Before she walked beside him, no, before she met him face to face, the Cryer that Olivia knew was the man who had killed her four times, the bloodthirsty who caused and ended the continental war, and was untouchable to anyone.
But now…
“I have to do as I’m told because I’m a slave.”
Unknowingly, Olivia tightly grasped Cryer’s arm.
It was hardly a noticeable force, just like when she hit him, but that warmth was…
Looking at Olivia’s pale hand that tightly clenched his arm until the blue veins bulged, Cryer suddenly felt a sharp pain near his collarbone.
However, that pain was merely fleeting.
If he felt pain elsewhere, he could dismiss it as nothing.
But his collarbone, wasn’t that where the mark of a slave to the ancient god, a brand, was?
Reading his unusual complexion, Cryer bit his lip at Olivia’s words that burst out the next moment, not his collarbone.
“What is it? What’s bothering you?”
“Did I… speak out loud?”
“What? No, you didn’t say anything. What’s bothering you? Tell me quickly.”
He simply looked down at Olivia, whose eyes sparkled as if she was ready to listen at any time.
And again! Olivia added as if she read his mind.
“How do I know, I knew by looking at your face. No, the atmosphere? Your eyes? The air?”
As Olivia spoke, she tilted her head as if she herself wasn’t sure.
A strange expression crossed Cryer’s face as he looked at her.
Had there ever been someone who read his mind so well? He couldn’t be certain as he couldn’t remember his past.
But at least after his revival… it was likely that Olivia was the only one.
There weren’t many who looked directly at his face. Perhaps only the wizard who resurrected him and his daughter.
Come to think of it, that woman, Greta, babbled as if she could read his thoughts too.
“What is it, again. You had a different thought this time, didn’t you?”
Like a ghost, Olivia who read his thoughts approached him and stood on tiptoe.
“Tell me all about what was bothering you earlier.”
As if she would pry open his mouth and look into his throat if he didn’t speak, Olivia’s determination blazed as Cryer opened his mouth.
“My brand suddenly throbbed.”
“What!”
Olivia reflexively reached for his collarbone, but stopped in her tracks at the following low voice.
“It was after you grabbed my arm.”
Olivia, whose eyes were rapidly blinking, slowly withdrew her hand and stepped back.
Hunching her round shoulders even more, she asked,
“Was it because of me?”
“I don’t know. I can’t be certain of anything since I don’t know anything.”
At his light reply, Olivia quickly accepted it and relaxed her hunched shoulders, but didn’t reach out her hand again.
“Does it still hurt?”
Looking at Olivia who was leaning back on her heels to prevent her hand from reaching out unconsciously, Cryer gently pushed her smooth forehead away with a smirk.
“It doesn’t hurt. More importantly, didn’t the conference end well? The King of Norden was handled as an accident.”
It was a sudden change of topic, but Olivia naturally accepted it as she didn’t feel the need to dig further into what he wasn’t saying.
“The conference ended smoothly, but…”
She narrowed her eyes and looked up at Cryer, trailing off.
“Oh, the one who is wandering around the palace right now…”
As Cryer nodded, Olivia nodded along.
“Yes. The rumor that the princess brought in a concubine and will soon bring in a husband is circulating as if it’s true, so the emperor is angry.”
Of course, the emperor didn’t believe such rumors.
He even called her in after the conference to confirm.
‘I trust you.’
That statement couldn’t be false. It’s just that believing in someone and punishing them for sloppy aftermath management are two different things.
“A concubine.”
Cryer was taken aback at the fact that the small and fragile Olivia next to him was the princess.
She didn’t act like a princess at all in front of him, so he had forgotten.
As Olivia chose a less crowded path and moved on, she said,
“Come to think of it, you seem very familiar with disguises… or transformations.”
Somehow, and he didn’t know when or how, Cryer was also disguised as much as she was. No, should he call it a transformation?
With hair as silver as a moonlit night and crimson eyes hidden behind a black wig, he was completely unrecognizable. His clothes, seemingly obtained from anywhere, were so ordinary they appeared ragged.
Moreover, with the rough, unrefined air that once enveloped him now gone, he looked like an unusually tall man one might see anywhere.
“I may not be recognizable, but I do know that I stand out. And.”
“And?”
At his sudden stop, Olivia, who was following him, also halted.
“It seems we’ve arrived.”
“What?”
Olivia, following his gaze, also looked at the same spot, but it was only thick foliage.
A common sight in the outskirts of the city.
But, Olivia’s blue eyes dimmed at Cryer’s words that followed.
“It smells like blood.”
[Star Icon][Star Icon][Star Icon]Just when Olivia was about to tug on Cryer’s sleeve.
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
