Perhaps the aftermath of the meeting with Montaner Grand Duke hasn’t completely faded yet, or did I blurt out nonsense because of it?
Liz quickly returned to the main topic.
“Please, I beg you. Leave the decision about my in-laws to me. It would be better for everyone to see it that way.”
“People’s opinions probably don’t matter.”
He remained firm, but not as much as before.
“……What will you do if I leave it to you?”
No. He wasn’t as firm now.
Though his attitude suddenly softened, Liz felt she couldn’t miss this moment.
“I’ll give appropriate punishment my way.”
“Being lenient is troublesome. Lillia Verium tried to harm my proclaimed woman, so she can’t escape a serious charge in any way.”
“I won’t be lenient. Trust me and leave it to me.”
“…….”
Hershis seemed to be contemplating, but Liz was confident that he would agree.
Soon, he made up his mind, his gaze hardened.
“Fine. I’ll entrust the decision to you.”
“Really? Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Liz’s mouth widened into a big smile. She was pleased to have overcome his stubbornness.
So, when he said the next words, she unknowingly accepted them willingly.
“In return, skip Chapter 2.”
“I will.”
The midday sunlight was too strong for the woman who emerged to the surface after about ten days.
To prevent her eyes from becoming blind, the woman made a makeshift sunshade. She seemed a bit thinner.
As she was about to take her first step, another woman waiting some tens of steps away rushed towards her.
“You’ve been through a lot, Miss Lillia.”
Monica draped a coat over her shoulders. Then, turning away, she wiped away tears with the sleeve.
Lillia’s appearance was a mess.
Her once vibrant and well-groomed golden hair was now coarse and unkempt. Her skin, untouched by the sun, almost looked bluish white. Her fingernails were either bitten or scratched against a wall, all crumpled and torn.
Monica, not particularly affectionate towards the young lady, shed tears at this moment.
“Let’s go, quickly, and eat something.”
Monica wrapped the young lady’s slender shoulders with the coat and led her towards the entrance.
At the entrance, two guards stood holding a long spear.
Already informed, they didn’t hinder Lillia and Monica’s steps.
Exiting through the door, a spacious canal with an arched bridge appeared.
Suddenly, she recalled what she heard from a colleague who shared the underground prison.
‘Without becoming a corpse, you can’t cross the bridge.’
“Hoohoo.”
Lillia laughed.
She was crossing this place with perfectly fine legs, not being carried as a corpse.
Should I call this luck? Or perhaps a curse?
Lillia glanced at the worn-out shoes stepping on the stone bridge and the slow flow of water underneath.
Monica suddenly stopped. Lillia raised her head, following Monica’s perplexed gaze.
Someone was there.
‘Wait, who was that person?’
Lillia’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Perhaps due to living in darkness and illusions for too long, her mind didn’t function readily.
“Who’s that?”
“Well… It seems like a big lady…”
Even Monica, with her clear mind, couldn’t be certain.
Lillia carefully observed the opponent.
She couldn’t believe that this mature and elegant person was the same as the older sister she knew, full of tricks and weaknesses.
It wasn’t just about appearances.
Everything exuded an imposing and dignified aura, wrapping around Liz.
Could this change happen in just about ten days after leaving the royal palace?
Lillia doubted it.
Her sister’s transformation began much earlier. Like a chick breaking out of an egg, her sister awakened something within herself.
‘Yes, I already knew it a long time ago.’
But she didn’t admit it. She just thought it was a momentary change.
Anyone can change for a very brief moment. Like a rubber band that stretches and quickly returns to its original position when let go. That’s what being human means.
However, my sister was different.
She didn’t return to her original self. She permanently deviated from the original orbit.
I should have admitted that a bit earlier. If I had, that place could have become mine.
“Ah… Hello, Miss Lillia.”
Monica bowed her head politely.
Lillia didn’t bow. It was her last shred of dignity.
“Tara. I’ll take you there.”
Lillia said.
She looked at the elegant carriage behind her.
It was fortunate that her own carriage wasn’t in the same place. Someone might have thought it was a baggage carriage.
Monica looked at Lillia with eyes asking what she should do.
“That’s right.”
Lillia brushed off Monica’s hand. Then, confidently, she approached the carriage, grabbed the coachman’s hand as if it were natural, and got on the carriage first.
‘She should get on first.’
Lillia had thrown away such hypocritical manners long ago. At the moment she lost the will to live and ingested poison.
“You go on your carriage.”
Looking at Monica hesitating, Lillia ordered and then got on her carriage.
She sat proudly by the window facing the right direction. When Liz sat across from her, she met Liz’s gaze steadily. There were no emotions like guilt, self-reproach, or submission in Liz’s gaze.
In the midst of the silent tranquility, only meaningful smiles exchanged.
The voice of the coachman, coming through the open window, broke the silence.
“Where shall we go, the future Empress Mama?”
“Ineid Cliff.”
Liz said.
It was the place where her character met her end in the original work.
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
