Unable To Escape (10 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 10
The darkness that swallowed Alicia in an instant was invisible yet undeniably real; though intangible, it possessed the power to render her utterly immobile.
Trapped within that encroaching shadow, Alicia couldn’t even sink to her knees—frozen upright, she could only gape helplessly as a demonic hand stretched toward her.
【Ali… glrk… ci… a….】
Just as six sharp, pointed fingers reached to seize her—
something flew in from nowhere and smashed into the demon’s torso.
-BOOM!
Only after the demon’s body crashed violently into something nearby did Alicia’s body finally break free from the darkness’s shackles and collapse onto the floor.
“Hah… hah… hah…”
Still on the ground, gasping as if strangled, her shoulders heaving with ragged breaths, Alicia’s body only then began to tremble uncontrollably.
‘I almost died.’
Truly—she had nearly been torn apart and killed by that demon.
Wrapping her arms tightly around her shoulders, she curled herself into a tight ball.
It was terrifying.
No—horrifying.
She tried desperately to calm her ragged breathing and quaking limbs, but the sheer terror of having stared directly into a monster forged from the world’s purest malice refused to fade easily.
What on earth… what had just happened?
How could a demon—one that should have been beyond the northern border—appear here?
And how could that demon speak human words… no, call out her very name?
Fear and confusion tangled together, choking her like a noose.
“Alicia… Your Highness. Are you all right?”
Then, something just as impossible as the demon’s sudden appearance happened right before Alicia’s eyes.
Still curled up on the floor, staring blankly downward, she slowly lifted her head upon hearing a voice she absolutely should not have heard.
“Y-you… why?”
It was Killian.
Kneeling on one knee as if genuinely concerned for her, his face close as he checked on her—his presence felt even more unreal than the demon’s.
“How dare they…”
Seeing Alicia still trembling, unable to sort through her fear and confusion, Killian gritted his teeth, and clear, burning anger began to fill his emerald-green eyes.
‘Why?’
Alicia rose slightly, watching dumbfounded as Killian moved behind her, shielding her protectively with his back turned toward her.
Oddly enough, just watching his back somehow calmed her trembling.
The sight of him—so unreal in his fury and protectiveness on her behalf—robbed her fear of its power over her.
Killian launched himself at the demon.
Each time he swung his sword, the air itself tore apart; each time the demon howled, the earth seemed to flip over.
As their battle grew fiercer, the greenhouse descended into chaos—but Alicia could only stare blankly, her gaze fixed on Killian’s back as if floating in a dream.
“Your Highness! Princess Alicia! Snap out of it!”
“Guards, protect Her Highness!”
“You damn wolves! Quickly, form a shield around our lord! If any of you slack off here, I’ll personally execute you!”
The commotion of Lasan Castle’s people and Badulf’s troops mixing together sounded distant, as if coming from far away.
And then—
-KABOOM!
“The Duke has defeated the demon!”
“Stop standing around gawking like fools and move, you idiots!”
“I told you not to casually drop formal speech!”
With the demon down, Killian turned his back to it.
Against the backdrop of the greenhouse now reduced to rubble, his approach toward her—breath perfectly steady, expression calm—looked inexplicably beautiful.
“Your Highness, you must get up now.”
Amy, who had just moments ago wrapped her arms tightly around Alicia as if to shield her with her own body, whispered softly.
Taking the devoted head maid’s hand, Alicia staggered to her feet—and just then, Killian approached and knelt on one knee before her.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
“…Huh?”
First worry, then an apology?
From Killian?
Just as Alicia’s confusion began anew, his next words yanked her sharply back to reality.
“It was due to my subordinates’ negligence.”
“…You mean that thing’s sudden appearance?”
“Yes. It seems the binding that held the demon grew loose while we were moving swiftly back.”
“So… that demon was the reason for your rapid return, Your Grace?”
“That’s correct.”
A clean, straightforward apology—no excuses, no deflection.
Alicia realized then that Killian’s worry and anger hadn’t been for her sake at all—it had been for his men.
He’d merely happened to chase after the escaped demon and coincidentally saved her.
‘…And I didn’t even realize that.’
Understanding now that her own confusion—not his actions—had been absurd, Alicia closed her eyes tightly and took a long, deep breath.
‘Right. There’s no way this man was genuinely worried about me. He was just concerned that if I got hurt, his men would be punished.’
Badulf’s unit had been personally selected and trained by Killian himself.
Some of them had even fought alongside him back when he was the Duke’s illegitimate son, scraping through battlefields.
So of course he’d stepped in immediately to deal with the demon and apologize to her—to prevent any unfair blame falling on his men.
