[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian":3,"chapter-surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-765":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Surviving the Game as a Barbarian",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1328128,1764,"Chapter 765: The Secret Garden (6)","surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-765",765,"\u003Cp>As I read through the diary, Hyeonbyeol asked beside me:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What do you think? It’s good, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm... not sure?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Honestly, calling it “good” feels off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t even like romance as a genre, and I’ve never really cared about other people’s love stories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That said... I’ll admit I was a little intrigued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the main character of this story is the Marquis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man who eventually raised his hand against the king in a move of utter madness—this book supposedly contains the reason why.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'But so far, I still don’t get it...'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just reading the beginning doesn’t make that kind of motive clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I kept reading the diary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And skimming past all the fluff, here’s the quick summary:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[She looked at me like I’d seen a ghost and asked what was wrong. I told her my pregnant wife was waiting at home.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That ended their reunion after six years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girl went silent for a long time, then said, “Then you’d better go,” and the Marquis replied, “Yeah...” and left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[The thought wouldn’t leave me. What had that silence meant? Could it be... she felt the same way—?]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How much the Marquis agonized over it didn’t matter to me, so I skipped that part.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time passed, and his son was born.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He genuinely enjoyed fatherhood, but...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Still, he couldn’t help but wonder—what if he had a child with her? Would that child be even more beautiful, more precious than this one?]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To wash away that guilt, he poured himself into his family. Around then, he also began managing his household’s affairs in his ailing father’s stead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lived busily, devoting himself to work and family, and the memories of his first love seemed to fade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[She reappeared. Again, after six years.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the day he visited the capital to officially receive his title. On a whim, he went out to the gardens and ran into her again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[The first thought I had when I saw her was, “It feels like I saw her just yesterday.” Not a poetic expression of longing—it was literal. Her appearance hadn’t changed a bit since six years ago.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked completely untouched by time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Marquis found it odd, but didn’t dwell on it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[She congratulated me on the child and my succession. I was genuinely happy to accept her words. Time had buried the old emotions, and finally, I was able to ask her what I never could.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He asked for her name. Asked what circumstances had her hiding away in the royal palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[After much hesitation, she finally opened her mouth. But instead of an answer, it was a request. She asked me to take her away.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After some internal struggle, he agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t know her full story, but now that he was a Marquis, he believed he could handle it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, he figured that once he helped her, she’d tell him everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[After taking her out successfully, I used magic to change her hair and eye color. Around the time Elthora was born, I brought her to a secret hideout I’d prepared without anyone knowing.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the context, it was obvious: the place I was currently sitting in was that very hideout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not that it was the most important detail here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[We spent a long time together in that hideout. And finally, I learned her name.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’d been reading pretty casually, but this part made my eyes sharpen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were still plenty of pages left in the book, but finally—finally—I was about to learn what I wanted to know most.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Mayrin Hwinnvenia Lafdonia.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...Huh?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[That was her name.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seriously...?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’d seen the portrait of a woman—presumably Ragna’s mother—back in the Marquis’s secret room once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Mayrin Hwinnvenia —————.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The last name had been scratched out violently, making it unreadable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now I knew her full name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Lafdonia.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That surname was only granted to those of direct royal blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment I read it, a cold shiver ran down my spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mayrin Hwinnvenia Lafdonia was very likely Ragna’s mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which means—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Ragna is... of royal descent?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure, she was an illegitimate child—born from an affair, not marriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the fact remains: she carries the king’s blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Then why... why did the Marquis rebel against the king?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There’s no doubt the root cause lies with that nameless princess, but not knowing the specifics, I kept reading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because every answer I needed was supposed to be in this book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[While staying in the hideout, I listened to her story—again and again. It was far more shocking than I ever imagined. I never thought the royal family harbored such secrets...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait... does it ever say what the secret # Nоvеlight # actually was?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nope.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Great. So the Marquis deliberately glossed over it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine. I’ll keep reading.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[As shocking as her secret was, what moved me more was the life she’d lived—raised as a sacrificial pawn. My sympathy grew with each passing day.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Though I had a wife and child, the moment she began to cry, I could no longer deny it. What I felt wasn’t just pity.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[And it wasn’t one-sided. Today, I confirmed it. I felt a fulfillment deeper than I had ever known.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the sweet time they spent together didn’t last long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Given the power the royal family holds, surviving even a month was a miracle. Eventually, they found us, and in the audience chamber... I met him.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[He was nothing like I expected. At first, he seemed intimidating. Then, he laughed and made an offer. Said the royal family needed someone in the inner circle who knew the truth.