I jumped to my feet in shock without realizing it. I opened my eyes wide, floundered my mouth like a fish, and asked.
“A, a fire? Could it possibly be arson? The culprit?”
“They got away. A very meticulous person. They didn’t even leave any evidence.”
“How could that happen…”
I drained the strength from my shoulders, feeling a wave of exhaustion. That facility was a crucial piece of evidence. It had to remain intact for us to thoroughly investigate the backing of the Relief Aid Society…
“……What’s the extent of the damage? It didn’t all burn down, did it?”
“……”
Grayan’s silence explained everything.
It meant that the Relief Aid Society’s facility… had all burned down.
“This is unbelievable……”
Arwin stared at me as I mumbled in a daze.
But I was not even angry about his suspicion. The facility had been completely destroyed! Someone would have to use magical power to cause such a large fire. A person capable of that might be―.
‘……Could it be.’
I suddenly lifted my head, wrapped in thought, and stared straight at Arwin. He furrowed his brow as our eyes met, then sighed, somehow with a regretful look.
Soon after, Arwin spoke.
“Seeing the Duchess’s reaction, I think I may have suspected you in vain. I truly apologize. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“……So, the fire, no…… the person suspected to be behind the Relief Aid Society is―.”
My mind was still disorganized, and I spoke a bit incoherently. Arwin looked at me solemnly and drove the point home.
“Your own father, King Ainstern. Yes, that’s right. That’s why I suspected you.”
“……”
I had feared it, but… that name had really come out. My father, Gloria’s father, Lanièro Ainstern.
If he is indeed behind the Relief Aid Society, this issue becomes more than a mere kidnapping crime.
Just like when the rabbit beastmen rebelled years ago, it could spark a war that sweeps the world.
“……”
My heart grew heavy, and my expression involuntarily hardened. All I want is for April to grow up safely and happily… Why does this keep happening…
“Duchess.”
As if sensing my mood, Grayan softly called to me and held my hand. His eyes, gazing quietly at me, were shining straight.
It was a steadfast gaze, unshaken by any storm.
“Nothing that you fear will happen. I will do my best to prevent it.”
“……Grayan.”
“Gloria, I know who you are. I trust you. Please don’t be shaken. We just need to do our best for what we believe in.”
His words, as always, were filled with nothing but sincerity, and they touched me deeply.
This must be why people follow him, not simply because he is a Duke, or a leader of wolves, but because he is this kind of person.
Someone reliable in any situation.
I felt a warmth in my chest and opened my mouth.
“……Yes, as you say―.”
“So, sorry to interrupt this touching moment, but let’s continue the meeting. We need to get back as soon as possible.”
“……”
Damn Arwin. He ruined the moment, and embarrassment soon followed the disruption.
I quickly withdrew my hand from Grayan’s. Grayan looked at me with a regretful look, but I pretended not to notice.
‘Damn Arwin……’
I glared at the illtempered black mamba, but he continued the conversation, pretending not to notice my glare. I stared at him, imagining braiding his long hair with colorful ribbons.
“I’m so annoyed that the facility has burned down, but we did find out a few things before that.”
“What are they?”
“Cool down, Duchess. It was my mistake. Anyway, what we found out is……”
Arwin summoned a pocket into thin air and carefully took something out of it, laying it on the table.
His behavior was so cautious that I too dared not touch them, merely observing them in silence.
They were small pebbles, very white and shiny, like smooth stones that could be found on a beach or riverbank. But they were not simple pebbles. I glanced up to watch Arwin and asked,
“……What are all these?”
Arwin answered in a voice that seemed to restrain his anger,
“Do not be alarmed, and listen. These are all…… the crystallized life forces that the Inse Salvation Society has extracted from the children.”
“……Crystallized…… life forces?”
I, who asked again, must have had an expression that said, ‘What on earth is that?’ Grayan and the Knight Commander, who seemed to have known already, were staring at the strange ‘crystals’ with troubled eyes.
“It was made by extracting the children’s life force in that white room in the facility and turning it into pure crystals. During that process, various foreign substances, like human mental energy or the aura of the soul, or magic, were filtered out. Furthermore…… the elemental responsiveness was also filtered.”
Arwin, who put the white crystal back in his pocket, now summoned another pocket.
What he pulled out of that pocket were stones, each with a different natural color.
“These are the crystallized elemental responsiveness that the children possessed.”
“…….”
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.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
