The Princess Wants to Live (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
Though the voice was anything but subtle, it somehow sounded incredibly enticing.
Olivia, perking up her ears and making no effort to hide her intrigued expression, asked,
“Your justification?”
“Attempted assassination of the princess.”
“That’s gotten quite grandiose.”
“If you’re going to sweep it all away at once, the justification must be grandiose too.”
What could be better than handling all those nuisances in one go?
Neither Cryer, who had brought it up, nor Olivia, who was listening, felt the slightest doubt—
about Cryer’s ability to eliminate in one stroke all the knights, or knight-like figures, currently lingering.
After pondering briefly, Olivia quickly shook her head.
“It doesn’t matter how many pieces of trash drop dead right now. What matters is this!”
She snatched up the document she’d been scrutinizing and waved it.
“Who could’ve guessed an ancient god would be tied up in something like this!”
The case had initially seemed like nothing more than simple disappearances or a string of murders—yet after seeing the distorted mark of the ancient god branded on the foreheads of the corpses found in the square, such a thought was unthinkable.
Had she known, she would’ve dug into this case relentlessly before her regression, uncovering the truth at all costs.
Watching Olivia, on the verge of tearing out her hair while flinging documents everywhere, Cryer closed his book.
“Calm down.”
“How can I calm down! Do you even know how many hours I’ve been staring at these documents?”
“Exactly four hours and twenty-eight minutes.”
“Right! And after staring this long, there’s zero progress! Does that make any sense! I should’ve figured out who that bastard was before my regression, before he turned to ashes!”
But regret always comes too late.
After launching the last document into the air with a triumphant flourish, Olivia froze with her arms raised—then let them drop and slumped over, utterly deflated.
“Since we didn’t even know the ancient god was involved, even if I’d dug into this case before my regression, I still wouldn’t have… Wait. Why are you laughing?”
Though he’d turned his head away, his steel-like shoulders were clearly trembling with laughter.
Olivia hurriedly approached him and snatched the book from his hands.
“Why are you laughing! Stop it! I’m about to tear my hair out, and you’re laughing!”
Cryer, still wearing a lingering smile, caught her wrist as she started whacking him repeatedly with the book’s edge.
“No.”
“No, what!”
“It’s just… when someone as small and harmless-looking as a princess does something foolish, it’s rather adorable.”
She realized immediately that his words couldn’t possibly be a lie—not once had he called her “harmless” outright.
Yet Olivia found herself utterly speechless.
Ador… adorable…? What?
She’d heard it clearly, but hearing something and understanding it were two entirely different matters.
Since the words made no sense even upon hearing them, it was only natural she couldn’t find a reply.
While Olivia merely moved her lips, Cryer reached for the scattered documents.
Olivia, staring fixedly at his swaying silver hair, rubbed not her chest—but her stomach.
It tickled inside, as if she’d swallowed a feather.
Honestly, just what kind of man had he been in his erased past?
In Olivia’s blue night, Cryer’s silver moon shimmered.
Unconsciously reaching toward his head, Olivia halted at the sound of his voice.
“Where exactly are you stuck?”
Instinctively redirecting her hand from his head to the document he held, she tapped it lightly.
“The list of missing persons isn’t accurate.”
She massaged her throbbing temples.
“I already told you—that man was found as a charred corpse in the missing person’s house.”
“And I told you we couldn’t identify who he was.”
“At least if we could pinpoint which house he was found in, maybe we could lie in wait there and catch the culprit before he burns.”
Olivia picked up the list of missing persons and folded it into a paper airplane.
“I’ve memorized this entire list, scoured maps, wracked my memory—but I just can’t find which house on this list the culprit was discovered in.”
“Do you know that house?”
“No. If I did, I wouldn’t be tearing my hair out like this. I vaguely remember it, so everything seems suspicious, yet none of it feels quite right.”
Cryer easily caught the paper airplane Olivia tossed and spoke.
“What if you checked every house on the missing persons list?”
“Every single one?”
“Yes.”
“Well… it’s not like I haven’t considered that approach.”
Olivia trailed off and shook her head.
“There are definitely missing persons not on this list. So even if we check every house on it…”
“You might still fail to find the house you checked before your regression.”
“Yeah.”
Olivia promptly navigated through the mountain of documents and plopped onto the large sofa.
Even amidst the chaos, she held onto her papers and skimmed once more through the case details she’d already memorized.
“Just what kind of lunatic would do something like this…”
Muttering a sharp curse, Olivia sprawled half-slumped across the sofa—when a shadow fell over her, covering her entirely.
Startled by the sudden dimness, Olivia peeked out from behind her documents and asked,
“What is it?”
Cryer stood over her, gripping the armrest of the sofa, his arms caging her in as he looked down.
In an ordinary situation, the air would either flush her face crimson with flustered heartbeats, or she’d gape wide-eyed and scream in shock.
But Olivia was far from ordinary.
Having regressed four times already, she was now light-years away from anything “normal.”
