‘Let’s see, let’s think. A way to trick that wicked headmaster!’
I sinisterly lifted the corners of my mouth as I pondered over the countermeasure.
‘If the trap set by the headmaster really is a phantom maze….’
How should I counter it?
I stepped briskly into the bookshelf.
The sound of my steps was grandiose, mirroring my busy state of mind. The soundemitting shoes, which my dad had fit onto my little feet so I wouldn’t get lost, were moving with a boing, boing sound.
Boing. Boing.
Moving my round hands and feet this way and that, rummaging through the bookshelf for a while, voila! I finally found a book written about illusion magic.
The title was simply “Illusion Magic”, but it contained some pretty decent secrets.
While it did not specifically inform me how to escape the phantom maze, it did note a method to escape illusion magic. Since the phantom maze also operates via illusion magic, there should be a few more ways.
‘I need a mirror artifact.’
If it’s a mirror artifact, it would be a lowrank artifact and should be scattered here and there. Alright, I can just pick one up somewhere….
‘If I secure the mirror, all that’s left is for me to withstand the .’
Setting the book down with a thump, I scurried back to where Leonhardt was sitting. Until then, Leonhardt had been looking at my shoes as if they were strange.
“What’s that sound from your feet? Is it a shackle?”
“Dad gave it to me!”
Leonhardt held his hand to his mouth and sighed.
“……ha.”
I opened my eyes wide and tilted my head. Why is he sighing?
“As I thought…….”
What does ‘as I thought’ mean, and why are his eyes turning red?
‘Because I said Dad gave it to me, does he miss his parents?’
Of course, that’s it!
I looked at him with sympathetic eyes. Leonhardt muttered, ‘As I thought, Prince Matthias.’ and washed his face dry.
He also said, ‘I must save him,’ but I’m not sure what that meant.
After a while of watching Leonhardt talking to himself, I put a hand on my chubby cheek and rested my chin on it.
Leonhardt, the adopted child, must be having a hard time, but now was not the time to worry about Leonhardt. I had to find a way to get out of the phantom maze.
I, who was pondering, reminisced about the happy life with my dad, which was deeply rooted in my heart, and smiled gently.
Seeing the dimples forming on my cheeks, Leonhardt suddenly started a conversation.
“Why are you smiling so cutely? Thinking about cake?”
“No. Am I cute? I’m an ‘adult’!”
“……you’re too short to be an adult. Your hands, your feet, they’re all small.”
I frowned my head at his comment.
……Despite the initial fear, kind Leonhardt tilted his head.
I chuckled and tightly grabbed his hand.
“Anyway, thanks for letting me know! Friend!”
Leonhardt is a good guy.
It was engraved in my heart.
Although he looked awkward as he nodded his head to my words, he did not let go of my hand.
I kept my eyes on his black leather mask, which resembled the night sky, and tilted my head a few times.
Right then, Lilmi, who was in charge of Siene’s discipline, was having a covert meeting with the headmaster.
Things were unfolding as Leonhardt predicted.
They were sitting facing each other in a secret reception room inside the academy, discussing the punishment for Siene and Matthias.
The headmaster, an elderly man with white hair and crossed legs, asked with a sly smile,
“Reports on Siene Mirmode are frequent, aren’t they?”
“Yes.”
Siene was still young, but too clever. Given a bit more time, she had enough potential to rise as a threat.
He cleared his throat and spoke.
“For a daughter of an exile, she’s young and naive.”
No matter how you look at it, she’s a daughter of an exile who would die in one stroke once Lord Axel returns…. He murmured constantly since entering the headmaster’s office,
“The more I hear, the more it seems true. It appears Prince Matthias brought along quite a brazen daughter.”
“If we could proceed with the disposal right away……”
The headmaster interrupted Lilmi with a sharp gaze.
“You step back and remain silent. I intend to test them using illusion magic.”
He chuckled.
There was a single opportunity to trample the child.
Children of the Mirmode family are obliged to take a test from the headmaster once.
No one could interfere with that.
“The daughter of the ‘exiled’, moreover, she infuriated you, why shouldn’t we trample the sprout?”
“…….”
“And.”
“Yes?”
“There was an order from the elder headmaster to legally deal with Matthias’ daughter.”
He, who had all the plans sorted out in his mind, laughed snidely.
The headmaster had many times stained his hands with blood under the command of the elders.
He could not underestimate him even though he was an exile with broken wings. The headmaster knew what kind of evil deeds Matthias Mirmode had committed so far.
But what about it?
They gained power, and Matthias had already lost once.
‘We need to trample the sprout.’
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
