[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-shattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a":3,"chapter-shattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a-shattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a-chapter-734":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Shattered Innocence: Transmigrated Into a Novel as an Extra",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},552294,801,"Chapter 734: He rejected me ? (2)","shattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a-chapter-734",734,"\u003Cp>’Why in the Empress’s name did he say no?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thought refused to leave her. It looped behind her gaze like a ribbon caught in wind—silent, but constant. Selienne Lysandra, First Princess of the Empire, did not obsess. She calculated. She predicted. Sheanticipated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Lucavion had violated all three.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had not come to gamble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had come to win.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every word, every angle of her presence had been measured—lowered justenough. Not to appear equal, no. But to appearwillingto offer equality. A carefully painted illusion, tailored for his ego, precise enough to feel like truth. She had smiled, even. The kind of smile that cost bloodline and pride to produce.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He looked me in the eye... and declined.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not with disrespect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not with rebellion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Withcertainty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He doesn’t care about the throne.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thatwas the knife twisting now. He wasn’t fighting her. He wasn’t trying to outplay her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He just...wasn’t interested.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t his \"no\" that struck her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the implication.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thatshe, Selienne, was not enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’That bastard. That maddening, insufferably composed—’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stopped mid-thought, a breath catching behind her clenched jaw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, another piece slid into place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Varenth incident.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She hadn’t seen it firsthand, but she’d heard. Word traveled fast in the academy—especially when someone likeKhaedrenstormed out of a chamber with rage painted so openly across his face it might as well have been scrawled in ink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He went to meet with Lucien’s side first.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, not directly. Not officially.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Varenthhad sent Khaedren.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But everyone who mattered knew the truth. Varenth’s name might be on the seal, but the voice that echoed through that man’s lips was Lucien’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And apparently, Lucavion hadrefusedhim too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not just refused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Confronted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boy had left Khaedren shaken. Furious.Afraid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He defied Lucien.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’And then he defied me.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her hands, folded neatly behind her, tensed slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was what made no sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t aligning with either faction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t playing between them, baiting offers to raise his value. She would have respected that. Even admired it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He’s doing something else.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He turned both of us away, without even looking for leverage. No demands. No hedging. Just... no.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That wasn’t manipulation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was conviction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Andthatwas troubling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’What is he planning, then?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stood beneath the colonnade now, the stone casting long shadows across the manicured gardens. The empire’s banners fluttered lazily in the breeze—symbols of legacy, of power, ofcertainty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet, none of them offered clarity for the one question still clawing at the edges of her thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’What is he planning?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Selienne Lysandra, who had spent years navigating the serpentine corridors of imperial politics, who had broken rivals with a phrase and swayed ministers with a breath—she couldn’t read him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not fully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Notclearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that was the most infuriating part.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not his refusal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not even the subtle way he had rejected her offer without drawing blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the void he left in his wake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He’s... unreadable.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No tells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No hesitations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No missteps in posture or tone that gave away hunger or hesitation or ambition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sheknewhe had ambition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A man like that, with eyes like that, did not walk quietly just for the sake of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which is why—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’I warned him.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had meant every word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was walking a thin line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Refusing Lucien was a risk. Bold, but survivable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Refusingher—afterrefusing Lucien?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That wasn’t bold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was isolation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’No allies. No backing. No noble name. No imperial bloodline. He’s just a weapon... without a sheath.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’And what happens to unclaimed weapons in this empire?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They’re used.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Broken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or buried.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She narrowed her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’No matter how powerful he is. How talented. Without support, without protection, how far does he think he can go?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even prodigies get swallowed whole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unless...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her gaze shifted slightly, her breath catching mid-thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Does he have someone behind him?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That would make sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A shadow patron.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A faction working in silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A third player.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even as the theory took form, she dismissed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sheknew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had already run the background reports. Personally ordered the data pulled from the central registries. The ones reserved for blood-verified census and guild alignment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucavion—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—appeared from nowhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Records placed him as an orphan of a village from outskirts which was wiped out after a monster attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too clean.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too vague.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that was the problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’His identity is likely forged.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not that he was the first to do it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But most who wore masks had someone behind the curtain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucavion?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Didn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No nobles claimed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No guilds listed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No secret donors, no covert scholarships, no hidden imperial stipends.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was a ghost with a file.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And her intelligence division, one of the most ruthless networks in the empire, had come back withnothingconclusive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which meant either one of two things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Either hewasjust a remarkably talented commoner with falsified credentials—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or he was someoneelse entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Selienne’s fingers twitched faintly at her side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not from fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From calculation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He’s either reckless or he’s playing a game so deep we haven’t even seen the board yet.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Selienne’s gaze dropped to the garden stones beneath her heels—polished, pristine, each one laid by design, by order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like the empire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like her life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just likeeverythingLucavion had, in the span of a single conversation, chosen to ignore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her lip curled—only slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’No.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She refused to accept it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He’s not that deep. He can’t be.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were whispers, of course. Conspiracy-chasers would love the idea of a hidden heir, a false identity cloaking some forgotten line of royalty, a weapon raised in the shadows to strike at the empire’s heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Selienne Lysandra did not believe in fantasy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not when her entire life had been lived inreality—cold, sharp, and edged with iron.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He’s not hidden royalty. He’s not a secret project. He’s not some genius tactician orchestrating an invisible faction.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He’s just... a reckless fool.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Talented, yes. Dangerous, possibly. But a fool all the same.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She straightened her shoulders, allowing her breath to flow smoother, lighter, as though the finality of that thought brought clarity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He’s going to fall eventually. I warned him.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And with that, her mood began to lift—her pulse easing, her steps returning to their usual deliberate grace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes caught movement in the courtyard ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two figures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Walking side by side, framed in the soft glow of the sun filtering through the ornamental glass arch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t recognize the first immediately—tall, formal, likely a newly promoted aide from the Central Academy staff. Unimportant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the second—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A flicker of amusement crossed her face. Genuine, this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not court polish. Not political veneer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Genuine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the second figure—graceful, familiar, wholly out of place—had not been seen publicly in quite some time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Priscilla,\" Selienne murmured, her voice warming as her steps slowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then, louder—crisp, melodic, just loud enough to carry across the open air:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What is our little sister doing here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1149,"2026-05-30T14:49:12.999Z","2026-06-01T04:31:30.507Z",1,"novelbin.me","c6d892dd211bcff0bc77e60c2e3abb0d7dff0ccd5ab40bcc4a7ed2671cb88867","shattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a-chapter-735","shattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a-chapter-733",1055,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fshattered-innocence-transmigrated-into-a-novel-a-cover.jpg"]