If You Wish For My Death - Chapter 7

In a boring year, a somewhat special news was delivered.

The only daughter of the Hardness Duchy and the fifth prince of the Diastara Empire held their engagement ceremony.

The news of their engagement was the talk of the town for days.

It was no wonder, as the only daughter of the Hardness Duchy had been hopelessly in love with the fourth prince, Asher Roel, but ended up getting engaged to the fifth prince, Cassian Theron, which was quite surprising.

The Hardness Duchy, a name familiar to every citizen of the Diastara Empire.

A family that had been the closest aide to the imperial family for generations and produced excellent martial artists.

Especially the current head of the family, Harry Hardness, was a person respected by many for his innate exceptional martial arts skills, charisma, and benevolent personality.

Having received his knighthood early on, he was appointed as the captain of the imperial guards with the emperor’s trust, and even achieved great merit by participating in and leading to victory in a war against another country long ago.

When he suddenly stepped down from his knightly position at such a young age, various speculations circulated.

Rumors spread that the newly ascended emperor, wary of his influence, had forced him out due to excessive ambition – how could it not be so?

However, contrary to the rumors, the emperor still frequently summoned him, so the prestige of the Hardness family remained as strong as ever.

Veronica Hardness, the only child of Duke Harry Hardness, was famous in social circles.

Famous in a bad way, enough to completely tarnish Harry Duke’s reputation.

The incident when she made her social debut at age 14 was one of the famous anecdotes.

The news that ‘the only daughter of Duke Hardness’ was making her social debut stirred up the noble families for a while.

She was the only child of Harry Duke, who had not remarried after losing his wife early on, and rumors of how much he doted on her were widespread.

Whoever married her would have the qualification to become the heir of the Hardness family, so naturally, she couldn’t help but receive the most attention in social circles.

And when Veronica Hardness, who had only been known through rumors, first appeared at a ball, great interest was focused on her appearance, which was as beautiful as a well-crafted doll.

The atmosphere was still warm when she paired up with a young noble and came to the center.

That is, until she stepped on her partner’s feet twelve times, showed wooden dancing, and finally tripped over her own skirt and fell.

‘Waaah – Father!’

Veronica sat down right there and cried and made a fuss.

As it happened while dancing, getting kicked by other children’s feet was a bonus.

Seeing this, Harry Duke rushed over and managed the situation. He coaxed and soothed her to stand up, then continued the dance to make up for the mistake.

However, the child’s dancing skills were so poor that it was hard to believe she had been taught in the Hardness family.

Not long after, when her feet got tangled again, she let out a scream unbefitting a child. Then she pushed her partner down.

The partner who suddenly fell also burst into tears, and the ballroom instantly turned into a scene of chaos.

The incident that day became the beginning of ‘Veronica Hardness’s anecdotes’.

As it was also the debut for other noble children of her age, her ill-mannered behavior became even more of a target for criticism.

Veronica Hardness was too uncultured to be excused as simply clumsy for her age. Her subsequent behavior was outrageous.

She looked down on families lower than hers, treated anyone who seemed even slightly easy with contempt, and liked those who flattered her.

She couldn’t hide her stupidity due to her lack of basic knowledge, but she didn’t know how to reflect on her own shortcomings.

Moreover, she was so materialistic that she had to buy anything pretty and expensive to be satisfied.

Her closet was full of clothes she never wore, and there were plenty of things she bought but never used.

She even tried to take others’ belongings, causing many fights.

People sighed. Harry Duke had a modest nature, and her mother was also a calm woman, so where did such a child come from!

But this was largely due to Harry Duke, who tried to fulfill every wish of his daughter who grew up without a mother.

After losing his wife after a long struggle, and being single-minded with no intention of taking a new wife, Harry Duke’s love was all directed to his only remaining daughter.

He gave her whatever she wanted and did anything for her.

If Veronica wanted pearls, he would cross the sea to get them, and if she wanted the first blooming flower, he would climb deep into the mountains to pick a beautiful flower covered in morning dew.

Growing up pampered like this without ever hearing a harsh word, her temperament formed in the worst way.

Harry Duke’s overprotection had spoiled her even more.

And so, Veronica Hardness, who went around with the labels of ‘social circle’s tomboy’ and ‘Hardness family’s disgrace’, one day fell in love.

The one who stole the heart of this girl, who had acted so arrogantly riding on her father’s reputation, was surprisingly the fourth prince of the Diastara Empire.

