During Margaret’s disappearance, it was Liviana who had suggested examining the flow of Creighton’s troops.
“Whatever it is, it’s good. Thanks to this, we got a good opportunity. If my brother is here, the tedious siege so far would be over. Summon the troops right now. Of course, carefully.”
“There’s no need for that.”
“No need?”
“He must have prepared the next steps as well.”
“How do you know that?”
At Calyx’s assertive statement, Luzen tilted his head.
Calyx maintained silence for a moment. And then he added a short phrase.
“If he has any habits left, he will.”
With a still stonefaced expression.
One, Luzen stared intently.
The frown on Calyx’s forehead, which he had wrinkled himself, was now smooth.
[This is the time separator]“When the debutantes are over, I’m thinking of going on a trip.”
Bake’s face cringed as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have.
“A trip? What are you talking about?”
“Just, I want to take a break. There has been so much happening recently. I want to get out of the capital for a while and rest.”
“……”
“Is that not okay?”
Although his expression seemed to have said ‘no’ hundreds of times, Bake was not in a position to reject. He stiffened his expression several times before finally nodding stiffly.
“……No, that can’t be.”
“That’s a relief.”
“……”
It looked like Bake wanted to say something, his lips kept moving. I ignored that fact and continued to flip the book.
“Then I’ll leave next week.”
“Next week? That soon?”
“I said I’d go after the debutantes are over.”
“But, we have the debut.”
Bake’s eyes, who had found an excuse in his own way, were shining with desperation. Even though we were technically at a cold war, it seemed he preferred me staying in the mansion.
“I can come back before that. The preparations are all done anyway.”
Finally realizing that I didn’t intend to stay outside the capital for long, Bake’s face subtly brightened. The end of the debutantes and the beginning of the debut were usually a difference of 1 week, at most 2 weeks.
“……Or should I come with you? If it’s that long, it’s not a long time and I also need a break.”
“That wouldn’t be bad. You need some time to think too.”
“Really?”
“Yes, we have plenty of extra villas anyway. We just need to prepare one more.”
As I spoke, Bake’s expression changed quickly, and I twisted my lips.
“……We can’t keep going on like this.”
“That’s why you need some time to think.”
“And when we come back? Will everything be okay then?”
How long had he waited to start like this?
I made a bored face, but Bake did not hide his anxiety. After deceiving me for so long, he himself couldn’t stand even a week it seemed.
“We’ll have to wait and see.”
“Liviana.”
“Don’t look at me like that. You’re the one who did wrong.”
“……But, everyone says that. Inevitably, men make mistakes once in their life.”
“That’s right. Everyone does, and I’m the only one who stands out.”
The Bake I knew was always a thoughtful man, but recently he became sensitive and often slipped in conversation. No, it was ridiculous to say that he slipped.
Becoming emotional and saying such things was because Bake had those feelings inside him.
“I didn’t mean that.”
“When you say that at times like these, that’s the only way it sounds.”
“……”
“……So what should I do?”
“Wait.”
“Wait?”
“When my feelings are sorted out, I’ll let you live as you wish, like others.”
Even though I gave him the answer he wanted, Bake’s expression did not brighten. It was understandable, because living like others included being a wife.
But I pretended not to know and closed the book. Then I picked up the pen next to me and filled in the last line of the document I was writing.
“Meanwhile, you also have things you need to sort out.”
I put the final period to complete the last sentence of the document, and put down my pen. The document detailed the compensation I was seeking for the harm I’d suffered in this matter.
“What is this?”
Bake’s face crumpled when he finally realized I was drawing up an agreement. Despite this, I looked at him calmly.
“You’re really doing this?”
“I didn’t make any unreasonable demands, so please proceed as is.”
“Rivian.”
“Ah, could you stop calling me by that name, too?”
“What?”
“From now on, when you call me, use the term ‘madam’ instead of my name. Avoid using informal language and use polite language as much as possible.”
Like everyone else.
With that, I extended the document towards Bake. His tightly closed lips were trembling.
[This is the time separator]“So, that’s it? Just a few businesses?”
“There is a limit to what can be gained by throwing a tantrum, so it would be pointless to make unreasonable demands.”
Considering the empire’s marriage which only permits one spouse, it’s wrong to have a concubine. However, paradoxically, if there’s mutual agreement, a concubine is a publicly acknowledged existence.
I could criticize Bake for being with another woman, but that alone was not enough to charge him with a crime. It was best to choose one of two options: to divorce or to receive adequate compensation and continue the relationship.
But I can’t divorce. Even if I divorced now, I had no right of inheritance to continue the title. I couldn’t claim anything from Craiton as my own.
Unless I had a child to be my heir, I would have to leave Craiton mansion as if being chased, receiving only the meager assets that Bake had given me out of kindness. I didn’t like that.
I couldn’t leave Craiton to Bake. It was not me who had to leave Craiton, it was him.
“What about being a little more ambitious? Like, the Nagata estate, for example.”
As soon as the backstabbing was over, he looked like he’d been waiting to offer me tea. I thought he looked anxious since the first time I saw the emperor, but it was more than that.
The existence of my halfbrother seemed to have a much greater impact on the emperor than I had anticipated.
I slowly opened my mouth, mulling over the story Duke Pieren had told me before.
“If we do that, our intentions will be immediately revealed.”
The emperor was quickwitted, and Duke Pieren was also a formidable armament wellknown for his name. Yet the two of them still hadn’t found the missing prince.
This meant that the missing prince was good at hiding. Having tasted defeat once, he would be as sensitive as a chameleon. It would not be easy to catch him now.
Unless you poke him in an unexpected way.
My judgment that they would not even bother with the insignificant concubine of the Earl of Craiton was correct.
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
