“Everything eventually leads to my victory, Edkins!”
The Absolute Deity shouted in a triumphant mood.
Now, she felt a comfortable sensation, as if everything had found its rightful place.
From the beginning, she had hoped to reverse the destinies of Laclan and Vercheria, wishing they would curse each other.
Edkins, who dreamed of death someday, wanted him to feel the misery of becoming a god as a human.
She eagerly awaited Vercheria’s descent into madness, feeling the overwhelming pressure she couldn’t handle as a newly turned god.
Thus, pretending not to know that Edkins loved the human woman, she subtly planned to make her a god.
However, everything that happened after the reversal of the two’s destinies completely exceeded the Absolute Deity’s expectations.
Edkins, despite the potential for misery, was calmly enduring everything.
He didn’t ask the gods to kill him, didn’t beg for relief from the pressure.
Even though a single word could have turned him back into a god and provided salvation.
“Arrogant.”
Vercheria was the same.
Not entirely a god with a complete divine body like Dipper, who had committed sins and received curses, she lived as a half-god born only through the Awakened.
Even in such a state, she did not ask the gods why they made her life so miserable.
She simply endured it, as if that was her destiny.
So, through her repeated lives, she used Lawrence to deliver a more intense suffering.
This life, even more miserable.
The next one, more desperate.
And this time, every moment of breathing was made agonizing and painful.
But Vercheria never yielded in any moment.
She didn’t abandon the will to live, and even if she momentarily resented the gods, she never begged to end this tiresome existence.
“Even if it defies the order of the universe, I had to kill Vercheria. Edkins, even if I heard your resentment, it had to be done.”
As beings living an infinite life, someday Edkins’ heart would have been freed, and he would have no choice but to love the Absolute Deity.
Due to impatience and frustration that arose from feeling unable to endure the long years, everything became chaotic.
“Edkins, you are now a god like me.”
The Absolute Deity smiled gently as she looked at Laclan writhing in pain.
“And Lawrence.”
As she called Lawrence’s name, time, which had stopped, began to flow again.
Human beings, caught in the ability only the Absolute Deity could possess, unaware that they had momentarily stopped, continued their actions as if nothing had happened.
Those who fell remained on the ground, and those wiping the flowing blood wiped away the remaining blood with the back of their hands.
Looking down at Dipper, who was trembling with blood, Lawrence, who had been watching, raised his head in surprise.
“You must kill Vercheria. In return, I will grant you the power of the Earth that Dipper possessed.”
Lawrence blinked his brown eyes casually.
“…What?”
“Dipper is dead. Someone has to protect the Condana Kingdom, right?”
“You mean you’ll make me a god?”
“Yeah. Soon, the goddess of weather will be needed. It wouldn’t be bad for you to take that position.”
Lawrence looked down at the blood splattered on his hands as he supported Dipper.
The trembling hands felt strangely unfamiliar, as if they didn’t belong to him.
“But.”
Lawrence looked into the gray eyes of the Absolute Deity and swallowed hard.
“You must kill Vercheria. Understand?”
The Absolute Deity’s lips were drawn up into a long line.
Lawrence, who had a frightened face, nodded as if conceding, wiping the bloodied hands on the dress.
“…Yes, I understand.”
The Absolute Deity turned away with a satisfied expression.
Then, she slowly walked towards Laclan, who was suffering in pain.
“Haah.”
She didn’t expect the air of victory to be so refreshing.
Even the voices of humans screaming everywhere sounded like beautiful melodies, satisfying her heart.
“Edkins!”
She grabbed Laclan’s hair with one hand and lifted his face toward her.
His pain-stained expression was vividly revealed.
“Your Highness!”
The knights of Laclan, who couldn’t come too close, were calling him in a pitiful voice.
“How does it feel, Edkins? The real feeling of misery. You are a god now. You can’t kill me anymore. You can only be subjected to me. Why, Edkins? Why that expression? Did you never think of this?”
When Laclan’s jet-black pupils slowly flowed down toward the Absolute Deity’s gray hair, eyes, and strong jaw.
“No.”
“What?”
“I did think about it, but I didn’t know you would be so perfectly deceived.”
“What?”
When Laclan raised one hand with a snap, all sorts of noises stopped in an instant.
The Absolute Deity looked around with eyes widened as if torn apart.
“Ti-time…”
The unique ability possessed only by the Absolute Deity.
The ability to stop time that Laclan was now perfectly reproducing.
“Forgot?”
Laclan dusted off, standing up with a snap.
“My ability is to absorb the abilities of others and mimic them perfectly.”
The face of the Absolute Deity twisted unpleasantly.
“But that’s only for a short time…”
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
