Volume One, Chapter Four: Torment

Thorns hid within the forest, scratching Lilan’s calves until they were streaked with blood, but she could no longer pay attention to the pain.

At this moment, only one word filled her mind: run.

After running for what felt like an eternity, a rustling sound suddenly came from nearby. Soon, something fell from a tree.

Lilan’s heart clenched sharply. If she wasn’t mistaken—

What had just fallen from the tree was a snake!

The snake was entirely black, as thick as her arm, its eerie green eyes fixed intently on her, emitting faint sounds.

Frightened, Lilan fell to her knees.

Having been raised in seclusion, she had never encountered such a terrifying creature before.

She wanted to flee immediately but suddenly recalled the lessons her nanny once taught her: when encountering a snake in the wild, one must not move suddenly but instead slowly back away and circumvent it.

At the time, she had thought those teachings useless, but now they proved invaluable.

Forcing herself to steady her nerves, she held her breath and slowly rose to her feet.

The snake seemed to sense her lack of aggression and turned away, vanishing into the grass.

Lilan finally exhaled in relief.

Brushing the grass off her body, she lifted her foot to leave, only to feel a sharp pain in her calf.

She gasped softly and looked down to see two bleeding puncture wounds on her leg.

The snake had returned.

And it had bitten her!

She remembered from books that if a snake bite left a series of shallow tooth marks, the snake was non-venomous; but if two deep, large puncture wounds with a certain gap appeared, the snake was venomous.

Seeing those two bloody fang marks, Lilan was certain she had been bitten by a poisonous snake!

Tears dripped down her cheeks. She had only learned how to identify venomous snakes—not how to treat the venom.

Sitting on the ground, she looked up; the mountain forest seemed endless.

She had been far too arrogant, thinking she could escape by her own strength.

She had only run a short distance before encountering a venomous snake—let alone what other dangers lurked deeper within the woods.

The pain from the snakebite intensified, and a spark of unwillingness flickered within her.

She had evaded wolves and escaped the barbarians, and now, at this moment, she might die from a snake’s bite.

As dusk fell, every sound in the forest was amplified.

Rustle, rustle, rustle—

From not far away came faint footsteps.

Lilan immediately became alert.

But soon, she comforted herself: the grassland man who had tried to assault her was already dead; this newcomer couldn’t be him.

Moonlight filtered through the trees, casting silver light on the ground. Lilan widened her eyes to see the figure.

Tall and broad-shouldered, his muscular lines powerful even in the dark.

Her heart sank, and she turned to run.

But the man’s large hand suddenly clamped around her neck.

“You mongrel sitting on the Dragon Throne, your methods are truly vile—using a woman as a spy.”

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