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[He offered me the position of Chancellor. I had no choice. It was the promotion of my dreams, yet knowing what I now knew, I couldn’t rejoice.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What followed was summarized briefly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Marquis returned to the hideout, continued his time with Mayrin, and their love bore fruit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She became pregnant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the joy he felt this time was beyond comparison to when Elthora had been conceived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'If this were a happy ending, there wouldn’t be this many pages left.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, what happened next wasn’t something I could’ve predicted, despite all the media I’d seen in my life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[What shattered our seemingly eternal happiness wasn’t the king’s whims, nor the schemes of political enemies, nor betrayal by subordinates. It was more like divine punishment.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[One evening, as we lay together, whispering sweet nothings and caressing her round belly, Mayrin suddenly screamed.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“Who am I? Who are you? Where is this place?” She began rambling like a lunatic, speaking words I couldn’t comprehend—and among them, there was one word she should never have said.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dungeon & Stone.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Mayrin had been possessed by a revenant.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It hit me like a thunderstrike to the skull. My mind went blank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once I came to, a question immediately rose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Revenants can only possess adults, right...?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t know Mayrin’s exact age at the time, but she must have been well past adulthood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Six years had passed since she was first described as a full-grown woman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So how could something like this happen?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Marquis never addressed that question directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the early parts of the diary offered a hint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[She looked exactly the same as she had six years ago.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like no time had passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe—just maybe—something had literally stopped her biological aging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The royal family did have strange life-support mechanisms. I wouldn’t put it past them to have something like that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'...Now I get why Hyeonbyeol called this a tragedy.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Mayrin was possessed, the Marquis’s life turned to hell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sought counsel from the king.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The king, horrified, said there was nothing that could be done. Kill her or save her—do as you please.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was like the sky fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even in hell, time moved on. And Mayrin’s belly continued to grow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[The “thing,” whatever it was, gave birth—and then took its own life.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The revenant gave birth to Ragna... and died.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Marquis told the royal family that the revenant had died while giving birth to Ragna.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he spirited the child away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted this child—this one—to live a peaceful life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So Elthora became a revenant too, after all that...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time passed, and his only son became a revenant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now the only child left is Ragna.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Marquis must’ve wanted to tear every last revenant to shreds.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t even begin to imagine how he must’ve felt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if you ask me, the Marquis made a foolish mistake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He planned to pass everything he had onto Ragna.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[October 21.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The diary now approached the present—just one month before the rebellion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Before everything was ready, the king woke up.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[I have to protect that child.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the final line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I closed the book and exhaled deeply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So? Was it good?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not really.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My honest review: “Not good.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I mean, come on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I thought there’d be something exciting at the end, but it just sort of fizzled out.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well duh, the Marquis is still alive.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I should’ve just asked you to summarize it in three lines.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What? You can’t summarize all that in just three lines!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Huh? Sure you can.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>1. The Marquis fell in love with a princess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>2. The princess became a revenant, gave birth, and died.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>3. His son Elthora also became a revenant, so he rebelled to protect his last remaining child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s all there is to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the person you’re telling this story to is Ragna, it’s even easier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'I love you, my daughter.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One line, and it’s all clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Yeah... it really does feel like this was written for Ragna.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glossed over the royal secret. And even while reading, I could tell there were parts he deliberately left vague.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'If the content had been that serious, he wouldn’t have let Hyeonbyeol read it.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After finishing the diary, my mind was even more tangled with unanswered questions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s on your mind now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m just trying to figure out what the Marquis was thinking.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why? Isn’t it obvious? He wanted to succeed with the rebellion and protect his daughter.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sure. But that’s Plan A. The fact he wrote this diary proves he didn’t think he’d succeed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...True.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Knowing the Marquis, I’m sure he had a Plan B to protect Ragna... But I can’t figure out what it is. Just hiding her in a villa and letting her sleep? That’s too lazy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing that, Hyeonbyeol tilted her head in thought and offered:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Maybe you’re Plan B?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I mean, come on. You almost married her.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She trailed off and gave a faint smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He probably knows better than anyone that if it’s for someone precious, you would be willing to point a blade at the royal family.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1794,"2026-06-05T19:33:19.606Z",1,"novelbin.me","fb3b6d94fd21676df60092b2b5f7b18c263db7ada566b0a09457cabcc74a254f","surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-587","surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-586",807,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsurviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-cover.jpg"]