‘What a ridiculous misunderstanding… Good thing I didn’t say it out loud.’
Though, admittedly, even if she had voiced such an absurd thought aloud, no one here would have dared mock her—but she would have been too embarrassed to show her face.
“Your Grace! It’s vanishing again!”
A shout came from where they’d been handling the demon.
Killian stood and swiftly walked toward the spot where the demon had fallen.
“What’s going on?”
Ignoring Amy’s attempt to hold her back, Alicia followed Killian—and witnessed yet another sight that defied all common sense.
The demon’s corpse, which had left such a loud, dramatic mark upon collapsing, now began dissolving from its extremities into black smoke, slowly dispersing into the air.
The remains transformed rapidly into black smoke, working inward from the limbs—until, in an instant, nothing was left.
Even though demons were creatures that defied divine order, they were still living beings—and like all living things, their deaths should have left traces proving their existence.
Remembering how, back when she was Empress, she’d signed budget requests every winter for disposing demon corpses from the Vinion Duchy, Alicia asked Killian,
“This wasn’t an ordinary demon, was it?”
“No.”
“So that’s why you had to capture it alive.”
“Precisely.”
“…Am I to understand your unusually straightforward answers mean there’s more to this?”
“Would you like me to report further?”
“…No. I don’t have that authority.”
This was a matter reserved solely for the Emperor and his heir.
A mere princess—certainly not the next in line to the throne—had no right to demand such a report in advance of protocol.
“I apologize, Your Highness.”
“There’s no need to apologize for something beyond your authority.”
“That’s not what I’m apologizing for.”
“Then even less so. One apology is enough. Your failure to properly contain the demon is forgiven—since you saved my life.”
“…”
“Actually… thank you. For saving my life.”
Regardless of his reasons, Killian had indeed saved her.
Had he not arrived in time, she surely would have been ripped apart and killed by the demon.
“If you feel the life I saved wasn’t enough…”
“That’s not it either.”
“Huh?”
Alicia had been about to ask what else he might want in return for saving her—but she fell silent.
Aside from that… what else could there be? She couldn’t think of any mistake she’d made that would warrant an apology from Killian.
Seeing her eyes widen in utter bewilderment, head tilting slightly in confusion, Killian’s lips twitched upward—just for a moment—before quickly returning to neutral.
“Because I destroyed Your Highness’s cherished greenhouse garden.”
“…What?”
“The roses are unharmed, but… with the walls collapsed, they might freeze to death soon.”
“Th-that’s something the garden’s caretakers can probably fix…”
Killian… was apologizing for destroying the greenhouse garden—of all places, one filled with blooming flowers?
The same man who, in her past life, had carelessly ripped out every flower she’d prepared?
Could it be… that I’m so shocked I’m mishearing things?
“…Good heavens, His Grace is actually…”
Hearing Amy beside her gasp in shock, one hand covering her mouth as she muttered those words, Alicia realized she hadn’t misheard after all.
And furthermore…
“Might I ask your permission to apologize properly for this incident?”
“D-did you… just smile?”
Killian had smiled.
This man—who always seemed so coldly composed, as if not even a blade could draw blood from him—was now offering her a gentle, soft smile.
Alicia, still unaware she’d spoken her thoughts aloud, stared at him in the same stunned disbelief as when the demon had first attacked her.
All she remembered of Killian’s expressions were ones of irritation, boredom, disgust—various shades of negativity.
Of course, he usually wore a blank expression, so even those rare negative looks had been uncommon enough…
But… smiling? Killian?
“Hah!”
“Y-your Grace?”
“My lord?”
“D-Duke, did you just… smile?”
“Am I dreaming…?”
Alicia wasn’t the only one shocked—everyone present, from her own attendants to Diaz’s “wolves,” stared at Killian with utterly dumbfounded expressions.
Some even poked their own eyes, wondering if their vision had betrayed them.
“I’d like to hear Princess Alicia’s answer.”
“Ah…”
Yet Killian alone showed no sign of disturbance.
If anything, his smile softened further as he gently took Alicia’s hand and kissed the back of it, saying,
“If you’ll accept my apology… might I be invited to dine with you this evening? Would you grant me that honor?”
“…Y-yes.”
Not even fully registering what she’d just heard or what she’d replied, Alicia simply nodded.
At her answer, Killian’s emerald eyes gleamed like a predator that had just spotted its prey—but no one present was composed enough to notice, which was, perhaps, Alicia’s one tiny misfortune.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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Could Killian have gone back in time???? That’s really strange
She loves this man? In every single flashback he has been an unfeeling D-bag towards her. What about him could she possibly love? Please move on.