“Forgiveness… you say?”
She couldn’t believe it. Selina thought that Cledeius would surely punish Revel for insulting his beloved. She expected him to retaliate severely for the humiliation she suffered.
But Cledeius was calm, not showing any sign of anger. Disappointed with his attitude, Selina, sitting on the emperor’s lap, let out her rising anger.
“That man insulted a noble with his words. He must be held accountable for what he said!”
“As a noble, you should be magnanimous. A lowly man who has only ever groveled in the dirt can’t understand manners.”
“I was covered in mud… Are you really not bothered by that?”
Tears welled up in her bright green eyes. She was a woman good at crying. More than feeling sorrow, it seemed like an act to gain sympathy and protection.
“Thanks to that, I’m sitting here in front of you, sprinkled with my favorite perfume.”
Cledeius’s hand, which had been touching Selina’s cheek, slowly moved down. The cold palm rested on her bare shoulder, making her involuntarily shiver.
“Selina. There’s nothing more shameful than reacting to every small matter and punishing the lower classes. A true noble should know how to show generosity and tolerance.”
Cledeius continued softly. Revel was also a mercenary who would soon accompany him to the battlefield. Provoking them could affect the morale of the soldiers during the war.
“Instead, I’ll send you a tailor. Since your cherished dress was ruined, I’ll gift you a new one.”
It was a tailor who crafted clothes for both the emperor and empress. Selina’s eyes, which seemed ready to cry, were now filled with anticipation and twinkled brightly.
“And there’s an important matter…”
Cledeius purposely adopted a serious tone. His earnestness was quite successful in capturing Selina’s attention. She carefully caressed his ear, mirroring his expression.
“Do you have a concern?”
“It’s about the budget for the empress’s palace you’ll be moving into. Officially, the empress’s palace belongs to the empress’s jurisdiction. Naturally, she would want to manage its budget too.”
“I don’t like that! I want to manage it myself…”
“Can you escape the empress’s sharp surveillance? Even the slightest deviation will be noticed, and you’ll be nagged all day.”
Selina’s face soured again. If she entered the empress’s palace as she is now, Illyriad would immediately summon Selina.
And she would reprimand her for using the budget carelessly, remind her that the money comes from the blood and sweat of the people, and scold her all day long.
“So I will intervene. I’ll change it to be managed directly by the imperial palace.”
“Really? But what if the empress complains…”
“The empress can’t go against the emperor’s command.”
Finally, Selina sighed in relief and hugged Cledeius’s shoulders tightly.
“I really only have you, Your Majesty.”
Cledeius didn’t push away the fervent concubine who nestled into his embrace. He gently comforted Selina, his eyes narrowing.
‘So simple. That’s why she’s easy to use.’
His fingers entwined with Selina’s hair. He held her affectionately, pretending to love her, but Cledeius had his own ulterior motives.
Illyriad wouldn’t have thoughtlessly made Selina the empress.
Once she becomes empress, she’ll naturally fall under the empress’s palace. Then, monitoring her for any suspicious financial activities or wasteful spending becomes possible.
But if Cledeius changes the empress’s palace to be under the imperial palace, Illyriad won’t be able to exert any power over Selina.
After the Melphiram family was purged, Illyriad had almost no significant decisions left to make. She was limited to organizing charity parties and hosting royal balls to announce the social season.
“Illyriad, I can’t just let you act as you please.”
Her attempts to do something seemed almost cute.
But she was much more pleasant to watch now than before. After her family was annihilated, she had sequestered herself in the empress’s palace, lifeless, and it was necessary to send people to check if she was still alive.
Left to herself, she seemed like she would follow her family in death. When Cledeius, due to her being a Melphiram countess, attempted to kill her maid Linette and nursemaid, she even held a knife to her own throat.
After seeing her attitude of indifference to her own life, Cledeius was suddenly struck with unease.
Illyriad had to belong entirely to him. He couldn’t let her die on her own terms.
That’s why he treated her even more harshly. When their child died three days after birth, he offered no comfort and blatantly paraded ‘Shadow’ Selina in front of her, hoping she would seethe with anger.
He wished she lived on that strength. To survive fueled by hatred and resentment.
If Illyriad’s heart could beat with the sole purpose of revenge, it seemed she could do anything.
Especially imagining Illyriad’s face stained with jealousy and humiliation was somewhat entertaining. He wanted to unravel her cold and rigid face.
If he couldn’t bring back her laughter, he’d make her shed dry tears.
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.]
