Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 143
Deception, Layers upon Layers
His cold, frozen face told her that something had ended.
The thought that she should say something only swirled in her mind, but her lips didn’t move. The blue eyes looking down at her held a light Adeline had never seen before in her life.
No matter the situation, Shane had always revealed his emotions to Adeline. Whether it was gentle affection, fierce jealousy, anger, or a desperate longing—his eyes always spoke volumes.
But now, those blue eyes were empty, devoid of emotion.
The person who had been crying over her just a few minutes ago.
Now, it was as if he had given up.
As if he had grown tired of her.
Adeline opened her mouth. Her lips parted, but no sound came out.
She didn’t even have the chance to explain herself.
He pushed her away, and that was the end of it.
Feeling the warmth of Shane’s palm as it covered her eyes, Adeline didn’t try to cling to her fading consciousness.
*
When she opened her eyes again, Lloyd was sitting at her bedside.
His head was bowed as he read a book, seemingly unaware that she had woken up.
‘Where am I…?’
This definitely wasn’t the master bedroom of the Blanchard estate.
The scent was different.
But because of that, she felt a strange sense of relief.
Adeline had thought that when she opened her eyes again, she might have returned to the Bertrand estate.
This time, it seemed, Shane had finally tired of her.
The way he had pushed her away, his gaze—both had been so firm.
The flickering candlelight on the bedside table cast shadows over Lloyd’s face as he leaned over. Adeline opened her mouth to speak but winced as her throat burned dry.
“You really thought you’d be fine after ingesting poison?”
“Water…”
“Wait.”
Lloyd quickly brought her some water.
He set the tray with the water on the bedside table and carefully helped Adeline sit up, propping her against some pillows for support before handing her the glass.
“Do you want some honey water too?”
“No…”
“The healer said you survived because you took the antidote before the poison spread. It worked immediately, but if you’d been any later, there would’ve been nothing they could do. He said you were lucky.”
“Lucky…”
“Well, no, it wasn’t luck. It’s because you knew exactly what would happen again, Master.”
“……”
“I won’t ask any questions. But this time… this time, I won’t be able to help you.”
Lloyd’s voice trembled with suppressed emotion as he bit his lip.
Adeline was surprised. She had never seen Lloyd lose control like this.
Since the day she brought him into her home at the age of nine, until now, when he was seventeen, Lloyd had never once let his emotions surface.
She had hoped he would act more his age, be playful, and show his true colors. She even teased him on purpose, but he had always remained calm and composed.
If she hadn’t taken him in, he would’ve become Lucian’s right-hand man—he would have either killed her, or she would’ve been forced to kill him. One of the two.
She had brought him in to save her own life, but in his life, if there had been no “Adeline,” he could have lived much more freely as Lucian’s right-hand man. He wouldn’t have had to endure as much or live by such strict rules.
Adeline wanted to give Lloyd a better life than the one he would have had. If nothing else, she wanted to keep her promise to him to the very end.
Had she made him more unhappy by bringing him into her life?
But asking Lloyd, ‘Are you glad you followed me?’ was outright impossible.
He wasn’t the type to give a straightforward answer, and asking a question like that in the wrong way would only feel like pressure.
