Trampled and Broken (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 18
Three years had passed since Aslan began living as a hostage in the capital.
He had watched Hestia grow into a lady more closely than anyone else.
If only they had met every day, could he have come to see her as a younger sister?
Just when he thought he might forget her, Hestia would appear—and each time, she had grown taller and more beautiful.
And just as she had changed, so had he—from a boy into a man.
He had grown much taller, and thanks to never skipping a day of training, his frame had become broader and stronger.
Hestia once joked that she’d get a stiff neck from looking up at him, and each time, Aslan would silently lower his body to meet her gaze without complaint.
Whenever he quietly gazed into those violet eyes, Aslan often felt a strange possessiveness welling up inside him, forcing him to constantly suppress it so it wouldn’t show.
But it never faded—it coiled within him like a serpent.
‘Hestia.’
Her name, which he could never bring himself to utter aloud, burned through his body like heat.
Around that time, Aslan learned that shortly after Yorgos ascended the throne, before Hestia awakened as a saintess, the king had considered arranging her betrothal to Kalati.
And he couldn’t help but think—if only she hadn’t become the saintess.
Perhaps then, they might have been together much sooner.
It was around then that the upheaval began.
“Seal the city gates! Mobilize all forces to prevent whatever dwells in the north from crossing into the south!”
Even isolated as he was, Aslan heard rumors that the winter’s advance in the north was growing ominous.
Yorgos, who Aslan had assumed had forgotten he even lived in the palace, summoned him.
“How long has it been since you came to the capital?”
“This year marks my third year.”
“Three years… Hmm. Then it’s time for you to return.”
Aslan doubted his own ears—he couldn’t understand why Yorgos would release him from his hostage status without any conditions.
Yorgos continued.
“The situation in the north is dire. The winter’s advance is unlike anything we’ve seen before.”
Deep wrinkles lined Yorgos’s face from his constant frowning, making him look far older than his actual age.
A queasy feeling rose in Aslan’s stomach—an inexplicable anxiety began gnawing at him.
Yet Aslan calmly asked,
“Is this intelligence reliable?”
“A messenger your father sent himself just delivered the news moments ago. You’ll find him waiting outside—speak with him on your way out.”
Only then did Aslan’s brow furrow slightly.
He knew his father, Wayne Kalati, better than anyone.
No matter how dire the circumstances, his father never showed weakness.
If he had sent such a report personally, it meant the winter’s advance was truly catastrophic.
It felt as if someone were tightening their grip around his throat.
Aslan cleared his throat with a few short coughs and finally managed to ask,
“What exactly is happening?”
“Instead of rain, ice pours from the sky, and blizzards mixed with snow rage day after day. No matter how many layers they wear, the cold seeps deep into their bones. People are freezing to death by the dozens daily, yet the ground is so frozen they can’t even bury the dead.”
Wayne Kalati wasn’t the sort to overlook early warning signs.
That meant the weather must have changed abruptly, without any prior indication.
Aslan’s expression turned grave.
“He also says monster sightings have worsened significantly, but our forces are too stretched thin to hold them all back.”
Frowning impatiently, Aslan pressed further.
“Does Your Majesty have no intention of sending reinforcements to the north?”
Yorgos didn’t answer immediately. After tapping his fingernails thoughtfully against the armrest of the throne for a moment, he gave Aslan an answer he didn’t want to hear.
“I’m still considering it.”
Aslan swallowed a bitter scoff inwardly.
As always, this king was surely calculating costs and benefits with cold precision.
As if reading Aslan’s thoughts, Yorgos added resentfully,
“Don’t look at me like that. From my position, I have no choice but to deliberate carefully.”
Yorgos poured out the frustration he’d long bottled up.
“A single decision from me sends hundreds, even thousands, into uproar. I’ve already strained our resources supporting the north—and even that drew heavy criticism. Now, it’s simply unsustainable. Isn’t it like pouring water into a bottomless barrel?”
Yorgos wasn’t wrong—no one knew when this winter would ever end.
“I need an irrefutable reason to act. Otherwise, I cannot move so easily.”
In that instant, a thought struck Aslan like lightning.
