Life After Divorce (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 7
“Haa.”
A sigh escaped me at the tiresome argument.
I brushed off the shoulder that had been grabbed, as if shaking away dust, and coldly stared down at the fallen Antra.
“Do you still not understand, Viscountess Dian? By now, you should realize that threats using Devon no longer work on me.”
I thrust the box I’d been holding into Antra’s arms as if discarding it.
“Take it. It contains the evidence of your dear son’s infidelity—now reduced to ashes.”
Antra, taken aback, clutched the battered box with a dazed look on her face.
“What?”
“Oh, why that expression? You already knew, didn’t you—that Devon was cheating on me.”
Antra only glared at me, her face flushed with anger, her neck veins bulging—proof enough that what I said was true.
Just as I’d expected. Of course they couldn’t possibly be ignorant of each other’s private lives.
With my hands clasped behind my back, I leaned forward slightly and whispered quietly into Antra’s ear as she glared at me.
“In a short while, I’ll strip your precious son bare and throw him out. Since even the money in his pockets will vanish, you’d better save up some pocket change. Consider this my advice—don’t take it too harshly. And there’s something I’ve always wanted to say to you…”
Lowering my gaze, I blew a sharp puff of air onto the fox fur draped over Antra’s shoulders. When she flinched at the small gesture, I smiled brightly, as if granting her a favor.
“That reeks.”
Why catch some poor fox? You should’ve caught your own son instead. Having hurled those final words like a dart, I turned crisply on my heel and walked away.
Glancing back as I left, I saw Antra staring after me, her mouth agape like a goldfish.
Aaaargh—! Soon after stepping out of the mansion, I covered my ears against the delayed, echoing scream.
“Ugh, so noisy.”
At this rate, she’ll have a stroke from high blood pressure.
As Lirien and I descended the mansion steps at a leisurely pace, I spotted the butler fretting anxiously at the front gate.
“Oh, I nearly forgot about him.”
The butler spotted me and hurried over.
“Have you finished your conversation, Madam?”
I raised one eyebrow with a reluctant expression.
“Madam? Since when did you start being so polite?”
Clearly, that bat-like butler had overheard everything between Antra and me and had already sensed which way the tide was turning.
As my expression soured, the nervous butler wet his lips with his tongue and began hesitantly.
“Well… actually, Viscountess Antra ordered me to burn down the entire mansion. I tried so hard to stop her, but…”
“Oh, really?”
At my indifferent reply, the butler—who had been preparing to slip away behind Antra—broke into a cold sweat and glanced nervously at me.
Smirking inwardly, I tapped my chin innocently and rolled my eyes.
“But, butler—what should we do now? The mansion’s been burned down, so the servants have nowhere left to sleep or eat.”
“We’ll be fine.”
“No, as the lady of the house, I can’t possibly let my household staff sleep outside. Especially you—you’ve worked so hard all these years supporting my shortcomings.”
As I gently encouraged him with a tender smile, a faint smile of relief spread across the butler’s lips.
It was a smile of confidence and reassurance—sure that even though I’d broken ties with Antra, I wouldn’t cast him aside.
“No, Madam—it’s simply my duty as a butler to—”
“That’s why I’m giving you a proper rest now.”
“Thank you—wait, what?”
Our eyes met as the butler, looking utterly confused, tilted his chin up. I wiped the cheerful smile from my face and turned coldly serious.
“If you’re this slow to understand, you won’t be able to keep bowing politely for much longer. So if you don’t want to starve, find other work. That goes for every servant in the Count’s household—including you.”
I passed through the front gate with an indifferent look, brushing past the butler.
The butler, as if struck by lightning, panicked and chased after me.
“W-wait, Madam…! Madam…!”
“Oh, right.”
I turned back toward the butler, twirling a finger in the air.
“If you don’t want to meet me in court, send all the unaffected household goods to the Mipidian family by tomorrow.”
“Madam…! I-I’ve made a mistake! Please forgive me, just this once, Madam…!”
Being a butler in this world was as secure as being a civil servant. The entrance requirements and academic rigor were so extreme that countless people still lined up for a chance.
