Trampled and Broken (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 25
Hestia decided to entrust her end to Aslan.
‘That’s the only atonement I can offer.’
Aslan believed that all the people of Kalati who died during the Great Wave were because of the oracle Hestia had given.
Hestia took a small, trembling breath.
‘It’s true. The fact that I couldn’t stop it… can never be changed.’
Hestia tried to swallow her bitter feelings, but it wasn’t easy.
‘I was a coward.’
She neither properly refused nor accepted Aslan’s request, simply fleeing by avoiding the situation.
〈Wait. I will definitely kill you too.〉
As if her soul had been deeply wounded, she had never forgotten those words for even a moment.
‘If that’s what Aslan wants.’
Perhaps that was the most valuable thing she could offer him.
Hestia did not avoid Aslan’s gaze that poured onto her, as if reaffirming her resolve.
She could see her own reflection in his golden eyes.
But it was so small that she couldn’t tell what expression she was wearing as she looked at him.
‘Well, what does it matter? Aslan wouldn’t care anyway.’
The more miserable she felt, the more pleased he would be.
Since he had no reason to pity her, he might even welcome it if she willingly died.
Thus, Hestia thought that to persuade him, it was crucial to make her offer as enticing as possible.
“If the duke marries me, you won’t just be at a loss.”
Hestia spoke calmly.
“I promise. I won’t bind you in any way.”
But the first condition seemed far from satisfying Aslan.
“Bind…”
His face suggested he thought she could hardly restrain him.
Hestia persisted, repeatedly mentioning the conditions to continue the conversation.
“If you just marry me, I’ll live as if I’m dead. To the point you’ll forget we’re married.”
“Wouldn’t there be no need to forget the fact of marriage if we don’t marry in the first place?”
“That… is true, I suppose.”
Hestia swallowed a sigh and reluctantly nodded.
“But I truly won’t interfere with anything, and I don’t care if you embrace another woman.”
“…What?”
Aslan’s eyes turned fierce.
“Just take me to the north and give me a quiet annex.”
Aslan, who had been leaning back with his arms crossed, seemingly testing how far she would go, clicked his tongue in annoyance.
His face showed an irritation far stronger than before.
“Hoo… The more I hear…”
Hestia, who had been keenly watching Aslan’s reactions, thought his patience with her was about to run out.
So she spoke a little faster.
“And I’ll be far more useful than the duke thinks.”
“Useful… For what, exactly?”
Since things had come to this, Aslan smirked, thinking he might as well hear her out.
He began to scrutinize Hestia before him with narrowed eyes.
It was a merciless gaze, as if appraising an object’s condition and value.
The cold, unfeeling stare made Hestia unconsciously bite the tender flesh inside her mouth.
Not lowering her eyes or bowing her head, keeping her chin firmly raised was the only thing she could do amidst the oppressive aura surrounding her.
Aslan slowly parted his lips and spoke.
“A princess who shamed the royal family, a saint soon to be excommunicated.”
He didn’t raise his voice even once.
He was merely listing Hestia’s circumstances.
She thought she was fine, but hearing it made her feel as if Aslan was wildly stabbing her insides with an awl.
Aslan slowly but precisely pierced her heart.
“Tell me. What of yours is supposedly useful?”
Not a single word was wrong.
Hestia, too, swallowed a hollow laugh at her own situation, knowing she had nothing she could do.
In the end, Hestia played her final card. The only usefulness she had was money.
“I’ll give you all the income from the southern great plains that I own.”
At that moment, as Hestia predicted, a look of surprise crossed Aslan’s face.
“That’s my personal property. So I can dispose of it however I wish.”
It would be an offer Aslan couldn’t easily refuse.
‘The north is always short on food.’
It had been a full thirteen years since winter began.
With the frozen land yielding no crops, the people of Kalati were always short on food.
If the great plains’ crops could be stably supplied, the northerners’ situation would undoubtedly improve.
Perhaps because of that, Aslan pondered with a different reaction than before.
“If you just marry me, I’ll transfer the ownership immediately. So there’s no issue even after my death.”
Aslan’s face twisted.
Though the offer was tempting, the terms being so one-sidedly favorable to him only heightened his suspicion.
“I knew you were naive about the ways of the world.”
He straightened his posture.
He had no intention of biting the bait Hestia dangled right away.
“You provide me all these conveniences, and what do you get?”
“What I get…”
Hestia swallowed dryly.
After a brief pause, she spoke in an uncertain tone.
“Freedom.”
“What? Freedom?”
Ha. A cold sneer slipped from Aslan’s lips.
