‘Hey, does he have some grievance against me?’
Whether my guess was right, Balter pulled my chubby cheeks with a clearly sulky face.
“I thought you must be something special since you’re being cherished so earnestly. I don’t see anything special about you.”
“Oo, oooob?”
What, this kid?!
‘Does he think I’m some sort of object? How dare he critique me?’
I couldn’t let this treatment slide.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
I’ll take revenge right now.
‘Alright, I’ll have to use that method.’
I quickly thought of the most effective way to get back at Balter.
First, the preparation phase.
I puffed my cheeks with air and put my clenched fists on either side.
Tilting my head to the left at a 45degree angle and sparkling my eyes was the key.
“Ooboo, myaa♥”
Wiggling.
The moment our eyes met, I flashed an utterly pure and clear smile with all my might.
Rubbing my cheek in his hand while radiating the unique harmless charm of a newborn, Balter’s face turned pale.
“Eek, my heart…….”
Good. It’s going according to plan!
‘Hehehe.’
Plotting a sinister plan behind my angelic exterior, I smiled, lifting one corner of my mouth.
“How can a living creature be this cute…”
At the very moment when Balter, muttering to himself, took a step closer.
I took a deep breath and spat out the pacifier I had been holding in my mouth!
“Pwoof!”
“Aaargh!”
Struck square in the face by the pacifier I had deliberately soaked with saliva, Balter held his nose and rolled on the dirt ground.
Though he was only hit by a pacifier, his behavior looked like he had been hit by a club.
‘What a noisy fuss over a little pain.’
His appearance was alright, but why was he acting like that?
He looked at me with a bewildered expression and then glared at Sione, screaming.
“Sione! What kind of monstrous magic did you put on this pacifier? Being hit by a hammer would hurt less than this!”
“It’s sort of tuning, you might say. It’s the only thing Bella always carries around, so I tinkered with it a bit.”
Oh. I didn’t know that.
Feeling a bit sheepish, I scratched my chubby cheek.
Balter glared resentfully, but I had no intention of apologizing to someone who had grabbed my cheek without permission in the first place.
After a brief pause, he dusted off his messy trousers and got up from his place.
“It would be wise to avoid going outside for a while. All eyes from the royal palace are on Rose Palace.”
“……For how long exactly am I to be stuck in this palace?”
“Well, the Lord can’t keep blocking this place forever. Now that a new successor has appeared, the nobles won’t sit still.”
“…….”
As Sione silently agreed, Walter encouragedly patted her shoulder.
“You don’t have to worry too much. I, Walter, your close friend and longtime companion, will do my best to help you.”
“How reassuring that is.”
“When you talk with that chewing expression, it indeed looks believable.”
Walter, who had been grumbling about showing some sincerity when lying, soon left with a soldier who came to find him.
As Sione returned to where she originally was, riding the baby carriage she was pulling, the flustered maids greeted us.
“Lady Sione! Something big has happened. Soldiers are blockading the palace surroundings, claiming it’s the Lord’s command….”
“I know. Walter came and told me.”
“Eh? The commander himself?”
According to the subsequent conversation, Walter was quite influential, having taken on the role of commander of the Lord’s own knight squad.
Judging by Sione’s description as ‘the Lord’s current only close relative,’ he might be in a position similar to the father’s right arm.
‘Though his actions don’t look like it at all.’
I snorted a chuckle, recalling his appearance tumbling around on the floor after being hit by a squirt.
‘What on earth is Dad thinking, though?’
He neglects his only daughter as if he had lost his humanity, then suddenly names her, of all things.
Now he locks her up in the palace as soon as she starts to hope for some attention?
Well, I never hoped for an ordinary dad, but this seems a bit too much.
‘Well, having some leisure time for a while won’t be too bad.’
It’s not like I’m becoming an adult tomorrow anyway.
Not only does the body need to grow, but it also takes a lot of time to acquire the things needed in the future.
I’ll consider it biding my time, focusing on what I can do now, as the best course of action.
“Yawn. Ugh.”
Blink, blink.
‘Ugh, I want to think more… but I’m so sleepy…’
I, who yawned in succession, soon began to nod off, drooping my head.
Perhaps it’s a side effect of using my notsobabylike brain too much, but sometimes sleep pours down suddenly like this.
“My goodness, it seems Lady Bella is sleepy. How can she be so adorable even when drowsy!”
“It’s way past nap time. Let’s go back.”
After the picnic spot was all cleaned up, I returned to my room and fell into a sweet and long nap.
Anyway, I’ll worry about what will happen later, later on, I thought faintly.
(This is a time divider.)
At that time, Walter, who had returned to the main palace, was walking down a corridor leading to the virtual reality.
Saluting soldiers as he glided across the marble floor, his face was cold and rigid.
His light demeanor in Rose Palace had vanished, and a palpable tension was felt from his bulging neck veins.
‘A whirlwind of great change will arise in the Tzepes kingdom.’
One who becomes a close relative to the Lord can inherit some of his powers.
Walter was skilled with the sword but not so adept at handling magic. Yet, he could clearly perceive that the owner of Rose Palace had more latent potential than anyone else.
The Lord’s child, once believed to never wake, had now become a situation where she might hold the greatest possibility as a successor.
‘It’ll be fine for now, but who knows what will happen in a few years. The noble factions supporting other princes won’t just stand by.’
Especially, Wilhelm, the eldest, was the most problematic.
Although still young and looking similar to Luca, he had received enormous support because of his toptier noble maternal family and being a provisional successor.
He was entirely different from Princess Bella, who was born from a companion and had no support base to begin with.
‘If only my abilities were lacking, I could have spent the rest of my life in peace…….’
In his view, it was exactly the case with the second child, Luca.
A mischievous prince who grew up receiving plenty of attention and love from those around him.
Because he didn’t show much prominence, he was actually leading a peaceful daily life.
‘How can I be of help?’
If he felt as he did, Bella’s life as a princess in the future would surely not be smooth.
If things go well, he might rule as a lord in the future, but the possibility seemed slim so far.
‘Looking at how worried I am already, it’s completely ruined.’
Previously, and in the future as well, he thought there was only one important woman in his life.
“Sigh.”
Upon arriving at the entrance to Alreality, Walter took a deep breath.
It was something like a habit he always had before submitting a headacheinducing report.
“Knight Commander Walter Ricardo requests an audience with the Lord.”
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.]
