problem for Irtis, the archmage.
But Prodia was still worried about him.
As if reading her mind, Irtis reassured her once more.
“You haven’t forgotten who I am, right? A fever like that can be cured with healing magic.”
“If you think it’s too much, tell me. You can rest a few more days and go.”
“You’re taking a lot of care of me. Isn’t this kind of nice?”
“Of course, I have to worry. You’re my contractor.”
“Then trust your contractor. Let’s leave today.”
Saying that, Irtis grinned confidently.
At his smile, Prodia felt a little reassured.
‘Yes. Irtis is not just any wizard, but the strongest archmage in Matap, so it’ll be okay.’
That’s why there will be no problem, she believed that then.
But that’s not what should have happened.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
