After Linking the Villainess and Male Lead (5 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 7
“Miss Helena! I’m so sorry. I found the lost hair ornament! I completely forgot I’d put it in the drawer. Oh, Duke Lavellion! Your Grace!”
Amy, flustered as she apologized for her mistake, spotted Kaern and quickly bowed to him.
“Did you really find it?”
Hearing that the lost hair ornament had been found, I asked with a bright smile.
“Yes! Here it is!”
“Wow, it really is. What a relief.”
I let out a great sigh of relief as I looked at the hair ornament in Amy’s hand.
The ornament, woven from purple flowers crafted of amethyst, was a gift Kaern had given me long ago.
“I should have taken better care of the hair ornament you cherish the most—I’m truly sorry.”
“No, it’s all right. It’s nothing serious. Besides, we’ve found it now. Don’t worry about it too much, Amy. We should be leaving soon—could you put it in my hair for me?”
I gently reassured Amy, who was even on the verge of tears, and gave her a faint smile to hurry her along.
“Yes! Right away…”
At my words, Amy quickly moved to place the hair ornament on my head.
“I’ll do it.”
Suddenly, Kaern gently pushed Amy aside, took the ornament from her hand, and slowly approached me.
“Your Grace…?”
Startled by Kaern’s unexpected action, I called out to him with a voice full of confusion.
But he gave no reply—my vision filled only with his black tailcoat.
What’s going on?
What exactly is happening right now?
Kaern’s abrupt move left my mind completely blank.
Then, the cool fragrance drifting toward me and the careful touch on my hair brought me back to my senses.
And my heart began to race wildly.
Thump thump.
Why is my heart doing this again?
I’d always felt my heart flutter when I saw him, but I’d never been this close to him before—now it pounded as if I’d just sprinted a hundred meters at full speed.
‘He mustn’t hear it.’
Now I was less concerned about why he was placing the ornament on my head and more worried that he might hear my thundering heartbeat.
So I stared fixedly at his chest, barely daring to breathe, until he finished placing the ornament.
Thump thump thump.
But of course, holding my breath didn’t stop my heart.
As if defying my will, it pounded even harder, leaving me frozen in place, unable to move away or do anything at all.
What is Kaern doing, anyway?
Why is it taking so long?
He should have finished placing the ornament by now, yet he remained standing right in front of me, unmoving.
‘Please…’
I wished he’d step back before realizing anything, but there was no sign he would.
How much time passed like that?
Finally, the distance between us—which had felt like it would never grow—slowly began to widen.
The moment Kaern stepped back, I let out the breath I’d been barely holding.
“Phew…”
‘Just from having a hair ornament placed in my hair, my heart races like this… Surely my cheeks aren’t flushed, are they?’
“Why is that?”
“No, nothing at all!”
Seeing me exhale deeply, Kaern asked, and I quickly waved my hand in denial.
“Don’t you like it?”
“No! It’s beautiful. I mean—it will be beautiful, right?”
Noticing his handsome brows furrowed slightly, I hastily answered and turned to Amy, seeking confirmation.
“Yes, Miss. It suits you perfectly.”
Consciously avoiding Kaern, I stroked the ornament he’d placed in my hair, trying desperately to calm my nerves and the inexplicable trembling inside me.
Only now that his overwhelming presence had receded did my heart finally begin to settle, even if just a little.
“Then let us depart.”
“Huh? Oh—yes, all right.”
But I hadn’t had enough time to steady my fluttering heart—no sooner did I look at Kaern than it began racing again at an alarming pace.
‘Really, why is this happening?’
I’d always liked him, but this level of heart-pounding intensity was unprecedented, leaving me utterly flustered.
Hiding my trembling heart behind an awkward smile, I quickly followed him as he walked ahead.
As I did, a sudden worry struck me.
If we ride in the same carriage, we’ll have to sit facing each other all the way to the Imperial Palace—could I really stay composed in my current state?
Admittedly, the Lavellion family carriage was spacious enough that nothing like what just happened would occur again, yet I couldn’t help but worry.
Lost in these anxious thoughts, I approached the carriage—and Kaern extended his large hand toward me.
‘How beautiful.’
His fingers were thick yet straight and long.
Truly, even a handsome man’s hands are lovely.
Staring at his hand, an absurd thought crossed my mind: was there any part of Kaern Lavellion that wasn’t perfect?
My idle thoughts were interrupted by Kaern’s low voice.
“Aren’t you getting in?”
“Huh? Oh—yes, I am.”
I gathered my wits and, grasping his hand, hurried into the carriage and took my seat.
As soon as Kaern settled opposite me, the carriage immediately set off.
‘Please, just calm down…’
Even after sitting in the carriage for a while, my heart refused to settle.
I pressed my palm against my chest, trying desperately to still its frantic pounding.
Just as I felt it beginning to calm—
“Are you unwell?”
“Huh? No, not at all.”
My gesture must have seemed odd, for Kaern asked about my condition.
Caught off guard, I replied quickly, holding my breath.
Our eyes met—his expression as unreadable as ever—and instantly, all my efforts were undone as my heart began pounding violently once more.
‘I’m going to lose my mind. Please…’
Truthfully, I’d hardly ever been alone with him in the same space.
Yet now, after the incident at Adelia’s wedding recently, this was already the second time in years that I’d found myself so close to him.
