To The Eternal Knight (2 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 6
“But…”
Nerea fidgeted with her fingers and looked at her father.
A cold weight settled in her chest. Yet, if only her father would take her side, Nerea could keep her sitting room.
Just then, sunlight streamed in through the large window behind her father. His auburn hair—the same shade she used to think she and her mother shared with him—glinted like gold in the sunlight.
“Enough of that talk. Besides, how long will you keep calling Nerea ‘young lady’? The two of you will be family soon enough.”
His indifferent tone was not on Nerea’s side.
From the moment the bastard daughter’s sitting room became Brienna’s room, the voices of the retainers who had opposed Helen grew quieter. Everything was changing, yet Nerea couldn’t grasp what exactly it was, leaving her frustrated.
Then came a certain day.
“My name means ‘noble enough to shine brightly.'”
During the brief moment the tutor had stepped out, Brienna brought over the thick book the other girl had been reading and pointed to a passage.
It was far too difficult a book for Nerea, who barely knew her letters and could only fumble through picture books.
When Nerea remarked that her name was pretty, Brienna gave a gentle smile.
“Don’t you even know what your name means?”
“It means to grow strong and beautifully!”
Nerea answered confidently. My little countess. All those lovely things her mother had told her—surely they were meant just for her, Nerea.
But the moment Nerea answered, Brienna burst into high-pitched laughter. Humming a strange melody, Brienna circled around Nerea and sang:
“Stupid girl. Just as stupid as ‘Nera.'”
Brienna laughed exactly like a demon. Her deep, vivid blue eyes were filled with chilling malice.
“‘Nerea’ means ‘possession’ in the language of the Secra tribe. You were born just to be treated like that!”
Nerea could endure no more. She jumped up from her seat and shoved Brienna.
Just as tiny Brienna tumbled backward, the door burst open.
“Good heavens, Nerea! What on earth are you doing!”
It was Helen.
.
.
.
By the time her father rushed in, flustered, Nerea had bitten her lip.
Brienna’s loud sobs pierced her heart sharply, yet she didn’t want to apologize first.
At the very least, she wanted to hear an apology first—for mocking her name so carelessly.
But her father listened first to Brienna, who was crying loudly, not to Nerea, who was holding back tears.
“I was reading an old text and showed Nerea what her name means. But since she can’t read properly yet, she must have misunderstood and gotten angry.”
“Nerea, did you really hurt Brienna over something so trivial?”
His eyes, full of reproach, were icy cold.
Nerea swallowed hard. When had her father started looking at her with such eyes? She couldn’t recall at all, and stammered in confusion.
“Father, that’s not it. Brienna said something nasty about my name. Nere, Nerea is…!”
“Nerea.”
It was then that Helen cut Nerea off. Her bright blue eyes stared sharply at her, then slowly took on a strange glint.
“You can’t even pronounce your own name properly. ‘Nera’? That won’t do—it sounds just like a maid’s name.”
Pfft— Someone snickered somewhere.
Nerea quickly lowered her head, afraid tears would spill out. The atmosphere, in which everyone seemed to blame her, hurt as much as being pricked by sharp thorns.
Soon, a strange rumor spread through the count’s estate—comparing Nerea, who enjoyed expensive picture books at will, with Brienna, who read only worn-out, text-heavy volumes.
Frugal and clever Brienna versus foolish and extravagant Nerea.
It had become meaningless to argue who was truly the count’s legitimate daughter.
Helen was the daughter of the House of Tylerbury, apothecary merchants, but had grown wealthy by selling medicinal herbs and salves during the war. Most importantly, she was about to marry Acting Count Esteban, the man currently holding power.
Meanwhile, the bastard daughter—bereft even of her retainers’ protection—was increasingly isolated, appearing ever more frail and foolish.
“I’ve heard the young lady’s health has greatly deteriorated.”
“That sounds rather like you’re blaming me, Baron Zenax.”
Helen responded sharply. Nerea stared blankly at the man.
A retainer with stern features and raven-black hair, as dark as night—Baron Zenax, once her mother’s closest aide—looked down at Nerea and spoke.
“It seems ‘convalescence’ suits her better than mere ‘rest.’ How would it be if we temporarily took the young lady into our home?”
It was just a few days before they were scheduled to go on a retreat to the autumn estate in the southwest. Helen agreed without a second thought, her face fresh and relieved—as if she’d just shaken off a burden.
[This is the timeline separator]“Please call me Baron Zenax.”
It was a kind household.
“Young lady, you mustn’t pick out your carrots.”
The Baron, respectful yet utterly unforgiving when it came to picky eating.
“You must be exhausted from your training. Little me, too—I’ll share some chocolate with you. And let’s sing a lullaby together for the baby in my belly. It’ll be our secret.”
The warm Baroness, who would secretly offer chocolates and suggest singing lullabies.
“What kind of young lady picks out carrots? Seriously, are you really going to become a count someday? Ow! Father, that hurts!”
Of course, there was also the eldest son, Johann Zenax—cold and blunt as stale white bread—but at only seven years old, he couldn’t possibly cause trouble.
“Young lady, I’m terribly sorry. Johann hasn’t quite learned proper manners yet.”
“That’s all right, Baron. I’m very magnanimous. And Johann is just like white bread—so I understand completely.”
