The carriage rattled and shook as it sped along. Adeline, with trembling hands, clenched her eyes shut.
‘I wasn’t just going back for the seal.’
She had intended to grab the seal and find another way out, but Adeline was now helplessly being dragged away by the knights who had come to the villa.
“We will take care of your luggage. Please board the carriage.”
Adeline had hastily put the seal in her small bag, but even that had been taken from her.
‘Won’t they search through the luggage bag?’
Adeline cautiously lifted the curtain inside the carriage.
‘One inside the carriage, five outside.’
Through the window, she saw five knights surrounding the carriage. So many knights for just one woman. Adeline quickly abandoned any thought of escaping.
Initially, she had thought the Duke had finally found her, but the armbands of the knights surrounding her bore the Torpheyo Duke’s insignia.
“We’ve come to escort you. Please tell us if there’s any luggage you’d like to bring.”
Adeline recalled the recent events. The knights maintained a polite demeanor, but they didn’t give her any chance to escape.
Adeline turned her gaze to the knight sitting opposite her in the carriage. Unlike the knights outside, this one was unarmed, merely wearing an armband indicating his affiliation with the Torpheyo household.
It seemed like a warning that as long as Adeline didn’t try to escape, they wouldn’t harm her.
“Sir Knight? Where are you taking me?”
Adeline asked innocently.
“I have orders to bring the Lady to the Duke’s residence.”
From the knight’s response, Adeline surmised that the Duke had returned to his estate and that his memory had returned.
‘Lady?’
Worried that the Duke might have realized she was the Lady of the Creideon family, Adeline felt slightly relieved.
He wouldn’t have called her ‘Lady’ if he knew she belonged to the Creideon family.
‘Just that once at the debutante ball.’
Even the Duke hadn’t recognized her in disguise, let alone recognizing her from their brief encounter at the ball.
Adeline remembered the lies she had told the amnesiac Duke.
“I am a commoner! I fell in love with you without knowing you were a noble, and we had to flee because of our different statuses.”
She had blurted out anything at the time to escape the situation, but now it seemed to be of help. Adeline felt like she had foresight.
‘It’s okay for now.’
Nothing was certain yet.
Even if the Duke’s memory had returned, she had saved and cared for him. Adeline planned to assess the situation and then request to hide as the commoner Del for a while.
After some time, the carriage, which had been running day and night, finally slowed down and stopped.
Adeline, exhausted and asleep from the relentless journey, struggled to open her eyes as light flooded in from the opened door.
Outside the door was the grand ducal residence of the Torpheyo domain.
Adeline followed the butler who came to greet her and stepped into the Duke’s mansion with light steps.
As she walked down the corridors of the mansion, following the butler, Adeline gathered her composure.
‘Stay calm.’
She held her hands neatly together to steady them, but to the servants of the Duke’s mansion, it seemed to convey something else.
“My goodness, she looks like an angel.”
“Did the Duke bring a woman from Horn? And a commoner at that. Is he planning to take her as a mistress?”
“Shh, keep your voice down. And look at how she walks, so upright. One could mistake her for a noble’s daughter.”
“Well, if the Duke himself brought her, no wonder she’s so haughty.”
As Adeline walked along the corridor, she overheard the whispering of the maids. She kept her gaze fixed straight ahead, pretending not to hear.
The servants’ gossip confirmed for Adeline that the Duke still thought of her as the commoner Del.
‘The same man who brandished a knife at me when we first met.’
Now, though she was brought here against her will, Adeline was treated with a certain respect.
Feeling a thrill at how the situation was turning in her favor, yet nervous about this gamble, Adeline sat demurely in the designated seat in the reception room.
Although she appeared calm on the outside, the reality was far different.
In the vast reception room, Adeline was so tense she couldn’t even hold the teacup in front of her.
To hide her trembling hands, she clasped them tightly together.
‘I’m going crazy…’
As if denying her shaking hands, Adeline fixed her gaze into the air.
Thanks to her beauty, the servants merely thought she was leisurely looking out the window.
As time passed, Adeline’s confidence waned. She began to shake her head vigorously, as if trying to dispel her thoughts.
‘Ah, forget it! It’ll work out somehow.’
Adeline felt cornered, facing a do-or-die situation.
If the Duke of Torpheyo didn’t accept her, her fate was clear.
‘Doomed either way, I guess.’
With no immediate escape from the Duke’s pursuit, Adeline’s only choice was to hide behind the Duke and buy time. She pondered what to say to him, her mind in turmoil.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
