“…Now we can’t completely control the monsters. We must never let Fliche Marquis find out about this fact. If he does, he will immediately lead his soldiers and attack.”
Marquis Fleche knew nothing. Nothing about how the Wens Viscount’s family had tamed monsters using the ‘Tears of Luna’ all this time.
If he finds out, it would probably hurt so much he’d try to die.
After all, it was the Fleche Marquis family that originally plundered the ‘Tears of Luna’.
Without knowing anything, Marquis Fleche sold the Tears of Luna.
And Cedric, who learned about the immense power of Tears of Luna, stole it in the middle. He switched it with a counterfeit.
Now that the Tears of Luna was stolen, they couldn’t control the monsters.
However, there were already quite a few tamed monsters.
They weren’t perfect, but they were creatures that obeyed Cedric’s commands even without the Tears of Luna.
So there was still a chance.
He would kill the Fleche Marquis who betrayed him and retrieve the stolen Tears of Luna.
“Master! Master!”
At that moment, a faint voice was heard from outside the door.
Cedric involuntarily frowned.
Not long after, someone knocked on the door at an alarming speed.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
“Master, it’s Seren!”
With Seren’s noisy entrance, Cedric’s eyebrows involuntarily furrowed.
Cedric’s subordinate approached, opened the door, and said, “What’s all this commotion!”
Despite the commotion towards him, Seren conveyed the situation without blinking an eye.
“Something serious has happened. Gwen, that person… has disappeared.”
Cedric and his subordinate stiffened in their places.
It was true that Cedric had ordered Seren to stop Gwen.
Despite being a very easy task, Seren couldn’t bring Gwen’s neck.
“Sorry, Master. I definitely confirmed that he was in the mansion until this morning…”
Seren knelt down, bowed his head, and apologized.
“…That old man, Gwen, who just had a longer leash, has finally run away.”
Cedric’s subordinate also agreed with Cedric’s words about not being able to kill Gwen.
But there was no great anger. Cedric felt the same way.
Seren looked at Cedric and the man, lowering his head.
‘As expected, he doesn’t seem to care much about Gwen running away.’
There were more important things to deal with than Gwen running away.
Taking advantage of this moment, Seren conveyed the news that Gwen had disappeared.
Cedric sighed softly and muttered.
“Let it be. Even if he’s not killed right away, Gwen is in the palm of my hand.”
Seren’s stratagem was exactly right.
Although it was a bit frustrating that Gwen had escaped, it wasn’t a big deal.
‘He probably fled to the Artem Territory.’
It was obvious where he would be.
He would have gone to Rose to seek help.
He was a person preparing for business with Rose.
Finding and killing Gwen was an easy task.
Now, they had to deal with more important matters than Gwen.
At Cedric’s words, Seren’s mouth involuntarily lifted.
“…Yes, Master.”
Unlike the weak voice responding, Seren’s eyes narrowed halfway.
As planned.
A few days later, at Duke Artem’s mansion.
“Huh? Duke?”
Rose, heading to the dining room, tilted her head when she saw the Duke.
The Duke was mounting his horse, surrounded by knights, preparing to leave.
“Where are you going so early in the morning?”
Someone intervened in Rose’s muttered words.
“You seem to be very interested in His Grace.”
An unpleasant voice.
It was Nervan.
Rose was surprised to see Nervan suddenly approaching her.
“It’s not like that. I’m just curious.”
“Hmm.”
Even with Rose’s words, he had an expression of disbelief.
Rose left an uncomfortable look at Nervan and moved towards the dining room.
The mansion without Duke Artem was extremely quiet.
Rose, who was holding a fork and raising it, paused and looked around.
“Why are you in such a hurry without even having breakfast?”
She thought of saying it, but Nervan didn’t say anything to Rose.
Rose, who was sitting alone, picked up the fork again.
Although having a meal alone after a long time felt lonely, there was no need to leave the food in front of her.
Rose slowly emptied the food on the plate.
Before she knew it, Rose, who had emptied the plate, put down the fork and looked at the plate absentmindedly.
Eating alone made the mealtime very short.
She looked at the empty plate and got up from her seat.
“Shall I take a walk?”
Rose wrapped herself in the cool wind and moved her steps to the garden.
On the way to the garden, something caught Rose’s eye.
“Huh? What’s that?”
A luxurious carriage adorned with gold was standing in front of the main gate.
It happened to visit at a time when there was no owner.
Probably, it couldn’t come in right away and had to wait outside until the Duke came… Huh?
Surprisingly, the carriage came in.
The knights opened the door to the ownerless mansion.
It must be the carriage of someone who knew the Duke well.
Rose opened her eyes wide and looked at the carriage. About ten knights, riding white horses, surrounded and entered the carriage.
Even at a glance, the owner of the carriage seemed unusual.
Rose squinted her eyes and checked the pattern on the carriage.
‘That… I’ve never seen that pattern before.’
Rose, who had memorized all the family symbols.
Among them, that pattern was one she had never seen before.
The carriage slowly came to a stop.
When one of the knights, who was closest to the carriage, opened the door, a beautiful woman with water-colored hair walked out.
As soon as Rose saw the woman, a forgotten line came to her mind.
[… Transparent tears flowed from her eyes. Her blue hair, fluttering as if protected by the water spirit king, rushed toward the deceased Duke.]
Right… I remember now.
The person who briefly appeared when the Duke died.
It was a description that didn’t fit the situation, so it remained faintly in my memory.
“…Blue hair that seemed to be under the protection of the Water Spirit King.”
When the Duke died, the person who sobbed was right in front of Rose.
It wasn’t revealed in the original work, but Rose had an intuitive certainty.
That the woman standing in front of her was none other than Duke Artem’s fiancée.
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
