Despite her beauty, her sharp, upturned eyes gave off an intimidating impression when she was expressionless.
But when the woman with delicate, doll-like features and pink eyes smiled, the atmosphere changed completely.
"My sister is pretty, right?"
Startled, the young man noticed a child, barely reaching his thigh, had quietly approached. He hadn't sensed the child's approach, sending a chill down his spine.
"Ah, um, yes."
Trying not to show his surprise, the young man responded as he gazed mesmerized at Diana.
"I don't like that man. You think so too, right, brother?"
Ah, so the Captain is 'that man', and he's the 'brother'. The young man's mood improved at the child's informal address and he scratched his cheek.
Despite the Captain's infamous reputation for being bloodthirsty, he was paradoxically the pride of the North.
He had consistently participated in wars that neither the Imperial family nor the central nobles would intervene in.
With the Captain at the helm, the North was safe.
The Düberk Knights, despite being a band of ruffians, were a coveted position for any knight in the North.
The young man was pondering whether to share some good stories about the Captain when the child spoke again.
"After we drain him, we'll tear him apart for my sister."
What? That kid is scary. The child's red eyes flashed as he muttered that his sister should meet the coolest man in the world.
No one seemed to hear the child's voice, or perhaps they chose to ignore it, and each went about their business.
"Noel, come here."
Noel scurried over, looking like any other child.
The search party's march was smooth. With the forest full of monsters, the knights had to travel on foot, unable to bring horses.
Although everyone was concerned about having a child and a woman in the group, they soon dismissed their worries.
Despite the challenge of keeping up with the large men's strides, Diana managed to follow them well. They didn't slow down or adjust their pace for her, respecting her request not to be treated specially.
It was noteworthy, though, that she occasionally clung affectionately to Roderick.
Even if Diana stuck close to Roderick, the knights no longer seemed surprised, only sighing with envy.
"Roderick."
Ignoring the knights' glances, Diana approached Roderick.
Since things had come to this, she had to pretend to be in love.
She had even told Roderick:
'Let's say I fell for you at first sight.'
'What?'
'That way, it won't seem weird when I touch you.'
'Are you aware you're strange?'
'I do have some shame, you know?'
'....'
Roderick looked incredulous at her words.
Yep, she definitely seemed to be labeled a peculiar woman.
Interestingly, the knights seemed to believe it wasn't just one-sided love but that Roderick reciprocated her feelings.
Without any reason to correct them, she let it be. Regardless, she needed to maintain contact with her quality 'treatment'.
Especially when reading magical energy, she felt drained. She spoke, staring into space.
"It looks like a crow is coming, Roderick."
Soon after, as she said, a crow's cawing was heard, and something shiny dropped above them.
"Captain! This looks like the young master's earring!"
The search party resumed marching, following the crow. As they ventured deeper, the path grew rougher, and the monsters' hostility intensified.
At their destination, logs were haphazardly strewn around, but there was no trace of the male lead.
How many days had it been? Diana roughly pushed back her sweat-soaked hair.
Ugh, where is this darn male lead?!
After days without securing water for bathing, they were all grubby. But they couldn't afford to use precious drinking water for cleaning.
Frankly, she thought she could quickly find the male lead by reading magical energy.
But she had overlooked something crucial: this was a forest teeming with monsters.
According to Noel:
"The magical energies are clashing here. They accumulate and clash, forming magic stones and monsters. This place is weird. The energies ebb and flow chaotically, making it hard for you to read them."
What was more shocking was his following remark:
"This forest is poisonous to those cursed. The high purity of magical energy here might drive you insane."
Therefore, she needed to absorb Roderick's curse even more urgently.
If he went mad, it would be troublesome. She had no intention of hastening death.
While she might not have been helpful in finding the missing person, at least she was useful in subduing Roderick's madness, thus salvaging a bit of conscience.
"We'll stop here for toda—"
Thump. Thump.
The forest vibrated. Trees were uprooted, and the entire forest trembled. Roderick drew his sword even before finishing his sentence.
A hill seemed to rise in the Black Forest, and then a menacing reptile appeared. It was a subspecies of dragon.
With no warning, the reptile spewed fire.
"Everyone, form up!"
The well-trained knights quickly formed a protective circle around Diana and Noel.
Search "seduced the doomed" at "redcatty . com" to read ahead chapters.