His long, grayishblue hair was scattered haphazardly on the ground, and his forehead was wet with cold sweat.
But the bruised eyes and lips, the completely different aura from before…
With the matching grayishblue hair, blue eyes, and even the location of the injuries…
Everything came together, and Asha’s hands trembled with shock.
‘Could it be, Mr. Jackal is Shepi……?’
Although pieces of her dress were binding his wounds, Asha couldn’t bring herself to touch him again.
Then, sensing her presence, Jackal slightly furrowed his brow.
Even this small reaction startled Asha, freezing her on the spot.
After a few furrows, Jackal slowly opened his eyes.
There was Asha, looking at him with a shocked expression.
His eyes widened as he reached out his hand.
“Asha…….”
A raspy, hoarse voice came out.
He was utterly bewildered.
He had apparently transformed back unknowingly while unconscious.
Asha staggered back.
A momentary sadness flashed across his face.
As he quietly lowered his outstretched hand and bowed his head, Asha spoke with a trembling voice,
“Answer my question first. Since the day we met on the snowy field… were you Shepi, Mr. Jackal?”
Jackal licked his lips and answered honestly,
“……I’m sorry. For deceiving you all this time.”
He couldn’t bear to lift his head.
Asha simply looked at him in silence.
Her face turned red again, her breath quickening.
But Jackal made no more excuses.
His hair, like a horse’s mane, fell limply on either side of his face.
Although he had vowed to confess his true identity to Asha if the retrieval mission succeeded, he never dreamed it would be revealed this way.
He was in despair.
Then, Asha quietly opened her mouth.
“……It’s reckless.”
Jackal lifted his sweatcovered face.
“You transformed into a horse on purpose to find me and take me to the palace, right?”
Her expression, as she looked at him, was incredibly sad and serious.
Asha’s chest felt like it was churning with indescribable emotions.
Today, the Lycaons had infiltrated the monastery in advance.
All for one single purpose: to rescue her.
Jackal had risked his life to protect her from the tyrant, never forgetting her.
He looked at Asha with desperate eyes and spoke earnestly.
“I promised to protect you from the emperor. But I failed……. Not a single day have I slept soundly since I let you go. Whenever I close my eyes, I recall the last look on your face as you bid me farewell…….”
Jackal avoided eye contact, panting heavily.
“……Perhaps you can’t trust me anymore. Maybe, as you said before, we can never meet again.”
‘……I think I may have earned your master’s hatred. I might never see you again either.’
Asha was reminded of something she had said to Shepi in the past.
“But don’t think about returning to the imperial palace. I will take responsibility and get us out of here. Don’t worry about Licaon, just think about yourself from now on. That’s my last request as your leader.”
Jackal tried to rise as he finished speaking, but clutched his side and collapsed back to the ground.
“Ugh…….”
He bowed his head, groaning, and blood began to flow heavily again from the wound Asha had bound.
But at that moment, her white hand touched his dark backhand.
Jackal’s eyes widened slightly, and he looked up again.
Suddenly, Asha’s face seemed like she was about to cry.
Jackal’s eyes trembled as he looked at her.
Why doesn’t she avoid him after discovering his secret?
Why does she look at him like that after he deceived her…….
He couldn’t understand, and his face went blank.
Asha tore another piece from her already ragged dress and silently placed it over his bleeding wound.
“Do I…….”
Jackal mumbled, almost without realizing it.
“Do I…… not disgust you?”
His strange words flowed out, a question or a soliloquy, it was unclear.
Asha looked down at the wound and spoke.
“……I’m not disgusted. There was never a creature that understood me like Shepi. There was never anyone who cared for me like you, Jackal…….”
Asha does not avoid him.
That fact alone moved Jackal intensely.
The only person who didn’t avoid him, even after learning his secret.
The only woman in the world who could accept him as he was, he was sure of it.
So he didn’t want to let go anymore.
He didn’t want to lose the woman he loved right in front of his eyes, like a fool, again.
Although he hadn’t noticed his feelings welling up like a flood, he didn’t want to forcibly suppress them.
This time…… he wanted to be selfish.
Jackal slowly raised one hand.
And he gently tucked Asha’s wet, disheveled hair behind her ear.
When she looked up, surprised, Jackal looked into her eyes and said seriously,
“You said it back then. You wanted to see the world through my eyes.”
‘……I want to see the world through your eyes too.’
Recalling the words she had spoken to Shepi in the cabin, Asha secretly swallowed.
“I wanted to show it to you. A world without any worries, without any suffering, a free and happy world……. And suddenly, that became my life’s purpose.”
Asha’s heart began to pound.
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