She glanced briefly at the steel-like arms trapping her, then waved her documents and asked again,
“What is it, suddenly?”
Cryer, who had been silently observing her, finally parted his tightly pressed lips.
“You reached out your hand earlier but pulled it back.”
“Earlier? Me?”
Confused by the unexpected question, Olivia tilted her head—then quickly shut her mouth and rolled her eyes.
It was obvious she was avoiding an answer, yet Cryer had no intention of letting her off easily.
How long had she spent avoiding his gaze?
Finally, Olivia murmured quietly,
“I just… reached out.”
And, as expected, Cryer caught that whisper—so faint it was like an ant crawling.
“Just?”
“Yeah. Just…”
Though it wasn’t really an answer at all, it was truly all she could say.
She hadn’t stretched out her hand with any particular thought or intention.
Cryer’s lips curved into a faint smile as he looked down at Olivia’s round forehead, hidden behind her documents.
The first time she’d ever reached for him, she’d given the exact same reply.
“I don’t know—I just reached out.”
In some ways, she was remarkably consistent.
Cryer didn’t press further and changed the subject.
“Aren’t you startled anymore?”
Olivia slowly set aside her documents and rubbed her chest.
“Yeah… I guess I’m getting used to it.”
After all, her heart no longer pounded wildly enough to drop to her stomach or leap out of her mouth like before.
Staring straight at him, Olivia suddenly realized something and said,
“You’re annoyingly handsome.”
Her blunt remark carried a faint sigh, causing Cryer’s eyebrow to twitch upward.
“Annoyingly?”
“Yeah. Useless.”
Despite her harsh assessment, Cryer showed neither disappointment nor anger.
“That’s a first.”
“Being called handsome?”
“No—the ‘annoyingly useless’ part.”
“What, you knew you were handsome?”
“Maybe.”
“What’s with that vague answer?”
Truthfully, Cryer had never properly seen his own face.
He’d never needed to—and never cared to.
Only Greta, the magician’s daughter who had resurrected him and branded him with the ancient god’s slave mark, had once whispered to him:
“You, chosen by the divine, are nothing short of a living, breathing masterpiece of sculpture.”
Olivia narrowed her eyes and studied Cryer carefully.
She realized she’d never once considered his appearance, even when they’d been face to face.
Before her regression, meeting him meant certain death—so scrutinizing his looks had been pointless.
Even after regressing, her mind had been consumed solely with capturing Cryer to prevent the war; she’d had no time to notice his face.
From his straight forehead, where silver hair fell naturally, down to his smooth nose and sharply defined jawline—
“No wonder people say the princess fell for you at first sight, or that you’re her secret lover.”
Frowning deeply, Olivia added with clear displeasure,
“If you didn’t have such annoyingly handsome features, there’d be a lovely tale of how she recognized your talent instantly and kept you close… Talent?”
As the thought slipped out, Olivia abruptly stopped mid-sentence and blinked rapidly.
With each blink, gears clicked neatly into place in her mind, forming a plan.
“Cryer.”
A smile spread across Olivia’s lips—one so wicked it couldn’t possibly be mistaken for innocence.
Facing her directly, Cryer let out a soft chuckle and replied,
“What’s with that vile grin?”
“Vile? Rude… Hmm, ahem.”
Olivia’s face scrunched up at his words, but she quickly smoothed her expression and trailed off—unable to deny it, given how blatantly vile her smile truly was.
She pressed firmly against Cryer’s chest.
“Move aside for now.”
Cryer obediently released her and sat on the opposite sofa, prompting Olivia to sit up straight immediately.
“You said you keep getting stronger, right?”
“Yes.”
“So how strong are you now? Or, better yet—is there any knight in the empire who could defeat you?”
Olivia’s eyes sparkled.
Even a passing parrot could tell she’d already decided on the answer, yet Cryer gave only a starkly honest reply.
“I don’t know every knight in the empire, so I can’t say for certain.”
Olivia’s shoulders slumped, and she leaned back against the sofa.
“Isn’t this exactly when you’re supposed to say, ‘No one can defeat me’?”
“Do you want me to tell pointless lies?”
“Don’t take it so seriously. Hmm.”
She fumbled for a pen and swiftly scribbled a list, then handed it to him.
“Fight each person on this list once. Just so you know in advance.”
Cryer skimmed the list without comment.
Olivia watched him silently, then narrowed her eyes and leaned forward.
“Just in case you’re wondering—”
“I won’t kill them.”
His answer came instantly, leaving Olivia no room to breathe—and she burst out,
“You were planning to kill them?”
Cryer merely gave a light shrug.
“Ever since this happened, I haven’t subdued anyone without killing them.”
His words “since this happened” likely referred to the mark branded on his collarbone, which he unconsciously touched.
“The ancient god craves blood… that’s what you said, right?”
At Olivia’s heavily subdued tone, Cryer responded with a brief, unexpected laugh.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
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