“Goooh….”
The underground tomb was silent, and somewhere, a distant wind sound echoed. And a different chill, unlike before, invaded. It seemed to be due to some secretive ventilation passage that she had heard about.
The neatly arranged statues emitted a faint light even in the darkness. The figures placed in front of the statues seemed to come to life, giving her chills.
“Really… Just pretend it’s not…”
Saera’s trembling voice echoed in the quiet graveyard. At that moment,
“Eek!”
Saera, who was looking around, stepped on something under her foot and slipped.
Fortunately, she stumbled but regained her balance. As she illuminated the ground under her foot with the lantern, she was shocked.
She realized at that moment that she was so surprised that she couldn’t even scream.
“I saw improperly buried skeletons. I don’t know if they belong to animals or humans… there must be dozens of them.”
Adele’s words were true!
The next morning.
A carriage with Oswald’s emblem engraved entered through the main gate of the mansion.
At the end of a long road lined with tall trees on both sides, the grand mansion with pointed turquoise roofs on buildings of various sizes gradually revealed its grandeur.
Seeing the familiar scenery outside the carriage, Adele felt a chill unknowingly.
It was the place that stubbornly appeared in her nightmares along with the day when her mother passed away.
Whenever she dreamed of being trapped in this mansion, unable to leave, she felt like she was suffocating to death.
Even during that time, the carriage continued to move towards the center of Oswald’s mansion.
As the coachman stopped the carriage, the door opened.
Outside the door, he, wearing a modest outfit, came out leading the servants to greet them.
“Come on in, Adele.”
Stone Oswald, the protagonist of her nightmares, who guided her and Adele through the garden, led them to the last place.
To be precise, it was a secret chamber inside the greenhouse.
In fact, the wall that looked like a mirror from the outside was the entrance to the secret chamber.
As they entered the secret chamber, the back of the mirror was transparent like a glass window.
From the outside, this place couldn’t be seen, but from here, the landscape inside the greenhouse could be fully enjoyed.
It was still early spring, but the greenhouse was bright and beautiful, filled with blooming flowers and trees.
Adele didn’t know that there was such a secret chamber here.
Of course, to her at the moment, this beautiful scenery didn’t register.
“Where is Tanya?”
“Sit down for now.”
Stone pointed to the fancy tea table and chairs in the center of the secret chamber. There, the finest tea cups, tea, and pastries were prepared. It seemed like an invitation to a tea time.
“Where is Tanya?”
“I told you to sit, Adele. If you want to save Tanya, listen to me first.”
Stone smiled kindly, but madness flickered in his eyes.
Adele reluctantly took a seat.
In reality, what she had to do now was to buy time. Kristen would search the mansion under the pretext of looking for her, until Tanya and the skeletons were found.
“Show me evidence that Tanya is unharmed.”
Clang.
Stone held out a key in front of Adele.
“It’s the key to the place where that woman is trapped somewhere in this mansion. Take it and rescue her when my business is done.”
Adele quickly grabbed the key.
“What is your business?”
“Drinking tea with you. Come on, Adele. Drink. It’s your favorite black tea and cake.”
However, Adele just looked at it and didn’t touch the cup.
“Why, afraid it might be poisoned?”
“Even so, because there are people left.”
Stone laughed as if finding it amusing.
“Well, no one knows me as well as you do. If you’re suspicious, shall I switch and drink it?”
He reached out to the cup in front of Adele.
“Never mind. Just drink yours. I already anticipated that I might end up like this.”
“You’re too suspicious, Miss Adele.”
He drank from the cup in front of him without hesitation. Then he shrugged as if to say, “Are we done now?”
“Can I leave after finishing this tea for real?”
“Of course.”
But Adele didn’t believe it.
“Is the only reason you called me really… just that?”
“Of course not. Forgot? I promised to show you the silver wolf.”
At the mention of the silver wolf, Adele’s pupils shook.
Stone didn’t miss that. He knew her weaknesses better than anyone.
“When you see the one who killed your mother, shoot with your own hands. With that terrifying weapon you’ve hidden all this time.”
Adele felt embarrassed. She had hidden a pistol in her garter for today, afraid that Stone might search her pouch. But it seems he had already noticed.
“Enough. Saving Tanya is the priority now.”
And Adele quickly drank the tea in front of her.
Watching her, Stone’s eyes narrowed subtly.
“Adele, do you know why my wife liked this place?”
When Adele entered this house ten years ago, Stone’s wife had already passed away. There was no portrait left of her who died in a fire at the villa. So Adele knew nothing about her.
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
