Cassis leaned back in a chair in the dining room, staring at the lavish lunch spread before him.
‘Always like this at meal times.’
The excuses for not dining together were varied. One day it’s illness, another day it’s being full from snacks during tea time.
He wondered what excuse she would use today, his mouth already bitter with anticipation.
Just then, there was a knock.
It seemed Adeline’s maid had returned. Cassis permitted entry, and the maid entered, bowing her head.
“Duke, Lady Del says she won’t be dining. She’s worried the dress won’t fit for tomorrow’s banquet.”
‘Another excuse today…’
Cassis’s mouth curled bitterly.
Since the last dress fitting, Adeline had been avoiding him, not just at meal times but everywhere.
He knew she would refuse today’s invitation too. He could read her mind clearly now.
When he had ordered that absurd dress, when he announced she would attend the banquet amidst the nobles.
Even when they accidentally met, her consistently distorted expressions said it all.
Cassis wondered if seeing her twisted in pain would quell the sense of betrayal that consumed him.
‘Not at all.’
He thought of Adeline in the bedroom, clutching the napkin in his hand.
That night, she had turned her back to him in bed, the occasional shake of the bed the only sign of her sobbing.
Cassis knew his actions weren’t befitting of a nobleman.
Nothing seemed to ease his mind.
Tormenting her, using others to humiliate her – it was all revenge against Adeline.
It was all his doing, but it trampled his feelings mercilessly.
‘Pathetic.’
It had been a month since Cassis returned to the duke’s residence. He still found his reflection in the mirror alien.
It was as if he was still living in that summer with her.
‘Adeline wants Mel, not me.’
After returning from the gambling house, Cassis grew to dislike himself whenever he saw Adeline. Especially when he saw despair mixed with longing in her eyes.
“Mel? I am Duke Thorpeo. Not the Mel you tried to use.”
Watching her despair, he felt himself sinking too.
Cassis couldn’t shake the feeling that Mel, who had lived for only one season, dominated him more than the Duke Thorpeo who had lived for decades.
So, he accepted all her excuses, knowing she was avoiding him.
He pretended to call her for meals, not visiting her bedroom under the guise of being busy with work.
He thought distancing might help understand the cause of his displeasure.
But her gaze, always filled with contempt, only deepened his gloom.
It felt like being dragged deeper into an abyss, weighed down by an anchor.
Thinking of Adeline, Cassis lost all appetite for his meal.
“I’ll have the meal reheated for you. Then…”
As the maid began to gather the cooled dishes onto a trolley, Cassis suddenly rose from his seat.
“Duke?”
The maid looked surprised as Cassis stood, seemingly about to leave without even starting his meal.
“I’m done with the meal.”
He placed the napkin he had been holding back onto the table.
Then, turning to the still bewildered maid, he asked.
“What’s Del’s schedule like today?”
“Her evening is free in preparation for tomorrow’s banquet.”
This couldn’t go on forever.
“Tell her I’ll come to her room tonight.”
In the Duke’s bedroom.
Adeline was in the midst of having her hair brushed after her bath.
Knock-knock-
The bedroom door opened, and a maid approached her.
“The Duke said he would come to the bedroom.”
Adeline, already in the Duke’s bedroom, found it odd that Cassis would announce his visit like this.
Having avoided him during meal times, she didn’t welcome the maid’s message.
“Tell him I’m unwell and went to bed early.”
The upcoming banquet was headache enough.
Adeline, usually reclusive in society, worried someone might recognize her.
She indeed felt unwell; there hadn’t been a peaceful day since entering the Duke’s residence.
While she did deceive Cassis when he lost his memory, his treatment of her was too harsh and ruthless.
‘Why won’t he just let me go?’
Her grey eyes clouded further.
Lost in thought, Adeline noticed the maid reflected in the mirror. The maid who relayed the Duke’s message still stood there.
“He said he would come to the bedroom.”
Despite having relayed the message.
Adeline struggled to control her rising emotions, unusual for her.
The maids’ disregard and subtle mockery, though usually ineffective, frustrated her now. Being mere ‘Peasant Del’, she had no way to retaliate.
But today, she couldn’t bear it. Adeline fixed her gaze on the maid in the mirror.
“I said I went to bed early because I’m sick.”
The maid flinched at Adeline’s irritable tone.
“I will relay your illness.”
Her momentary flinch passed. She then added.
“Shall I help you get ready?”
‘Ha.’
Adeline irritably set down the brush. The maid’s behavior was expected. The Duke’s saying he would come to the bedroom meant preparing for bed. A concubine had no right to refuse.
‘He hasn’t come for a while.’
After the dress fitting the next day, Adeline swallowed her rising tears. She felt so miserable having to share a bed with Cassis, with nowhere else to go.
In the Duke’s residence, the only space she was allowed at night was his bedroom.
Thankfully, since then, Cassis had not once visited the bedroom.
Adeline could relax her tense mind, at least at night, with Cassis’s absence.
‘He won’t come if I said I’m unwell.’
Cassis hadn’t returned for any excuse during meal times. Adeline trusted he wouldn’t visit and surrendered to the bed.
But Adeline couldn’t fall asleep, even deep into the night. She had excused herself today, saying she wasn’t feeling well, but the day to worry about sharing a bed with him had come again.
Her head, already throbbing, felt even more constricted.
In the silent room, filled only with the sound of her tossing and turning.
The sound of footsteps approaching from afar sent a wave of anxiety through Adeline.
As if to confirm her fears, the bedroom door soon opened without a knock. There was only one person who would enter like this: Cassis.
‘Did he really come to sleep with me?’
As Cassis’s footsteps drew nearer, Adeline’s anxiety grew.
She was convinced he had come for the bed. He had always initiated contact without regard for her wishes, bringing her shame.
‘I said I wasn’t feeling well.’
Cassis, who had told her to fulfill her duties as a concubine, was bound to insist on sharing the bed.
Adeline was terrified of Cassis. The thought of being helplessly at his mercy filled her with despair.
‘He’s going to wake me up, for sure.’
Adeline pretended to sleep, planning to resist as long as possible if he tried to wake her forcefully.
Suddenly, she felt the mattress sink.
Involuntarily, Adeline shivered with fear. But minutes passed without incident.
‘What’s he up to?’
Expecting Cassis to wake her and fulfill his desires, Adeline was puzzled when he just sat at the edge of the bed, doing nothing.
The longer he remained motionless, the longer it felt for Adeline.
As time passed, her anxiety only grew. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably.
While Adeline worried her heartbeat might be heard, the bed slightly moved again.
‘I knew it.’
Adeline braced for the moment she desperately wanted to avoid. She tightly closed her eyes.
But contrary to her expectations, Cassis’s footsteps soon moved away from her.
Click-
The bedroom door closed again. In disbelief, Adeline opened her eyes and looked around the room.
The dark bedroom was as silent as if no one had been there.
Adeline found it hard to understand why Cassis left without demanding anything.
‘Why did he just leave?’
She curled up under the covers.
The headache that had kept her awake was long gone, but now she had no way to calm her restless mind.
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
