Veronica pondered all night about how much information she should tell the emperor.
The reason for this was that she couldn’t leave out the explanation about Ren, starting with Vivian, the apostle of God.
‘There’s no good in letting His Majesty know about the existence of someone who can handle shadow abilities.’
She had barely managed to get the emperor’s promise to appoint her as crown princess after a long struggle that lasted her entire life.
At this point, if the emperor learned about Ren, no, Callys von Agrian, she might lose the position of crown princess.
That’s how significant the shadow ability was to the Agrian Empire.
‘It’s troublesome if Ren ends up ascending to the throne now.’
And that was something not only Veronica but also Ren didn’t want.
When she once asked him what he thought about the throne, Ren answered like this:
Although his tone was truly disrespectful, the content was welcome to Veronica.
If he had wanted the throne, she would have had to step down without a choice.
Keeping these facts in mind, after much deliberation, Veronica decided to conceal Vivian’s existence from the emperor.
‘Even if it’s not related to Callys… Vivian Schmidt’s condition isn’t good right now, so that would be better.’
Although she was said to be gradually improving, she heard that she still struggled with being separated from Ren.
To explain about God’s apostle to the emperor, they would eventually have to bring her to the imperial palace, but in that state, it would be too much.
So, she brought someone else to prove that Siegfried was a demon.
It was Damian Schneider.
The only ordinary person who survived after facing Siegfried who had turned into a demon.
He would help convince the emperor to believe Veronica’s words.
When the appointed time came, Veronica went to meet the emperor, accompanied by Damian and her guard, Trian.
The emperor seemed a bit surprised by Damian’s unexpected appearance.
His appearance, relying on a prosthetic leg and a cane after losing one leg, must have contributed to that.
After everyone had entered, Veronica looked around with a tense face. The current location was the imperial palace.
If Prince Siegfried wanted, he could easily eavesdrop secretly.
“No one will be able to hear the conversation from now on.”
As the emperor reassured Veronica, having sensed her uneasiness, she immediately got to the point.
“…I first began to suspect Prince Siegfried when I was young.”
She calmly began her story.
She briefly summarized her past, from witnessing the empress being brainwashed by Siegfried to chasing after demons.
Of course, she left out any mention of Vivian and Ren.
Then Damian explained what happened on the day demons invaded the Schneider territory.
“It wasn’t widely known, but on the day of the invasion, His Highness Prince Siegfried came as a guest to the mansion. My father greeted the prince first, and I was also preparing to pay my respects. However, what I saw was the sight of my father dead at the hands of a demon.”
Damian continued speaking, despite being tormented by the terrible memory.
He fled immediately, but he heard that demon who killed his father being called king by other demons.
“Your Majesty, I am aware this is an insolent statement… but I believe that demon was Prince Siegfried.”
After listening to both of their stories to the end, the emperor fell silent with an inscrutable expression.
Veronica tensed up.
Although she had prepared as best she could, there was actually no physical evidence that Siegfried was the king of demons.
Siegfried wasn’t a fool, and he wouldn’t have left any decisive traces.
However, there was clear circumstantial evidence that his whereabouts were always unclear whenever demons caused incidents.
‘The emperor might not believe me since there’s no evidence… but that’s okay.’
Veronica had a special purpose in bringing up Siegfried to the emperor.
It was to plant a seed of doubt in the emperor’s mind.
When Siegfried heard the news that Veronica would be appointed as crown princess, he would definitely not sit still.
‘He’ll try to undermine me and become crown prince himself using all sorts of methods.’
Unfortunately, Veronica didn’t have the power to prevent all of this.
So she needed to make sure the emperor wouldn’t be easily swayed by his words.
As a means to that end, she informed the emperor that Siegfried was a demon.
Of course, if by luck the emperor believed her and cooperated in exorcising demons, there couldn’t be a better outcome.
Veronica tried to hide such inner thoughts as she concluded the conversation.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. The reason I wanted to tell you this fact was simply to give you this.”
She handed the emperor a necklace made by Vivian.
“It’s an artifact that can block a demon’s brainwashing once.”
The emperor received the necklace and examined it closely while maintaining silence, then slowly opened his mouth.
“I understand what the princess wants to say. You may leave now.”
At the emperor’s dismissal, she carefully bowed and left with those she had brought.
The emperor sat in that place for several hours, seemingly lost in thought.
By then, the strengthened sunlight brightly illuminated the room.
And then.
“Your Majesty, His Highness Prince Siegfried has come to see you.”
At the servant’s voice, the emperor tapped the armrest of his chair with his fingers and replied.
