“So, to appear as a perfect runaway slave, practice is necessary, especially when dealing with the master.”
“……. ”
“Isn’t that right, master?”
Shar-ti blinked her eyes blankly.
It was an obvious statement, but calling someone “master” was foreign to her.
The term she used and heard was not “master.”
Therefore, the embarrassed Shar-ti’s cheeks quickly turned red.
“If you don’t practice perfectly, that old man might hit you again.”
With a cheeky comeback, Shar-ti fell silent.
With Viretta, there was a high possibility of that happening.
As Shar-ti seriously contemplated, Ren sat under the bed and aligned his eyes with hers.
“Not just an imitation, but even without that, not using casual language is our first promise.”
Shar-ti let out a wry smile.
It wasn’t a promise they sought when needed.
But soon, her mind became calm.
‘Let’s have a conversation…….’
For her, conversation meant writing.
Her voice was a weapon, and raising her voice in front of others only made them fearful.
Since settling in the village, she only muttered briefly in the blanket on thunderstorm days.
“Let me hear my voice.”
Shar-ti tightly gripped the blanket.
It was a simple task. It might seem trivial to give strength to the throat and make a sound.
But it was embarrassing.
Revealing the horrific flaw obtained by losing normalcy engraved wounds on her, not mockery, but a response mixed with discomfort and disdain.
“Sha-dash.”
A large and rough hand covered the white, clenched hand gripping the blanket.
When Shar-ti reflexively pushed it away, this time he extended his palm.
Ren’s thick index finger wrote large letters on the rough palm.
“……. ”
“Oh, was it too fast?”
In his awkward handwriting, Ren patiently rubbed his palm, repeating the writing.
Shar-ti felt a loosening sensation in her chest, which had just felt stifled.
As a result, her lips unconsciously opened.
“Why are you going to such lengths?”
“……. ”
“Do you pity me?”
At the weakly uttered words, Ren pursed his lips.
However, instead of using his mouth, Ren used his hand.
“This kind of voice is impossible for a conversation.”
Shar-ti bit her lips tightly.
The words came out without passing through her mind.
“We met soldiers. You heard Grandma Virena, Tein’s voices, right? You know how different their voices and mine are now.”
“……!”
Shar-ti had many counterarguments.
Because everyone did. Even Viretta’s family couldn’t hide the inevitable pity on their faces when they heard her voice.
Sympathy or discomfort and disdain.
It became familiar, and that familiarity became natural and taken for granted.
Her ears were undamaged, and her hearing was normal, so there was no need to exaggerate; she simply accepted it as natural.
However, Shar-ti felt her breath catch when Ren, who seemed angry at her, looked at her.
Ren scratched his head, making a groaning sound.
His skillful wording to continue the dictation smoothly reached its limit here.
“Why bother me about this? You have a body, a home, and even an herb garden. You can’t even distinguish herbs and weeds, and your head is so bad that you can’t even tell the difference. I’m the one who gets hit on the head by an old man, and I’m the most pitiful one.”
Ren spoke confidently.
He was so confident that Shar-ti became positively ambiguous.
Although Ren felt a moment of self-loathing for not denying her, he persisted in his words.
“It’s just practice. Just practice for one day, without anything to do for three days straight.”
Due to Shar-ti’s belly button clock, Ren, who momentarily headed to the kitchen, sat on a chair for a moment and covered his head.
‘What the heck is going on?’
It had been a performance to tease Shar-ti for sure, but at some point, it had become sincere. Ren began inserting various excuses into Shar-ti, trying to persuade her.
Even though Ren emphasized the importance of practice to Shar-ti, he didn’t understand why he was going to such lengths.
‘What’s bothering Shar?’
Instead, the questions about the cause only deepened.
Could one be sure that this behavior didn’t stem from sympathy?
Could this effort to leave something in her memory when leaving her side in three days not be an act of rebellion?
“Did it really break?”
Ren wiped his face with one hand.
Every time he saw Shar-ti, he had to find out the exact reasons behind her unruly hair and behavior.
Only then could he make a clear decision about Viretta’s proposal.
“Let’s start with a meal.”
Checking the remaining meat stew, Ren clicked his tongue.
The unstirred stew wasn’t just lukewarm; the meat oil was floating on top.
To be safe, Ren scooped up a piece with his spoon and immediately covered his mouth.
‘It’s cold.’
It wasn’t the right temperature to feed the sick Shar-ti.
Unable to spit out the food Shar-ti made, Ren swallowed it with water and looked around nervously.
Then he realized the strangeness he had felt every time he looked at the kitchen.
“……There’s no hearth.”
If that’s the case, it would be a matter of finding something to replace the hearth.
While Ren was wandering around, Shar-ti was coming out of the bedroom.
Seeing Shar-ti stagger, Ren hurriedly ran to her side to support her.
“Don’t come out, wait. I’ll prepare it quickly and bring it.”
Despite Ren’s dissuasion, Shar-ti stubbornly headed to the kitchen and rummaged through her pocket.
What Shar-ti pulled out was a red agate.
“What are you trying to do with that rock?”
Instead of explaining, Shar-ti placed the agate on the table and struck it twice.
Ren looked at the agate with surprised eyes as the patterns became clearer and smoke rose.
When Shar-ti placed the stew pot on the agate, the stew started to boil shortly afterward.
“What is this? A hearth?”
Shar-ti didn’t stop her explanation.
Ren swallowed his regret, thinking that Shar-ti’s unyielding wall remained consistent.
“Why use an agate instead of a hearth?”
“……. ”
Shar-ti poured the stew into a bowl just at the right temperature.
After putting her share on the table, Shar-ti showed Ren the explanation.
“I see.”
When a woman chops firewood and lights a fire alone, it’s never easy.
Compared to that, the agate seemed more convenient.
Ren watched Shar-ti, who began to eat, while lifting his spoon.
But his gaze lingered on the agate.
‘It must be expensive.’
Since agate had value, she must have kept it separately.
As Ren emptied his bowl, he sank into his thoughts.
Then he thought about what he could do.
With a much-relieved heart, Ren stood up from his seat.
“If you’ve finished eating, go inside. I’ll wash the dishes.”
Ren turned around with the dishes in his hands.
“……. ”
Having also taken cold medicine, Shar-ti got up with a stretch.
Before Ren could start washing the dishes, she mumbled behind him.
“Thank you.”
“……!”
Ren abruptly turned around, but Shar-ti was already heading to the bedroom.
Indeed, the power of warm stew was magnificent.
While looking at Shar-ti, who became more relaxed with a full stomach, it was the moment when Ren wanted to ignite his determination even more.
“We’ll talk tomorrow. I’ll go to bed early today.”
Thud. With the dishes in his hands, Ren stared blankly at the bedroom door.
The hastily constructed bedroom door was creaking.
Thinking about Shar-ti standing behind the door, Ren scratched the back of his neck.
‘Is there a problem here too?’
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.]
