How would a person react once he finds out the one he was dreaming to save and bring back to his side had suddenly changed?Confused? Heartbroken? Mad?
It had only been a few hours since Adam arrived in Holon City and he had been quite cranky due to the toll the journey took them. He found Benedict a real pain to deal with, so he and his men separated from the n.o.ble son as soon as they made it to the city gate. The latter had a separate mission from the royal family anyway. Adam and co could no longer be more ecstatic when the disguised prince also said his farewell and their mood was a hundred times better as they went to settle their lodging.
It was after Adam led his people into an inn when he received the anonymous message.
Your Lord"s daughter has become d.u.c.h.ess Grey.>
Reading that two-liner letter, his forehead was furrowed all the time. At the same time a feeling of discomfort rose from his heart.
He kept disbelieving it. There was no substantial and plausible-sounding information, and no sender name. Credibility? None.
It was very suspicious and alarming because the sender knew what he was and where he came from which meant it could have been from that incredibly unreliable prankster. He immediately became furious at the thought.
In his mind, several scenarios floated up. The most probable one was that the girl his Lord Viscount wanted him to rescue was somebody held captive by a swindler.
Adam was more than ready to put effort into making sure the lady would not be hurt anymore by that youth who was keeping her hostage. If a ransom was demanded, he and his team would pretend to gather the amount while actually having one or two knights secretly saving her. After that, he would make sure to detain that pretender and bring him back to the Church of Wisdom to torture.
Male leads were really creatures that had unlimited patience and sweetness towards their female leads. At the same time though, they had unlimited horrible ideas to make their enemies and people they didn"t quite like wish for death.
Between the two male leads of this world, Andre was very extreme in this regard as he was born a fighter and soldier of a militaristic kingdom. The duke was very familiar with torture methods and devices. In this boring world which offered so little entertainment, how could he not be excellent at them? However, if the time and situation demanded it, Adam too could also be heartless and cruel. He was no saint after all, because saintly man wouldn"t make even the most average male lead. So like now, after months of mental and emotional agony that had driven him so mad and helpless, he planned to cut off the youth"s limbs the moment he saw him. Heaven was a witness in him swearing that it would not be long before he makes this a reality.
So how did Marian suddenly become a d.u.c.h.ess?
Was it even believable that while in captivity, that girl could be married and then elevated in ranks?
The man only frowned for a while and then burned the piece of paper, making sure no other soul would be able to read the misleading message.
"I"m sure it is that cunning, blasphemous, fake messenger who sent this, probably to make fun of my late arrival and lack of leads about their whereabouts," he murmured in a cold tone.
Adam really came to hate Jiang Li so much due to the disappearance of the Viscount"s daughter and testament to this were his eyes that watched as the piece of paper became ashes were very disturbing to see.
However, while he was indeed infuriated by the message, he still couldn"t deny that seed of doubt had been planted by those words in his mind, silently germinating and budding every pa.s.sing minute spent in worrying over his n.o.ble lady"s situation.
The next day came, and Adam immediately ordered his men to scatter into the city and track the fake messenger down. He instructed them once to dress like commoners and only bring easily concealed weapons with them as to not alarm the target.
However, instead of joining them in the search, he himself checked out the so-called Pearl of the Holon Kingdom and see why an anonymous somebody said she was Marian…
"There is no way she has become a wife of a n.o.bleman here, right?"
Although he found it ridiculous, he disliked the idea so much and thus he wanted to go there just to make sure the sender of the message was just really trying to make a fool out of him. Regarding this matter, he was leaning to the latter.
As the other male lead, the task had not been difficult despite a large number of guards in and outside Duke Grey"s Grand Manor. He scaled the walls on the southern side of the place and swiftly took down the patrols there before proceeding towards the opulent residence.
On that same day, he managed to take a glimpse of the d.u.c.h.ess.
...
Before this took place, even though she was constantly unnerved by the letters she was getting from Margarette, Marian was actually never worried about their content. Her appearance was a whole world different from her real one. How the h.e.l.l would Adam bring her back if she was in the body of the princess?
"It"s impossible for him to recognize me unless I tell him this is me..." she repeatedly told herself as to remind her.
Marian was intending to only admit her real ident.i.ty after she was sure the man would not make a fuss about her current situation and status and bring her unnecessary troubles.
She never believed in any sort of miracle where her former knight would be able to see through her current face.
In her plans, it would be her who would reveal who she was to him and she would only do it at the best time that she felt like doing it - when she was ready for it.
Unfortunately, the female lead underestimated the male lead"s halo and the plot"s obsession to bring her back to him. In the original story, Marian was the female lead of Adam. Although the plot had been messed up by Aliyah"s unexpected transmigration and the body swap caused by Margarette, the plot still didn"t want to give up on the original pairing. And so the thing that never crossed the d.u.c.h.ess" imagination happened.
With just a glance, Adam recognized her!
The unbelievable and unwanted followed after that. Marian found the knight barging into her bedroom, wanting to hold her and it was simply nowhere near what she envisioned. His blunt and emotional calling of her real name, Marian, led to her dismay and panic. She began backing away, each steps leading her deeper into the room. "N-no, this ain"t happening."
"Milady! Milady, it"s you! Marian! I"m so glad to find you safe, Marian!"
"D-Don"t come near! I, I am not who you are claiming me to be!" she stuttered out in a loud voice in a poor attempt to deny it.
Yet as if the guy had become insane, he kept on saying that name with both longing, joy, and relief. For an unknown reason, every time her name came out of his lips, her heart would beat fast.
But to her horror, the problem did not end with just Adam suddenly popping out of nowhere before her and triggering something hidden in her memory and heart.
"Intruder!!!" The true nightmare began with that yell from one of the duke"s elite subordinate.
"Protect the d.u.c.h.ess!!!" A fight ensued, and Adam was not backing off in his quest to take away Marian from there.
Alarmed by the trespa.s.ser"s unnatural strength, one of the duke"s men froze for a second before he shouted to his companions, "The a.s.sa.s.sin is very strong! Hurry, call the others!"
A minute later, Marian could only slump weakly on the floor, her knees seemingly losing their bones. Her eyes that became vacant and a bit soulless were looking at the furious face of her husband, Andre who had easily captured and ordered the torturing of Adam.
The valiant and handsome Borlean knight was apparently mistaken for a nasty a.s.sa.s.sin.