“Let him enter.”
Siegfried, who entered through the opened door, wore a neat smile on his face.
“Please forgive my rudeness for coming so suddenly, Your Majesty. When I heard you had risen from your sickbed, I couldn’t help but come as a son, with a joyful heart.”
Hearing these words full of filial piety, the emperor looked at him with kind eyes, then suddenly spoke as if something had occurred to him.
“…Hearing those words reminds me of that day.”
“Which day are you referring to?”
“When you were young, I had fallen ill like this time. Do you remember what happened then? You came running to see me without even observing proper etiquette when you heard I was sick. You clung to me, crying and begging me not to be ill. Come to think of it, you’ve been terribly concerned about my health since then.”
“Haha, I’m just glad you think fondly of those embarrassing memories from my younger days.”
The emperor also smiled back at Siegfried, who was raising the corners of his mouth awkwardly.
The two then exchanged brief greetings in a pleasant atmosphere.
After a short conversation, Siegfried left.
It seemed he had truly just come to show his face.
The emperor watched the place where he had left with a suspicious gaze. The smile he had worn during their conversation was completely gone.
‘…The princess was right. That fellow is certainly not Siegfried.’
Earlier, he had spoken as if there were beautiful memories between Siegfried and himself, but in reality, this was all a lie.
There had been times when the emperor was ill, but Siegfried had never once come to see him.
He had fallen neatly into the trap set to deceive him.
In fact, the emperor had already trusted Veronica’s words to some extent even before hearing her detailed explanation.
This was because he had felt an odd sense of discomfort from Siegfried for a while.
From some point on, Siegfried’s personality and behavior had changed subtly.
He would often come to see him at night, which was unlike his usual self.
But every time he came, he would look at his guards with a strange gaze.
There were always at least two guards by the emperor’s side, no matter what happened.
But Siegfried, with a smiling face, oddly seemed to regard them as obstacles.
There had been several occasions when he had cunningly created an atmosphere that forced people to leave. Of course, the emperor always stayed with his guards regardless.
Due to such bizarre behavior from Siegfried, the emperor had already been keeping a close eye on him for a long time.
And with Veronica’s explanation and the recent confirmation, the emperor’s mind was completely made up.
He couldn’t be certain if he was a demon, but he definitely wasn’t the real Siegfried that he knew.
After organizing his thoughts, the emperor said to his servants:
“Hold the crown princess’s enthronement ceremony in a month. It’s too early to make it public, so begin preparations secretly.”
Now that he knew Siegfried was wearing the mask of a prince but was actually a different being, the emperor’s course of action was set.
[This is the timeline separator]It was one evening, several days later.
As I was having dinner with Ren as usual, I decided to tell him something I had been thinking about for a while after much consideration.
“Ren.”
“What’s wrong? Is the food not to your liking?”
I shook my head at his thoughtful question that came just from calling his name.
“It’s not that… Um, I’d like to try sleeping alone from today.”
It was a bit embarrassing to say this at my age, as if I were a small child trying to gradually leave my parents’ embrace.
I waited for his answer with an awkward smile.
“Vivian, there’s no need to force yourself. You were still having nightmares at night.”
About two weeks had already passed since that day we went to the demon realm.
During that time, thanks to Ren’s efforts, my condition had improved greatly, and I could now distinguish between dreams and reality.
As he said, I still had nightmares, but now I could manage to endure them somewhat.
The anxiety that Ren might die had been largely resolved, but… just then, another problem arose.
Recently, I had been falling asleep in his arms as if it were natural, but when I came to my senses, I realized how embarrassing this situation was.
‘We’re not even lovers, how can this be right?’
Of course, it wasn’t unpleasant to fall asleep in the arms of the person I liked, but… it was too much for my heart to handle now that I had regained my senses.
Especially since I had only recently become aware of my feelings.
But I couldn’t tell Ren about these inner circumstances, so I tried to persuade him with a suitable excuse.
“I’m not forcing myself. It’s just… you must have things to do too, and I’m sorry for relying on you so much. I also think it might be burdensome for you to worry about me like this. Thanks to you, I’ve gotten much better, so from now on, I’ll try to overcome this on my own.”
Ren, who had been listening quietly, stared into my eyes for a moment before speaking.
“Don’t worry about such things. It wasn’t burdensome at all. Everything I did was voluntary because I like you, Vivian.”
“Haha…”
At the last sentence that came so abruptly, I laughed awkwardly and then quickly turned my head away.
Ren had surely said those words without any particular thought, but my face suddenly felt hot, and I couldn’t look at him straight.
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.]