“Do you, of all women, have the right to enjoy freedom?”
Hestia asked with a clear face.
“Were the words you said to me lies?”
“What did I say to the princess?”
“You said it. When the time comes that I want to give up everything… come to Kalati.”
Aslan’s face looked as if he’d been struck.
He had never dreamed she would remember those words.
Hestia calmly continued.
“Now is that time. The time I want to give up everything.”
Sweat beaded as she subtly gripped her dress hem tightly.
Her heart tightened at the thought that he might have already forgotten.
But… contrary to Hestia’s desperate hope, Aslan’s mood turned sharp in an instant.
His golden eyes glaring at Hestia were as sharp as a hawk’s talons.
“Six years ago. During the Great Wave, do you truly not know what your precious oracle did to the north?”
Her face darkened in an instant.
“Duke… That…”
“And yet you dare say you want to come to the north?”
Aslan let out a hollow laugh.
“You have no shame. Truly impressive.”
Now that he was older, Aslan understood.
That his request as a child had been one-sided, and thus she had no choice but to be greatly troubled.
‘I was too consumed by negative emotions.’
But the heart that had already taken a crooked path had no intention of turning back to the right one.
The emotions that had grown unchecked had now reached an irreversible point.
Thus, his words came out sharp, contrary to reason.
Silence fell between them once more.
Hestia’s heart grew heavy.
She had expected that persuading him would not be easy.
But the realization that her existence was truly nothing more than horrific to him filled her with despair.
‘I still have one last move.’
If Aslan refused even that…
It would be better to give up.
“Then how about this?”
Hestia held her breath and brought out the final words she had prepared.
“I… will die by your hand.”
At that moment, Aslan’s pupils shook.
“What… nonsense is this?”
His voice was hoarse.
Unable to understand why Hestia said such a thing or her intentions, he had no choice but to ask again, knowing he might look foolish.
“You’ll die?”
Hestia looked at Aslan’s seemingly confused face for a moment before swallowing a sigh.
She thought his reaction was because he didn’t believe her words.
“Yes, by your hand.”
So she kindly repeated her offer once more.
Aslan’s lips twisted.
His jaw hardened again, as if he were clenching his teeth.
His mind in turmoil, he repeatedly took deep breaths in and out.
Each time, his chest rose and fell threateningly.
But his heart wouldn’t calm, and eventually, Aslan spoke, suppressing the rising anger with reason.
“You’ll die by my hand?”
That was the limit of the patience Aslan could show.
As if he could no longer hold back, he let out a fierce laugh. Shaking his head, Aslan glared at Hestia with force in his eyes.
Was gold ever such a cold color?
Feeling as if she might suffocate under the fierce aura Aslan exuded, Hestia swallowed dryly.
With eyes gleaming coldly, he spat out his words as if chewing them.
“Well, aren’t you being incredibly generous?”
“Duke Kalati.”
“Listen, princess.”
Aslan cut Hestia off mid-sentence.
“Do you think I, Aslan Kalati, have left you untouched all this time because I couldn’t kill a single woman?”
Cold Male Lead Became My Clingy Husband (Female-Dominant)
Feng Bai Su transmigrated into a matriarchal novel, becoming the sister of the female protagonist and the Seventh Princess of the Feng Ling Kingdom.
After working herself to death in her previous life, finally reincarnating as a princess, she only wanted to be a lazy fish who could eat, sleep, and play.
Until she met the male protagonist from the book, Wei Jing Mo, and he took a liking to her!
Wei Jing Mo is the top young man in Feng Ling City, talented in both appearance and ability, from a prestigious family, with a cold and otherworldly appearance, a figure like the bright moon in the hearts of noble ladies. It was thought that only the most powerful and talented noble lady in Feng Ling City would be worthy of such a brilliant young man. Who knew that this young gentleman would secretly admire the infamous Seventh Princess?
Short scene 1:
Feng Bai Su looked at the young man crying like a pear blossom in the rain before her, and couldn’t help but doubt her life.
Wasn’t the male lead described as a cold and otherworldly figure in the book?
Then who was this poor little thing crying with swollen red eyes and tear-stained face?
Short scene 2:
Wei Jing Mo stared intently at Feng Bai Su who was about to go out, wanting to say, “Be careful on the road.”
Before he could speak, Feng Bai Su suddenly bent down and bit his cheek.
Her peach blossom eyes were full of disdain: “Tsk! You’re so clingy!”
Wei Jing Mo: “…”
A talented fox spirit female lead with a flirtatious appearance but actually abstinent VS A cold-looking but actually naive and clingy little jealous male lead
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