But the commander had no intention of letting Delia go.
It meant the bet would continue until the commander won.
“It’s a bet you’ll lose anyway. I’ll hold you back with my authority as a commander. It’s impossible for you to escape from me.”
In Aaron’s smile, there was already the confidence of a winner.
“The end of the bet is one of two things. Either you become tamed, or you give permission.”
She fell for the commander’s wordplay.
Realizing this fact, Delia could not suppress her anger and bit her lower teeth.
“Commander.”
A soft voice calling Aaron from outside the barracks intruded between the two.
As if cold water had been poured over them, they were both brought back to reality in an instant.
Aaron slowly separated his body from Delia.
Casually scanning over Delia, who bore traces of him all over her body, Aaron commanded in a low and thick voice, “Wait outside.”
Aaron gave the command to his aide waiting outside and looked directly into Delia’s eyes.
In contrast to the tense Delia, Aaron’s eyes were relaxed.
He slowly got up from where he had covered Delia and covered her with the blanket.
“Take your time to think.”
He picked up the shirt scattered on the floor and casually draped it over his body.
A victorious smile circled his face as he buttoned up one by one.
Because there was no way for a prisoner caught in a trap to escape him.
He could afford to wait as long as it took.
“There’s no need to take time to think. My thoughts are unchanging.”
Delia, striving to speak calmly, had a thin tremor in her voice.
Aaron leaned over and kissed Delia’s small, round forehead.
“Yes. I’ll give you plenty of time until your unchanging thoughts change.”
Aaron pulled back the curtain and walked out of the barracks.
Only then did Delia, left alone, relax the stiffness of her body.
She noticed that her hand was trembling from how tightly she had gripped the quilt.
“I can’t just stay like this.”
She couldn’t be swept away by him like this.
Delia clenched her teeth and got up.
Her whole body screamed in agony, but Delia managed to stand and checked her body.
Traces were left everywhere on her skin, but there was no sticky feeling.
From the sight of the water bowl next to the bed, it seemed he had wiped her down while she was asleep.
That made it even worse.
He was an enemy who had invaded Iorenti, but how gentle his fingertips were.
She spat out a soft curse and hurriedly put on the clothes scattered on the floor.
She had to start again.
She had to start as if everything was from the beginning.
She had to erase the silver temptation that had colored her, subdue the senses that had been swept away by the heat, engrave the hatred for the enemy again, reawaken the murderous intent for the enemy commander, and reinforce the will to escape.
“It’s ridiculous. A marriage. A title of the empire.”
There was no way she, a princess of Iorenti, could abandon Iorenti.
Delia took a painful step and approached the table.
The fruits rolling on the table came into her sight.
These were things that grew under Iorenti’s sun, in Iorenti’s land.
Fruits full of Iorenti shone brilliantly, holding light.
Delia picked up a fruit and put it in her mouth, chewing slowly.
A small moan escaped her lips at the sensation of the fragrant and sweet pulp bursting.
The unfamiliar feeling that had been penetrating deep faded, and the hot touch that had swept through her mouth washed away.
If it was to protect such sweet and beautiful things, she could do anything.
Delia, with a determined look in her eyes, picked up another fruit and popped it into her mouth.
Into the midst of Delia, engrossed in eating fruit, a quiet voice intruded.
“You, prisoner.”
Aaron, who had somehow entered the barracks, was glaring at Delia.
The leisure she had upon leaving vanished as if a lie, and danger was present in her ashcolored eyes.
A feeling of foreboding made Delia stop, holding the fruit in her hand, and look at Aaron.
“You’re neither noble nor saint. But then… you were royalty?”
At Aaron’s words, Delia dropped the fruit she had been holding.
The soft fruit rolled across the table and fell to the floor with a thump.
“Prisoner, were you a princess? The princess of Eorenti?”
“How did you know?”
Aaron stepped towards the mumbling Delia.
Aaron tossed the paper he was holding onto the table, and ran his fingers nervously through his hair.
Delia, watching his tousled silver hair, locked eyes with him.
Only then did Delia notice the piece of paper lying on the table.
What is this?
The paper was filled with unfamiliar characters.
It was neither the common language of the continent nor the imperial language.
Then…
Quickly, Delia scanned the characters on the paper.
“Were you really a princess?”
Aaron, asking as if in disbelief, looked at Delia, who remained silent.
“Eorenti’s Goldenhaired princess within the walls, whereabouts of royal guards captain and 200 guards unclear.”
Aaron glanced at Delia, her alluring golden hair falling down, her blue eyes blinking like glass beads.
Standing silent, Delia saw the faces of those Aaron had killed till now.
The Southern Three Kingdoms Conquest War.
From the start, it was not a war to plunder and destroy cities.
It was a war to set the sea as the national boundary.
A war to surround the empire with the natural barrier of the sea and gain trade rights through the sea.
For this, three countries needed to be completely absorbed into the Stillets Empire.
They couldn’t harbor extreme hostility towards the empire, nor could the city be so destroyed as to be irreparable.
Acts threatening civilians were strictly prohibited, and unnecessary destruction was avoided as much as possible.
Nobles who complied with the empire’s system were accepted.
Soldiers who did not resist and surrendered were spared.
Except for the royal family.
For the war to end completely, the royal family had to be killed.
The king who committed suicide was hung on the city walls, the fleeing king was chased and killed.
From the old queen to the young crown prince, all members of the royal family, regardless of age or gender, were killed and hung in the middle of the city.
So the remaining people would not dare to think of becoming kings.
The royal family was exterminated simply because they were royal.
But she was a princess.
Aaron stared at Delia, who he should have killed, with cold eyes.
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
