“I’m sorry. Let me hold you for a moment…”
As night fell, the heat of pain seemed to intensify. Raoul pushed away the blanket, writhing his whole body.
‘Why is the fever suddenly rising again…’
Diana was restless, worried that something might happen to Raoul.
She mumbled in a voice that sounded like she might cry as she leaned over the bedside.
“It’s because I meddled unnecessarily back then…”
She felt only sorry. Looking back, Raoul had always been kind-hearted and righteous in the past.
Though his words and expressions drew clear lines, he was a compassionate person who couldn’t easily turn away from anything.
When Diana asked him out on dates, he would reject her coldly to the point of embarrassment, but on the days she silently visited the slave quarters, he was always guarding the path.
That’s why she couldn’t give up and kept gently prodding his vulnerable spots.
‘If I do this, won’t you fall for me out of pity?’
It was a cowardly and pathetic tactic. What about this time?
Thinking she was helping, she showed ambiguous kindness, but instead plunged the compassionate man into greater hardship.
‘To think I’m still the landmine in this area.’
It was pathetic beyond compare. Diana realized through this incident. She hadn’t changed at all.
If the Diana of the past was a selfish person who only pursued her own emotions, now she was a coward who only pursued her own safety.
Though she showed momentary kindness out of concern, she had not the slightest intention of taking responsibility to the end.
She looked at Raoul’s sleeping face while holding his small hand.
The barely 10-year-old boy looked too young to even be treated as a lycan.
However, this pitiful boy’s thorny path was just beginning.
He would have to live as a slave for over 10 more years.
Moreover, for three of those years, he would have to stay in the Bihern Gorge, considered the most dangerous place in the empire, risking his life to carry out monster extermination missions.
No matter how many monsters pouring out from the entrance of the gorge were caught, there was no end, and their ranks and types varied.
They had to set up barracks and work 24-hour shifts, but it was common to be attacked while sleeping.
It was essentially a direct train to the afterlife.
Due to the long duration, most slaves were forcibly dispatched by appointing them as knights, or knights with large debts would receive life insurance and be dispatched.
‘Unfortunate doesn’t even begin to describe it…’
Diana placed her hand on her conscience and thought.
Were the Diana of the past and the Diana of the present really separate people? All the memories were too vivid to confidently affirm.
Her heart reacting as soon as she saw Raoul seemed just like her own, and the desire to throw even her unimpressive body to save him when in danger all seemed like traces of her past life.
The Diana of the past not only looked fierce, but her personality was even more sinister.
She clung to someone who said no, persisting 100 times, and in the end forced unwanted love and brought shame.
If the Diana of the past life and this life were the same person, it might not be right to only seek her own survival without clearing her karmic debt.
Diana looked at his furrowed brow contorted in pain and let go of his hand to tuck him in once more.
‘Could I at least take care of you until we leave the duke’s castle…’
Raoul, deep in sleep, gave no answer.
[This is the timeline separator]“Eat everything from here to there…!”
The next day when Raoul opened his eyes, he was miraculously fine.
Even with good medicine, his recovery speed was incomparable to humans. How could he be so healthy?
It was worlds apart from Diana who had lived her whole life being sickly.
Diana immediately took Raoul, who was looking around the room in a daze as if unable to grasp the situation, and brought him to the dining room.
He just quietly stared at the sight of the long marble dining table densely packed with plates, as if he couldn’t believe it.
Diana felt both proud and pitiful at that sight, so she immediately put a fork and knife in his hand and urged him to eat.
“You couldn’t get proper nutrition while sleeping. Eat slowly and chew thoroughly since your stomach might be surprised.”
He looked at Diana blankly, as if he couldn’t understand why this was happening.
She smiled brightly and pretended to eat first. Only then did Raoul begin eating hesitantly.
Diana sat in the chair opposite him and watched him chewing with a pleased expression.
‘Right, come to think of it, I was too selfish.’
She intended to pour out all the support she could give him from now on.
There was one thought that came to her last night as she stared at his face for a long time – ‘Why isn’t Raoul the main character?’
Diana was a gloomy extra with a fierce appearance that anyone could see, but Raoul? Raoul was different.
He was undoubtedly the most popular man in “Ayla’s Song,” with a solid body, god-given looks, and insane physical abilities – a man with too much of everything.
On top of that, how adorable and lovable was the occasional shy demeanor this lone wolf-like taciturn man showed only in front of the female lead? It was hard to even express in words.
‘In short, he’s totally main character material.’
In a world where even extras can become possessed, there’s no law saying a sub-male lead can’t become the male lead.
Diana had made up her mind as of yesterday.
It’s a relationship that will never work with me anyway, so let’s coolly send him to the female lead, she thought.
Fortunately, Raoul was still young, and Diana couldn’t forget the painful memories from before her regression, so she had zero unnecessary greed.
‘Of course, he’s so cute and pretty that my heart flutters! But that’s all. Now I’ll finally understand my place clearly.’
It wasn’t difficult. ‘I’ll try being a main character maker with the mindset of fangirling over my favorite character.’