‘A reason compelling enough to move the king.’
Unconsciously, Aslan held his breath. Only one person came to mind.
‘If it’s that person…’
He believed they could help him, Wayne, and the entire north.
His fists clenched tightly.
[This is the timeline separator]After his audience with Yorgos, familiar faces greeted him outside.
“My lord!”
“Dean? And Martin?”
“It’s been a long time.”
“Yes, it’s me—Dean! Look how you’ve grown!”
His old friend, who felt like an older brother, reddened around the eyes—an uncharacteristic sight for someone of his large build.
Seeing this, Aslan simply gave a faint smile.
Though it had been ages since they last met, Aslan merely bumped fists lightly with them as a greeting.
“I’m glad you’re both safe.”
“It’s just our faces that look fine—just our faces! Our bodies are a complete mess!”
Compared to Martin, Dean was far more easygoing, dramatically grimacing as if in unbearable pain.
That exaggerated complaint was Dean’s way of showing affection.
But Aslan’s expression darkened slightly.
Swallowing hard as if forcing something down, he spoke in a rough voice.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I…”
Seeing Aslan uncharacteristically trailing off, Martin elbowed Dean in the ribs as a silent cue.
“What do you mean? We don’t think that way at all.”
Taking Martin’s cue, Dean stammered and spoke again.
“We expected this. Over the past three years, we’ve talked about it countless times—how you’d surely be digging your own grave alone like this.”
“Isn’t that far too disrespectful to address the young lord so casually, Sir Dean?”
“Well, I didn’t mean it that way.”
Dean scratched the back of his head awkwardly, then bowed his head deeply toward Aslan.
“You must have felt the most burdened and distressed of all. Please don’t blame yourself.”
No one resented him—they only understood.
Recognizing the sincerity behind Dean’s words, Aslan simply gave a nod.
Though his heavy heart hadn’t lightened at all, he did it so Dean and Martin wouldn’t feel awkward or guilty around him.
Taking a shaky breath, Aslan quickly composed himself and asked,
“What’s the situation outside like?”
“…It’s serious.”
Dean’s expression hardened instantly, as if he’d never been joking just moments before.
‘So the king wasn’t exaggerating after all.’
Aslan gestured for the two knights to follow him.
He felt it was inappropriate to discuss such matters here.
He led Dean and Martin toward the palace quarters where he stayed.
“You’ve been living… in a place like this all this time? How could they treat the sole heir of House Kalati like this?!”
“It was livable.”
There were visitors.
The words nearly escaped his lips—that it hadn’t been as lonely as they imagined—but Aslan swallowed them back.
Instead, he changed the subject.
“Now tell me—what’s the current situation in the north? With House Kalati?”
Dean’s thick eyebrows drew so close together they nearly touched. He leaned in and whispered in a low voice.
“The gravest issue is that His Grace the Duke has been injured.”
Aslan’s clenched jaw tightened further, his jawline sharpening. His lips turned pale from lack of blood flow.
“…What?”
Stunned by the unexpected news, Aslan’s reaction came slowly.
His golden eyes moved sluggishly as he studied the knights’ faces.
Dean’s expression was utterly grim; Martin, ever stoic, looked even darker than usual.
From their reactions, Aslan’s desperate hope that it wasn’t serious crumbled completely.
For a moment, Aslan stood frozen, showing no reaction at all—then his face twisted in anguish.
It felt as if an invisible hand were choking the breath from his throat.
His father had always been the one who stood at the forefront to protect him—and House Kalati.
Aslan had grown up watching that unwavering back.
As long as he followed his father, he’d always felt safe.
But now, his father—like that.
Suddenly, his breathing hitched.
Frowning deeply, Aslan reached up and rubbed his throat.
His touch grew increasingly frantic.
He scratched so hard that his skin quickly turned red and inflamed.
“My lord, you’ll hurt yourself. Please stop.”
Only when Dean and Martin grabbed his wrists did Aslan finally cease the self-harming gesture.
Though his heart still churned with turmoil, he clung desperately to his reason and slowly exhaled before quietly asking,
“How… how is his condition?”
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
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