He looked up from the pouch. But Miss René wasn’t there.
“In the end, it came to this.”
René murmured quietly as she looked at the distance in front of her.
While thinking about where Adrian might go, I unknowingly ended up here, to Codel 12.
Passing through the street with many tents, René carefully observed her surroundings.
Drum barrels with a fire lit for each tent, and on top of them, pots covered in greasy stains emitted steaming vapors. Amid the frequent appearances of mice and cockroaches, children used the muddy puddles as a playground, building castles and creating moats. Occasionally, they used that water for washing.
In this place, she had come to Codel 12, even more impoverished than what she had seen through the lens, René clicked her tongue.
In the text that Liz spoke, it seemed understandable that the Emperor wanted to sweep away this street.
“But he’s not that kind of person.”
The Empress said so.
“But people believed he did, without a doubt.”
In the midst of a city plagued by various diseases, where the aesthetics of the city were damaged, anyone with strength would have wanted to push away such a place. It was natural for the Emperor to be accused.
René walked through the street, carefully observing her surroundings.
However, Adrian did not appear until she reached the end of the street.
“Surely, my brother wouldn’t be here.”
Just as she sighed with relief, she suddenly felt movement behind her. Focusing on her, René turned with her hand on the concealed dagger. Then,
“…… Who are you?”
With a cunning face, a girl with a shabby appearance, wearing a worn-out robe, was asking.
René took her hand off the dagger.
“Just… a passerby.”
“Really?”
The girl asked with a face that didn’t dispel suspicion. The way the young girl guarded against strangers seemed unusual. Tipping her head to the side, René asked,
“Do you have a reason not to believe me?”
“A stranger passed by here a little while ago. Just like sister, he covered his face with a robe.”
For a moment, René’s sky-blue eyes flickered.
It wasn’t because she was caught being a woman.
“Uh… What did that person look like?”
Tremors filled René’s voice.
“A tall man with brown hair and black eyes. He was a handsome older brother.”
“……. ”
René’s expression relaxed from tension. It wasn’t Adrian.
Feeling relieved, René became curious about why the girl was wary of her.
“What did that stranger do here?”
“Just… passing through the street, counting the number of people. He also wrote something on paper.”
‘Could he be the arsonist?’
Considering that, René found the girl’s strangely sincere actions to be odd and tilted her head with a smirk. The girl, sensing René’s relief, asked with a voice tinged with anxiety,
“Is sister also associated with that person? Are you trying to drive us away from here?”
‘I’m not. In fact, I came to save you.’
But reassuring her in that way wasn’t René’s style.
“If you’re driven away, you can go somewhere else, right? It’s not like there’s only one place to live outside this neighborhood.”
“There’s nowhere else. Everyone here is one family. That’s our aunt’s house there, and…”
Her fingertip pointed at a specific spot. Then, she continued moving her finger to the right, above it, to the left, and kept talking.
“That’s our big uncle’s house, and there’s our small uncle and big aunt’s house. And there…”
Finally, the girl pointed to the children swimming in the mud pond.
“Those kids are my siblings, cousins, and distant relatives. We can never be separated. We’ll live together and die together.”
“…….”
René, for a moment, stood still, thinking about what she heard, then wasted a bit of time calculating the relationship distance. Finally, she dismissed it all and ended it with a contemptuous tone.
“So, this street is your kingdom.”
“…….”
“In my opinion, it would be better if you scattered as soon as possible. Stagnant water tends to rot.”
Tears welled up in the girl’s large pupils, and she sniffled, wiping her face with a pitiful expression.
“Sister is mean. None of the uncles I know said that.”
The girl said in a resentful voice mixed with sobs.
“The uncle said we can all live together, and he promised to help us live together until we die.”
“Whoever he is, those are irresponsible promises. Making promises you can’t keep.”
René replied nonchalantly.
“No, he’s never irresponsible. He’s so kind and keeps promises very well.”
The girl raised her finger again, scanning the entire street this time.
“He also replaced all these tents. He promised to replace them with sturdy ones so they won’t leak.”
“…….”
“He kept his promise not to let the rain leak through.”
René’s eyes scrutinized the tents along with the girl’s hand. The contemptuous look disappeared for a moment.
What she thought was a cunning and pitiful tent turned out to be originally a colorful leather tent…
“Does that uncle… live here?”
René asked the girl with eyes shimmering like reflections on the river.
“No.”
“…….”
“That uncle doesn’t live here. He’s very rich.”
Seemingly proud of carrying such a rich person on her back, the girl spoke with a triumphant tone.
René bit her lower lip. Then, after calming her breath, she asked,
“That uncle, what’s his name?”
“Yes.”
The girl confidently answered.
“Mr. Ed. His eye color is exactly like yours, sister.”
“…….”
“The hair color is different, though.”
Suddenly, a breeze blew from the other end of the street.
The wind, blowing through the tents one by one as it approached, finally swirled René’s red wig and disappeared.
The scent of iron oil reached her nose.
This time, the smell didn’t come from her hands.
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
