The Duke Stole Everything (1 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 12
Sharti had overeaten for the first time in a long while by finishing half the bread in the basket.
Normally, she would have saved and rationed it carefully, but she quickly brushed aside any regret.
‘Don’t dwell on it.’
She needed to go back to the log cabin first to fetch the man’s clothes. Since that meant making two round trips between the house and the cave, she had to conserve her strength.
‘That was delicious.’
Indeed, the satisfaction from sugar and butter was thoroughly fulfilling.
After finishing her meal, Sharti stood up—and the man rose with her.
“Are you leaving? ……yo?”
Sharti, rummaging through her bag, shook her head and pointed to the bed.
The man obediently sat down on the edge of the bed as instructed.
‘You can’t wrap bandages by yourself, can you?’
Sharti took out the bandages and sat beside him.
The moment the man raised his arm, Sharti began unwrapping the bandages around his abdomen. Fortunately, the spot she’d struck with her knee wasn’t on his stomach.
Sharti smoothly applied antiseptic to the abdominal wound, which was healing well, then rubbed on some medicinal herbs.
“…….”
It was the same delicate, meticulous touch the man had received up until now.
The only difference was that this time, he could actually watch Sharti as she treated him.
Though his gaze kept lingering on her hood, Sharti remained focused on her work.
“…….”
She absolutely refused to waste precious herbs.
Before the man could respond, Sharti suddenly spread her arms and hugged him tightly.
“……!”
Wrapping her arms around his stiffened frame, Sharti swiftly began winding the bandages.
The sensation of her palms brushing against his skin and the warmth of her breath with every wrap made his muscles twitch visibly.
Slap. Sharti immediately scolded him, and the man clenched his teeth and nodded.
“So now you expect me to do everything alone.”
“……?”
At Sharti’s questioning look, the man mumbled something under his breath and quickly brushed it off.
Sharti considered calling him out for his awkward manner of speech but decided against it.
‘He has no memory, so speaking informally probably feels more natural.’
Forcing him to change wouldn’t help him recover his memories, so she chose to let it be for now.
Sharti carefully applied medicine to even his minor cuts.
After a long silence, the man finally spoke, as if something had just occurred to him.
“But what was it I was about to say earlier? ……yo?”
At Sharti’s puzzled look, the man gestured toward her stomach.
Embarrassment flooding back, Sharti quickly covered her own abdomen.
“Teacher?”
“And what about me? ……yo?”
The man asked.
“Give me a title too. ……yo. Or else…….”
“…….”
The man fell silent.
Sharti looked at him, wondering what the problem was.
He avoided her gaze.
‘Does he dislike the title? It’s perfectly fitting for a doctor and her patient—nothing more, nothing less.’
Sharti subtly watched his reaction.
“We’ll stick with Patient. ……yo.”
His sigh sounded exactly like someone giving up.
‘Come to think of it, he said he couldn’t remember his name either.’
But wasn’t it best if he chose his own name?
Giving him a name when she had no intention of growing close to him felt contradictory, no matter how she thought about it.
“…….”
Instead of answering, the man simply acted.
Sharti was speechless at his clumsy attempt.
‘Is that wrapping a bandage or tying a rope?’
Even Tain’s first attempt hadn’t been this bad.
In the end, Sharti had to wrap the bandage around his thick thigh herself.
“No. ……yo.”
The man sniffed the strong herbal scent emanating from his body and nodded.
With her tasks complete, Sharti stood up—and the man reflexively rose with her.
“Can’t I go with you? ……yo?”
“But then you—no, Doctor—will have to make two trips. ……yo.”
With his size, he was practically asking to be mistaken for game and shot with an arrow.
Village hunters rarely climbed the mountain at night; it was far easier to make a quick trip during daylight on such treacherous paths.
The man lowered his gaze.
“……I promised.”
He murmured softly as he followed Sharti all the way to the cave entrance.
“You said you’d hide me.”
His thick fingers grasped the sleeve of Sharti’s robe.
“I’ll wait. Right here.”
Meeting his earnest, pleading eyes, Sharti turned to face him fully.
She gently removed his hand from her sleeve and hooked her little finger with his.
“……?”
He clearly didn’t understand the meaning of the gesture.
Sharti turned away from him.
Even as she blocked the cave entrance, his gaze never left her.
‘I need to fetch his clothes and clean the house too.’
The old log cabin where she lived alone.
Due to the mountain’s harsh terrain, even Bireta’s family had rarely visited.
Sharti quickened her pace, trying to calm her inexplicably fluttering heart.
[This is the timeline separator]Just as the sun was about to set, border soldiers in the village finished preparing to climb the mountain.