‘I can’t go on like this. I need to distract myself from him—even just a little.’
A creeping fear seized me: if my heart kept racing like this, something terrible might actually happen.
Clearly, some distance was the only solution.
But…
It was impossible to put any distance between us while sharing the same carriage.
So for now, I simply had to endure.
If I could just hold on until we reached the Imperial Palace, I’d naturally be able to act separately from him at the banquet.
With that thought, I steeled my resolve and tried my hardest not to look at Kaern until we arrived.
Thankfully, after some time passed, my heartbeat seemed to be slowing down gradually.
Quietly relieved, I silently urged myself to hold on just a little longer.
Then, just as I thought—
Kaern’s voice, which I’d assumed wouldn’t address me at all, filled the carriage.
“I believe that hair ornament was a gift from me.”
“Huh? Yes—yes, that’s right.”
The moment he spoke to me, my heart began thudding again.
Overwhelmed with dismay and embarrassment, I bit my lip hard to regain my composure.
“You gave it to me as a birthday gift several years ago, Your Grace.”
I hurriedly added.
“You were eighteen.”
“Huh? Yes—exactly. You remember.”
I hadn’t expected him to recall even when he’d given it.
Pleased that he remembered, I smiled slightly and nodded vigorously.
“Is it the thing you treasure most?”
“Huh?”
“I recall your maid saying so earlier.”
“Oh—yes. Because it’s from you, and also because it’s so beautiful…”
Feeling slightly shy, I trailed off awkwardly.
“But you don’t wear it often? Is it perhaps not to your taste…?”
Worried he thought I avoided wearing it because I disliked it, I quickly spoke up.
“No! It’s just… I was afraid that if I wore something you gave me too often, it might get worn out or damaged, so I’ve been saving it…”
In the middle of explaining myself, I realized I’d said something I shouldn’t have and immediately clamped my mouth shut.
“So it’s not a matter of taste—you simply avoided wearing it for that reason?”
“…Huh? Oh—yes. It’s because you gave it to me on my birthday, and it also holds memories with Adelia… I’d be heartbroken if it got damaged.”
Mentioning Adelia was a slightly embarrassed attempt to deflect, but most of what I’d said was true.
That first gift he’d given me on my birthday was the most precious possession I owned—I wanted to keep it safe for as long as possible, if not forever.
My Arch-enemy Sealed My Memory and Said That He is My Husband
This is an incredibly captivating story that you absolutely shouldn’t miss! I’ll give a brief introduction here, and below you’ll find a detailed synopsis of the plot.
The female lead is a fierce and powerful demon king. The male lead is a once-in-a-millennium celestial lord, admired by the entire cultivation world.
They are equally matched, legendary rivals who have battled for centuries.
In the final duel, the female lead is gravely injured. The male lead saves her, seals her memories, and hides her true identity. He tells her that he is her fiancé. His entire life has been flawless—except for the one thing he never expected, never controlled, and never wanted to control: falling for his greatest enemy. She is his inner demon, his obsession.
When the female lead regains her memories, she is furious at his deception.
She makes his life a living hell.
And somehow, the male lead—possibly a total masochist—doesn’t mind at all. In fact, he’s happy she’s paying attention to him.
Yep, we’re back to my favorite trope: male lead suffering. If you love this kind of story, jump into the pit with me now!!!
Intro
Dong Xia lost her memory.
Her handsome and extremely powerful fiancé Li Qing comforted her: “It’s okay if you can’t remember. I’ll always be with you.”
Everyone thought Dong Xia’s ancestors must have burned incense to get such a perfect fiancé. He was the number one person in the immortal realm, yet he remained chaste and only loved her.
…
The day before marrying her fiancé, Dong Xia finally remembered everything.
She wasn’t suffering from memory loss at all.
Her arch-enemy had made her fake her death, destroyed her cultivation, replaced her memories, and pretended to be her deeply in love fiancé.
No wonder he said, “It’s okay if you can’t remember”!
Dong Xia laughed coldly as she pulled out her long knife: Li Qing, prepare to die 🙂
*
Li Qing, as the supreme being of the immortal realm, was the people’s shining beacon.
The only unknown stain in his life was his affection for Dong Xia, the ruler of the demon realm.
In the final battle of the war between immortals and demons, the sky collapsed and the earth shattered. The ruler of the demon realm was finally slain under the sword of the supreme being of the immortal realm, and everyone in the immortal realm applauded.
The cultivation world lost a ruler of the demon realm.
And in the back mountain of Li Qing’s cave dwelling, he secretly hid away a fiancée.
Notes:
1. The female lead is white on the outside, black on the inside, and the queen of flattery; the male lead repeatedly tests the edge of darkness, a VIP guest at the crematorium.
2. Fantasy cultivation world setting.
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If there is a person checking these comments. Can you please add a word/letter count to the bottom. Also sometimes the comments don’t stay within the chapter you read but throughout the whole book, please fix that glitch. Another, per book- hour limited to how many comments can earn cookies – it’s better you write that somewhere or give a notification to the commenter about that. The notification about the 3/3 free reads glitch too, sometimes it says 3/1,1/3,1/1 or not work. The cookies glitch sometimes too, id have 10 but when I try to unlock chapter it keeps saying I have none. Love yalls work!
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