A prince so frail that even the imperial family didn’t pay much attention to him. A prince with a disability that made him limp due to a childhood accident.

She took a liking to this unremarkable fourth prince. It was even an unrequited love.

Her feelings were so intense that news of her aggressive courtship, even to the point of obsession and clinging, spread throughout the empire.

Her nature of going straight once she fell for something created this obsessive love.

For a while, it was an amusing topic of conversation in the empire that the fourth prince was firmly rejecting her burdensome love.

When news spread that she had fallen ill with lovesickness after failing to win the fourth prince’s heart, people clicked their tongues.

Obsession is indeed poisonous!

But suddenly an engagement with another prince? When people first heard this rumor, they all thought it was misinformation, or that finally the fourth prince had relented.

However, at the engagement ceremony attended by the nobles, they learned that the rumor was true.

The one standing there in formal attire was clearly Prince Cassian Theron Diastara. And the woman standing opposite him in a dress was indeed Veronica Hardness.

The two stood facing each other, made their engagement vows, and exchanged rings.

Although they were still green boy and girl, the engagement ceremony proceeded quite solemnly.

As His Majesty the Emperor was directly involved, it received even more focused attention.

However, while the woman’s side was all smiles, the man’s side was utterly gloomy, raising questions.

In any case, news of their engagement was announced to the public. Regardless of people’s shock, sighs, or curiosity.

A strange tension lingered in the Hardness Duchy.

The tumultuous time over the engagement issue had quickly passed, and now only silence filled the mansion.

Usually, the sound of bustling footsteps and loud chatter was common, but now even the silence seemed somehow cautious.

A maid walking down the corridor with long silver trays in both hands stopped in front of a door.

As if in a series of motions, she knocked on the door and entered, where the precious young mistress was lying askew at the end of a long sofa in a cozy space.

“Young miss, please have some snacks.”

The maid held up the silver tray in her hand.

On the long silver tray were a cake with plenty of pink cream and a teapot filled with milk sweetened with honey, emitting a warm aura.

The maid set the snacks down on the table next to the sofa and turned to look at Veronica. Her eyes widened.

The young miss’s completely relaxed appearance exuded a languid atmosphere unlike usual, but what caught her attention more was the book held in her small hand.

And it wasn’t some romance novel or picture book, but an etiquette book with a title that seemed boring from the start.

What’s going on with the young miss? The maid smiled without showing her surprise.

“Young miss. I’ve brought your snacks.”

It was now the snack time that the young miss loved most. Today’s dessert was a chiffon cake generously topped with pink strawberry cream, her favorite.

She surely thought the young miss would pounce on it excitedly, but Veronica just glanced at it and turned her eyes back to the book.

“Young miss?”

“I’ll pass.”

“Pardon? It’s strawberry cream cake.”

“Yeah. I don’t have much of an appetite.”

Saying so, she continued reading as if she really had no interest.

The maid blankly stared at the young miss reading a thick and seemingly difficult book.

It was unlike the young miss who would have rushed over from afar for sweet desserts.

Even after the maid quietly left the room after observing the situation, Veronica continued reading on the sofa for a long time.

Then at some point, after checking the time, Veronica got up. She tidied her wrinkled clothes and left the room.

When she entered a room after walking down the quiet corridor, a man in proper attire was waiting for her.

It was the music teacher. The music teacher greeted Veronica with a forced smile, but couldn’t hide his haggard face full of worry.

“Then let’s listen well today too, Miss Hardness.”

“……”

After a brief greeting, Veronica sat down at the piano prepared in the middle of the room.

Behind Veronica, who was quietly looking down at the keys, the teacher secretly swallowed his tension.

How terrible a sound would she make today? It was the first time since taking her on that he wished his ears would be ruined.

Small hands rested on the keys. The teacher pondered how to soothe her with her terrible sense of rhythm today.

Thoughts flashed through his mind in order: how high the status of this girl younger than him was, how willful she was to the point where rumors said she immediately replaced people if they displeased her even slightly, how large an amount he received for this lesson, how difficult his livelihood would become if he was fired from here.

His legs trembled.

I can’t lose this good job! The teacher recalled all sorts of flowery phrases in his mind.

And the small hands moved.

The teacher’s eyes, clouded with worry and concern as he crossed his arms, gradually narrowed. Eventually, he sprang up from his chair.

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.

Link to read

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