Diana recalled his final fate.
As the coup d’état ends successfully, he is recognized for his contributions and gains the title of duke.
He gains the freedom he so desired, but ultimately he was destined not to be chosen by the female lead Ayla.
How great must his hurt have been for him to reject Trian’s offer of the lordship of fertile Sarbano, and instead return to Arnel where he had lived as a dog his whole life, to end his days in loneliness?
‘That can’t happen…’
Until now she had ignored him, but from now on she planned to help him diligently.
Rather, it seemed like an opportunity for Diana to cleanly clear her past and live a new life.
If he just wins the duel, he will remain in Arnel, and in the year he turns 13, he will meet Ayla as scheduled.
If the original work operates properly, they will develop feelings for each other in due course, so from then on things wouldn’t be difficult.
‘The reason Raoul couldn’t end up with Ayla was because of his cold personality.’
He risked his life to escape Arnel, but he didn’t know how to be gentle with the female lead.
Raoul, who clung to Ayla with burn scars all over his body, is cured of the curse placed by the duke through Ayla’s healing magic after she manifests as a saint.
To activate the healing magic, small skinship like holding hands or hugging was necessary, and because of that, there were many readers who cheered for the chemistry between Raoul and Ayla.
But Raoul lacked experience in forming warm bonds from rolling through battlefields, and he was also clumsy in dealing with women.
If he had expressed his emotions just a little more, Ayla’s heart would have leaned towards Raoul…
Sadly, the relationship between the two was only used as material to provoke Trian’s jealousy.
‘But this life will be different!’
If he became Diana’s possession, she planned to not make him do any work and let him play and eat.
Since he wouldn’t have to go to war, his personality would naturally become more mellow, right?
Above all, in this life, there was no Diana sticking to him annoyingly and irritatingly.
Wouldn’t that alone already help maintain a large part of his gentle nature?
Diana saves money and escapes the duke’s castle, and Raoul bears the fruit of love with the female lead and lives happily.
Good for the sister, good for the brother-in-law, getting rid of guilt and living a new life.
It was a perfect ending.
“Excuse me.”
“…Huh?”
Diana, who had been nodding to herself in satisfaction while momentarily lost in thought, came back to her senses at Raoul’s voice.
“I’m sorry. I treated you too casually because we’ve met before. I’m Diana. The daughter of that scary man you saw yesterday.”
“…I know that.”
“Oh, how?”
“Everyone calls you Young Lady.”
“Ah.”
Diana felt unnecessarily embarrassed and grinned. But Raoul’s expression was quite different from before.
It was subtly subdued, you could say.
“Is the food not to your taste?”
“No.”
“You don’t look well, should you have rested more?”
“I’m fine.”
Diana was very bewildered by the terse, clipped answers.
‘Why is the atmosphere suddenly so chilly?’
On the outside she wore a kind smile, but inwardly she raised about 100 question marks in confusion.
Didn’t she part with Raoul smiling on the day they first met? It was just a week ago that she had been grinning stupidly, unable to handle the sweetness she felt for the first time, but she couldn’t understand what had happened in the meantime.
‘Ah, could it be…? Is it because of my appearance?’
Come to think of it, that night was dark and today was a bright sunny morning.
‘He probably hasn’t adapted to my fierceness yet… It’s understandable if he’s surprised.’
“I look a bit scary, don’t I?”
“…What?”
Pretending not to know. Diana knew it all. How she looked.
Her face wasn’t ugly, but she gave off an overall fierce and gloomy vibe.
Except for Angela with her peculiar tastes, no servant in the duke’s castle dared to speak carelessly to her.
If this were modern society, she would have just been a shut-in hikikomori… But here, because of her father’s backing, she was perceived as a heavyweight gangster.
It was a bit unfair, but she was used to such treatment.
“That day it was dark so you couldn’t see my face well, right? It’s okay. You don’t need to be afraid.”
“…I was never afraid.”
“…Thank you.”
Diana thought Raoul was telling a white lie. So she shed tears inwardly.
‘How can he be so kind? If your face is handsome, you shouldn’t be kind.’
Raoul was a perfect human even in the second round of possession.
He would soon have to go out to duel and fight bloody battles, but he was too kind for the words to come out of her mouth. Diana opened her mouth with a gloomy expression.
“I know how scary and hard it must have been yesterday… So I know I shouldn’t say this, but actually… a duel has been set for you.”
“…I know.”
“Ah, you already heard… I’m really sorry. I should have tried my best to stop it…”
“…Why you?”
Hmm, Diana broke out in a cold sweat once again. Even young, Raoul was still Raoul.
This iron fortress. There really wasn’t a single needle hole to be found.
“Because I’m your owner?”
“Owner…?”
For a moment, a scene flashed through Diana’s mind with a jolt.
Diana finally seemed to understand why Raoul was wary of her.
“Hey, that’s really a misunderstanding…?”
He picked up his fork again as if it didn’t matter, his expression unchanged.
“…It doesn’t matter. I don’t trust anyone anyway.”
How to clear up this misunderstanding?
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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