Although Aaron’s lips were touching Delia’s ear, his sharp eyes were scanning beyond the forest.
The resentful aura of those who had their leader taken away was flowing out from the green forest.
“Commander, did you already know?”
“He isn’t even trying to hide it. He’s protesting openly. Don’t treat the prisoner lightly.”
Around Delia, the Eorenti army was hidden in the forest, watching the two of them.
Around Aaron, the imperial soldiers following the commander were guarding them.
Aaron and Delia stood in the midst of the subtle tension between the two groups.
“Why can’t those guys leave the prisoner alone? This makes it even harder to release him.”
Delia, held in Aaron’s firm arms, felt the strength in his arms.
“That would be naive.”
A thin breath escaped from Delia’s lips, which had turned a deeper red like a wild strawberry.
A prickling sensation crept all over her body from her injured arm.
“Let’s go back now. Commander.”
“Don’t want to walk anymore? You were the one who threw a tantrum about wanting to.”
“I’m tired.”
Being a prisoner allowed her to see things she couldn’t see outside.
The number of soldiers, weapons, and even their level of training.
The imperial soldiers were superior in all aspects.
Moreover, she was also held hostage.
If the imperial soldiers and the guards clashed, the damage to the guards would definitely be much greater.
It was an event that must not be allowed to happen.
“Commander, I want to rest now.”
Delia whispered weakly and leaned on Aaron.
Aaron’s steady heartbeat conveyed a sense of stability to Delia.
If she stabbed this heart…
Would Eorenti be able to regain its peace?
The night deepened in the Tarence Forest.
The imperial soldier camp was driving away the darkness with blazing torches.
Whether the title of supreme commander was false or not, the barracks were bustling with soldiers even at this late hour.
“Commander. News from the Cabat Plains has arrived.”
Aaron quickly read the letter handed over from the courier.
“Vice Commander Cassel is in the Cabat Plains…”
Aaron, who trailed off, glanced at Delia and changed the topic.
“What about Royeni?”
“According to your designation, Count Stauien has been appointed as the governor.”
“Tell me everything about the situation in Royeni without missing a single detail.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“And the news from the Cabat Plains should be delivered through Vice Commander Dyke from now on…”
Aaron, who was about to give additional orders to the waiting soldier, froze.
He turned his gaze to his bed, feeling a gloomy sensation from beside him.
“Prisoner.”
“What?”
“Are you hungry?”
“No.”
“Then should I ask for more strawberries?”
“No.”
“Should I ask for more food?”
“No, why do you keep bothering me?”
Aaron, seeing the prisoner getting angry, wore a dumbfounded expression.
“Then why are you eating that?”
Where Aaron’s gaze landed, there was a prisoner with a flower.
Delia, holding the flower stem she picked during the daytime walk, was chewing on it.
The beautiful primrose stem was shaking slightly each time it was ripped apart by Delia’s red lips.
The petals disappeared between her mouth, swaying.
With both her hands free, there was more leisure in Delia’s act of eating the flower.
“It’s sweet and delicious.”
“I can’t understand. What’s so delicious about that?”
“It’s fragrant and makes me feel at ease.”
Aaron let out a small groan, stroking his chin with his index finger.
“Hmm.”
He thought the prisoner was insane.
He had seen people who felt happy seeing flowers, but it was his first time seeing someone who felt at ease eating them.
Aaron shook his head vehemently.
“Fragrance is supposed to be smelled with the nose. It’s not something to be eaten.”
“The fragrance I taste with my mouth is even more fragrant.”
“You’re not human.”
Delia, who had been watching Aaron’s stern expression, lowered her head and looked at the bouquet.
Already more than half had been eaten, leaving many gaps in the stem.
Unlike the commander who showed no gaps.
The supreme commander was not an easy opponent as he seemed.
His eyes were gently curved with laughter, but he had never seen laughter in his eyes.
His speech was playful and light, but the meaning contained in his words was never light.
Delia bit into a flower as she studied Aaron with her blue eyes.
“Do you know the taste of flowers, Commander?”
“I can live just fine without knowing that. Besides, I don’t really like flowers.”
Delia lent an ear to his voice, which even made his statement of not liking flowers sound sweet.
The change in the flow of the air every time he moved, the resonance of the sounds he made, the changes in his expression according to his actions.
All of Delia’s senses were open to him in her search for any weakness in the flawless commander.
“Commander. I can see everything you’re thinking. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t look at me as if I were a bug.”
“I thought only butterflies or bees ate flowers. I never thought people would eat them.”
Aaron smirked and turned his attention back to the letter.
“I eat them to stay alive too. As a prisoner who’s wondering if I’ll die today or tomorrow, eating this helps me calm down.”
Aaron quickly grasped the contents of the letter while lightly clicking his tongue.
“Tsk, I won’t let you die carelessly.”
“Do you treat other prisoners this well?”
“No. You have utility.”
Aaron responded nonchalantly, but his mind was filled with thoughts about the enigmatic prisoner.
Even as a captive, she was not someone who had been broken under someone else’s hand given her confident attitude.
Her followers, who were circling her like ghosts tied to her, were also unusual.
And her obsessive fixation on escape.
What could be the identity of the prisoner?
“Talking about utility when you don’t even know about me properly. Pathetic.”
“That’s why I’m keeping you near me, to get to know you.”
There was definitely something about this prisoner. It could possibly even change the course of the war.
At that point, Aaron let out a soft chuckle.
He was reminded of the prisoner who had been looking for a chance to escape during the day, rolling her deerlike eyes in all directions.
It seemed like a pity to just wait until her identity was revealed.
“What can you learn by watching me? It’s just a waste of time for both of us.”
“I’m planning to do more than just watching.”
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
