Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 26
Observing Adeline’s weary expression, Lloyd quietly took her coat and began tidying up the bedroom.
Adeline buried her face between her knees, listening to Lloyd’s familiar movements and the everyday sounds of life.
‘What is all this?’
She felt completely and utterly spent.
It wasn’t the week-long sea journey, nor the fact that she had been kidnapped. It was just mental exhaustion, plain and simple.
Everything was a complete mess.
‘I just didn’t want to die.’
All she wanted was not to die miserably as the world expected. Why had everything turned into such a disaster just because she chose to survive?
Was it such a grave sin to want to live?
What more could she have sacrificed to be forgiven for simply wanting to survive?
It wasn’t easy for her either.
The time she spent abandoning, running away, and ignoring things to survive had been nothing short of torment.
“Master, please lie down and sleep.”
“I don’t want to sleep…”
She was afraid she might have nightmares again.
Despite the tearful tone in Adeline’s voice, Lloyd dragged her to the bed and threw her onto it. He was a merciless sibling.
‘I need to find a way.’
No matter the genre, Adeline never wanted to be a mere ‘plot device’ in any story again.
Even if Shane resented and hated her terribly, even if she felt like crying from guilt towards her family.
She had decided to survive in this world that hated her.
*
Things moved swiftly.
Adeline’s ‘resurrection’ made the front pages of every newspaper in Delmuz the next morning.
All Adeline had done was open and close her eyes, but the world had changed. Everything had turned upside down.
‘There’s nothing money and power can’t do, fxxx.’
Money and power were indeed impressive. So impressive, in fact, that they could easily bring a dead person back to life.
<Saintess’ Miracle, Revives Her Benefactor!>
<The Bertrand Family’s Daughter Awakens After 5 Years>
<Resurrection of the Dead, the Goddess’ Miracle>
Adeline let out a dry laugh. Resurrection and revival—she wished they would just shut up. Adding resurrection to an already confusing genre situation was like pouring seafood soup over a delicately crafted cake.
<No Way to Repay the Grace of a Sister-like Figure…>
<The Value of Life That Cannot Be Abandoned: The Duty of a Person, Not a Saintess>
<Using the Power of the Goddess for Personal Wishes: The Privatization of the Saintess by High Nobles?>
Genevieve, with the demeanor of an experienced saintess, mixed in professional terminology and convincingly spouted nonsense about how Adeline Bertrand had been in a near-death state and that the Goddess had answered after five years of prayer.
‘Genevieve used to have no skill or interest in media machinations!’
When did she get so corrupted? This must have been Shane’s influence.
The morning papers, which spread rapidly across Delmuz, came in dozens of types. At this point, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that every newspaper with a signboard in Delmuz had been bought off.
In this world, without the internet from her previous life, she couldn’t know people’s reactions in real-time.
But from the beginning, Duke Blanchard and the Saintess were keywords that made people go crazy. By now, they must be chattering excitedly.
<Duke Blanchard: “Adeline is the only woman in my life”>
<A Love for the Ages!>
<Five Years Of Firm Belief That His Fiancée Would Return>
“Bxllshxt….”
Adeline muttered coldly without realizing it.
If you read the words alone, he seemed like a timeless lover.
But the reality was a madman who kidnapped his ex-fiancée out of rage for being deceived.
People of the world, there’s a massive conman here!
She briefly thought it sounded like a self-introduction, but Adeline focused firmly on her criticism.
“That’s harsh. On your fiancé.”
“In front of me is not a fiancé, but a kidnapper.”
“Well. That’s also true.”
Shane laughed.
His handsome face glowed in the morning sunlight. For the first time, Adeline found the perfectly clear skin, black hair, and deep blue eyes of this handsome man irritating.
‘No matter how good-looking, he’s still a kidnapper and a blackmailer.’
At the break of dawn, Shane had come to the Bertrand estate. The Marquis and the family were very cooperative with this handsome blackmailer.
Even if she left the room, the world was a prison, and her family were the guards. The whole world was a trap.
Dragged along by Shane, Adeline was reading the dreadful newspapers filled with fake news, waiting for an old friend she had no desire to meet.
An old friend she wanted to see as little as she wanted to see Shane.
“You’re really alive, Adeline.”
It was Edwin, the control freak crown prince who couldn’t stand not knowing something.