Every time Nerea repeated something she’d picked up somewhere, both the Baron and Baroness would simultaneously bow their heads and tremble slightly.
“Well, that’s… truly impressive.”
The Baron’s voice quivered a little. Assuming he was moved by her words, Nerea also felt proud.
Baron Zenax, who had taken Nerea to the training yard to practice the same drills her mother once taught her, often made her laugh with his daily expressions of astonishment.
“Oh, young lady! How did you manage this?”
“You did it yourself yesterday, Baron.”
Every time she swung the wooden practice sword—its handle worn smooth and dark—Nerea thought of her mother. Would her own portrait someday really hang beside her mother’s in the lord’s chamber?
The Baron’s eyes grew wider each day, and soon he began teaching Nerea with burning enthusiasm.
Sometimes he brought difficult books and read aloud to her. On those occasions, Nerea would often escape to her second-favorite place—alongside the training yard.
“Thanks to you, young lady, our pretty breads won’t get a chance to run away.”
It was right before the warm hearth.
The head cook and maids, who always baked beautiful bread, hoped the little lady would beam brightly whenever the delicious aroma filled the air.
But whenever the bread came out, the young lady wore a sullen expression, as if something displeased her.
“Oh dear, young lady. We tried so hard to bake you something delicious and pretty today, but all the loaves burst open! Just wait a moment—we’ll make you new ones that are both lovely and tasty.”
The maids lamented as they pulled the bread from the oven, but Nerea’s heart swelled with joy, and she cried out:
“I like burst bread even more! Burst bread is plump inside and beautifully honest!”
It was the first time the young lady had shouted like that. The Baroness stared at Nerea in surprise.
Thinking the Baroness hadn’t understood due to her unclear pronunciation, Nerea hurried to her room, fetched a picture book, and flipped it open to explain.
“Burst bread spills out because it’s packed full inside, right?”
The book’s corners were frayed from frequent reading. At the spot her small finger pointed, the words read:
—”O plumpest bread in the world! You’re not plain—you’re so full of goodness that your richness spills right out!”
For just an instant, Johann’s face flushed crimson as he tilted his head to glance at the picture book.
“Hey! Young lady!”
Johann Zenax huffed, his ears burning red with embarrassment as he shouted:
“So when you called me ‘white bread,’ it wasn’t because I’m handsome—it was because…!”
“Because you’re pale and stiff.”
Though, deep down, he was actually a bit soft—just like white bread. But Nerea deliberately left that part unsaid.
At the prim young lady’s reply, laughter instantly spread throughout the entire Zenax household.
.
.
.
“Had I known the young lady favored burst bread, I’d have baked filled loaves for you long ago.”
That night, after smoothing out the bedding, the Baroness sat beside Nerea’s bed with a maid’s help.
Though her swollen belly seemed burdensome, the Baroness never failed to visit both Johann’s and Nerea’s rooms each night to sing lullabies.
In her soft, gentle voice, Nerea mumbled:
“I do like them. But I can’t eat filled bread—it makes me look like a baby.”
At those words, the Baroness’s eyes widened briefly. Her lovely brown eyes quickly swept over Nerea.
There was a trace of timidity about her. Though being tall for her age was typical of House Esteban, her unusually thin frame was concerning. Just as the Baroness’s gaze traveled to Nerea’s worn clothes—
“But, my lady…”
“Yes, young lady?”
“When will the baby come?”
At that cheerful question, the Baroness smiled faintly and reached out toward Nerea.
“Hmm… probably in another two months or so.”
Two months. Nerea silently repeated the words to herself.
Winter would come in two months. She hoped she could stay here until then. Just then, the Baroness playfully asked:
“Would you like to feel it once?”
Nerea jerked in surprise and stared at the Baroness.
“May I really touch it?”
“Of course. But be gentle—stroke it softly and say it’s pretty, so you don’t startle the baby.”
Nerea’s small, tense hands trembled. Slowly, very slowly, she brushed her fingers against the Baroness’s belly. The Baroness smiled warmly at the childlike warmth of her touch.
“Oh my!”
Suddenly, the Baroness looked down at her belly with a startled expression.
When yandere male lead believes she loves him — but she never did
“How dare you!”
“How dare you make me love you, only to cast me aside as nothing more than a friend?!?
“I will never accept that.”
“I will never let you return to him.”
“Even if I have to burn myself to ashes.”
“Even if I must shatter my purity, my dignity, my very soul.”
“I will never let you escape me!”
This was the first novel that introduced me to the matriarchal genre. I’ve read it three times already!
At first, the male lead despised the female lead. Later, he misunderstood that she liked him, so he condescendingly and reluctantly reciprocated her feelings.
Then, he suddenly discovered that she was kind to everyone in the same way, and there was already someone she cherished in her heart, and that person was not him.
The male lead couldn’t believe it, he became angry and crazy. He was determined to capture her body and heart by any means necessary.
Synopsis:
Want to see how a green tea bitch male lead falls in love with the female lead?
Want to see how he flirtatiously pursues the female lead?
Want to see how he gets slapped in the face repeatedly?
The male lead is a green tea bitch, a poisonous lotus, jealous, ruthless, unscrupulous, with a venomous heart, and he’s also a delusional maniac.
The female lead is righteous, positive energy-filled, kind, a holy mother.
Let’s see how two people with extreme personalities come together~
_____
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