“Sergeant, we’re ready. We should head up before it gets too dark.”
The yawning squad leader lazily waved a hand at his subordinate’s report.
“Make sure your swords are sharp. They say this mountain is especially full of wild beasts.”
Of course, “wild beasts” likely just meant ordinary animals.
The soldiers chuckled and soon began their search.
The northwestern border mountains of the Newton Empire were famously rugged—a perfect hiding place for all kinds of criminals, from cattle thieves to deposed royalty.
Thus, as soon as numerous wars broke out, Emperor Newton ordered heightened vigilance along the borders.
That was why border soldiers regularly visited mountain villages.
But this visit was purely for personal gain.
“Why are we doing a night search this time? It’s so dark—how can we see anything?”
“Maybe night searches just look more impressive.”
The soldiers laughed carelessly, showing no concern over the sudden nighttime operation.
‘Fools.’
Only Doddint, squad leader of Unit 8 at the front, sneered inwardly.
‘They’re told to climb this high mountain with just a single torch as soon as night falls—and not one of them even asks why.’
It was convenient having simple-minded, gullible subordinates raised in the borderlands.
Hiding a sly smile, Doddint recalled the secret letter delivered solely to him last week.
Doddint, who’d assumed he’d rot away in the borderlands until death, had read and reread the letter.
His chance had arrived.
With a twisted, ecstatic grin, Doddint laughed.
A countship—the intoxicating bait that could elevate him, a commoner, to nobility in the empire.
Doddint had even looked up the Synd Caravan mentioned in the letter before carefully hiding it away.
‘I heard the Synd Caravan recently started trading with the royal court. That means whoever sent this letter isn’t ordinary.’
To perfectly fulfill the mission, Doddint spent all his savings to equip his search party with brand-new weapons and even bribed his superior to secure additional troops from other squads.
‘They’re so scared of the word “deserter” they’re handing me this task without question.’
Fortunately, rumors of a deserter with serious charges had been circulating lately—more than enough justification.
Everything was falling perfectly into place.
Doddint kept grinning, savoring the sweet taste of future wealth and power.
“Sergeant, the path narrows ahead.”
“We should find the mountain stream they say flows through here if we go higher.”
If someone had fallen, suffered fatal injuries, yet clung to life—where would they hide? Naturally, they’d be searching for water.
Drawing on his experience hunting criminals, Doddint headed toward the stream. As darkness deepened, he licked his lips, growing increasingly impatient and eager.
[This is the timeline separator]Just as the soldiers began climbing the mountain, Sharti hurried back to the cave.
“You waited—what’s wrong?”
The man, pacing anxiously inside the cave as he waited for Sharti, showed a flicker of relief—but only for an instant.
Ignoring him completely, Sharti immediately started stuffing items from the cave into her bag.
Alarmed by her unusual behavior, the man quickly stepped closer.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“…….”
Panting heavily as she scanned the cave’s surroundings, Sharti finally looked up at him and bit her lip hard.
“……Soldiers?”
A deeply unpleasant sensation furrowed the man’s brow.
Her anxiety only grew at his reaction, and she repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists.
Sharti gripped her hood tightly and avoided his gaze.
The man understood she was trying to hide something.
“……So the person they’re after must have serious charges.”
His tone carried a hint of mockery—but the contempt was directed at himself, not Sharti.
“……I see.”
The man, who’d been staring only at Sharti’s fingertips, replied in a lowered voice.
His heart churned unpleasantly.
“So what do you plan to do?”
At least her reluctance to be certain was calming him somewhat.
That alone was his comfort.
“……What?”
Stunned by her drastic answer, the man repeated the question.
Sharti responded with action. She grabbed a shovel from inside the cave and climbed onto the bed.
“What are you doing right now—!”
The man cried out in alarm as Sharti began jabbing the cave ceiling with the shovel.
But Sharti only pushed him away.
She pointed toward the cave entrance.
“What—?”
Instead of writing an explanation in his palm, Sharti vigorously stabbed the ceiling with the shovel as if digging into the earth.
Her urgency grew by the second.
Unable to gauge the soldiers’ speed, she couldn’t afford any further delay.
Clang.
“……!”
As dirt began raining down from the ceiling, a faint metallic sound—not the usual thud of hitting rock—rang out.
Just as Sharti swung the shovel again toward the spot where the sound originated—
“……!”
A powerful force suddenly wrapped around her waist, and her vision flipped.
In one smooth motion, the man hoisted Sharti onto his shoulder with one arm—and to top it off, snatched the shovel from her hand.
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.]
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