Phew, that was close. I finally relaxed, relieved that I had prevented a chain of murders from the original story. ‘This should keep me safe too,’ I thought.
“Um, excuse me…”
A timid voice came from below my chin.
Oh right. I quickly stepped back and removed my mask. My luscious hair brushed against Lirien’s face as it fell.
Lirien blinked dazedly, rubbing her cheek, seemingly unable to comprehend what had just happened to her.
Her innocent look was quite endearing. I chuckled softly and asked.
“Are you okay?”
“Oh, yes! I’m fine.”
Lirien, suddenly alert, replied and then, guessing that I was a noblewoman from my appearance, asked hesitantly.
“Are you alright, my lady?”
Considering her own shock, her concern for me was a testament to her gentle and harmless nature.
‘Such a kind person, how did she catch the eye of that scum…’
I sighed internally, and instead of answering, I just nodded.
Lirien, who had been anxiously scanning me, relaxed and smiled brightly.
“I’m relieved you’re not hurt. Thank you for saving me. I almost died there.”
Almost died… True, in a way. I couldn’t laugh at her joke, feeling a prick of conscience.
Meanwhile, Lirien, anxious about the box lying at the entrance of the alley, opened her mouth with a worried look.
“Thank you for helping me, my lady. Is there anything I can do to repay you…?”
“No need for repayment.”
Lirien blinked once at my firm response. She might usually have insisted more, but perhaps thinking it rude to persist in the face of my firmness, she just nodded.
“Is that so…? Then, my lady, I must be going. Thank you, and please take care.”
As Lirien was about to hurry to retrieve her box, I watched her silver hair sway and, feeling uneasy, quickly spoke.
“Don’t see that man you’re meeting anymore.”
“Excuse me…?”
Lirien turned around, dumbfounded, her face showing disbelief at what she’d just heard.
I sighed and spoke, feeling a slight sense of duty to help this naive young lady.
“That man is married.”
At this bombshell revelation, Lirien’s complexion turned progressively paler.
“Ma-married?!”
‘As I thought, she didn’t know.’
Devon meticulously managed his public image. So thorough was he that until the end of the original story, no one knew about his affairs.
There were several conditions he adhered to when choosing his extramarital partners.
Firstly, the women had to be from the outskirts, unconnected to social activities.
Secondly, they should be physically incapable of defending themselves.
Thirdly, they needed to be commoners, whose identities even if disguised, could not be traced.
He even avoided well-educated women from affluent commoner families, truly a cunning man.
While behaving like a clergyman in the social circles, he threw himself at women like a street thug when in the outskirts.
Thus, Devon left a trail of victims wherever he traveled. His handsome appearance, gentlemanly manners, and considerate kindness led every woman he targeted to fall for him.
‘Lirien must have been ensnared during some travel.’
Lirien was the only daughter of the empire’s sole ducal family. However, when her younger brother, the rightful heir, was demoted to a count as a retainer, she was marginalized.
For the nine years her brother was away on an expedition, not a single noblewoman came to Lirien’s aid, leading to her natural isolation in social circles.
Even now, nine years later, with her brother’s return as a celebrated hero, she remained reclusive and subdued. Even someone as shrewd as Devon wouldn’t have guessed her noble status.
Lost in thought, I didn’t notice Lirien snap out of her daze.
“Bu-but, who are you to know this?”
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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