Because of the rigorous appointment process, anyone dismissed dishonorably would lose all their privileges.
“Then go farm some land, if you must.”
With a cynical smile, I lightly ignored the butler chasing after me and boarded the carriage with Lirien.
[This is the timeline separator]On the road to Count Mipidian’s estate on the outskirts of the capital. Though the carriage’s ride quality far surpassed the one rented in the city, I felt terribly uneasy.
“I followed her impulsively out of resentment toward Antra, but…”
I slowly shifted my fixed gaze from the window and looked across the carriage.
Lirien, meeting my eyes, gave a faint smile and lowered her gaze.
The interior of the carriage was oppressively quiet.
“This is… awkward…”
The one saving grace in this situation was that I wouldn’t run into her younger brother.
He wouldn’t return until five days after Lirien’s death.
Lost in thought, my brow furrowed slightly when I sensed an insistent stare. I opened my eyes gently—Lirien was watching me with curious eyes.
“Countess, what on earth are you pondering so deeply?”
“I was just thinking how fortunate I am that Lady Lirien helped me.”
Feigning innocence with a gentle smile, I watched Lirien’s cheeks flush red as she softly cupped them with her hands.
“Well… I didn’t really help that much…”
Just then, the carriage stopped.
Glad for the interruption, I stepped out through the door opened by the coachman, escaping the suffocating space.
After confirming Lirien had alighted, I turned and instinctively flinched at the sight before me once the carriage drove away.
“What kind of mansion is this huge?”
Admittedly, the Bueil family’s ancestral mansion—now burned down—had also been enormous. But not to the point where you could hold a relay race across its gardens.
Past the avenue of trees stood a fountain with crystal-clear water gushing upward, an arched bridge crossing it, and delicate flower beds lining the path.
I marveled at the fairy-tale-like splendor as I surveyed the outdoor garden.
“It’s truly beautiful.”
“Really? I’m glad! While you’re staying here—”
Crash!
Suddenly, a sharp sound shattered the air.
I turned to see a maid staring blankly at me, her face pale, having just dropped her tray.
“Lady Lirien brought a guest…”
“This way, Countess Bueil!”
Lirien quickly blocked the maid from view with her back and hurriedly guided me away. Sensing she was trying to hide something, I obediently followed.
But the maid wasn’t the only one shocked. The gardeners, carpenters, head maids, and servants all wore expressions as if they’d seen a ghost—though more precisely, a mix of astonishment and joy.
Lirien left instructions that no one was to follow us, as she would personally escort me, then led me upstairs to the second floor.
“…So I’m her first guest? She must not have had any real friends at all.”
Though I myself wasn’t exactly overflowing with close relationships.
Feeling an odd sense of kinship, I pretended not to notice the red ears peeking out from between her long, silver-like hair.
“You can use this room, Countess.”
Pushed by Lirien’s urgent gestures, I entered a bedroom at the end of the hallway, past the central second-floor hall.
The antique mahogany furniture, bearing the marks of time, suited my taste perfectly.
Click. Lirien, still in the pose of closing the door, slowly turned to look at me. When our eyes met, she gave an embarrassed smile and brushed her cheek with the back of her hand.
“I must seem frantic, right? This is the first time I’ve ever brought someone home… I did invite those friends once, but no one came.”
“Not even after your debutante ball?”
“Oh—no, actually, I haven’t had it yet…”
Oh. She hadn’t even made her debutante debut yet.
Then again, even among the nobility, some chose not to hold a debutante ball or led quiet, reclusive lives without social engagements—like me.
“So I’m your very first guest. What an honor, my lady.”
Lirien, wide-eyed as she looked up at me, smiled shyly—then suddenly remembered she was still showing me the room.
“Oh, right—the bedroom! What do you think?”
“I like it.”
“My younger brother, the master of this estate, is away fighting monsters, so please make yourself comfortable.”
“You mean the illustrious Count Mipidian himself?”
Lirien’s eyes widened like lanterns.
“You know my brother?”
Of course I did—he was the hero and commander of the Imperial Monster Subjugation Corps who’d eradicated the high-tier monsters from Jader Forest, a creature that had swallowed an entire village.
“In the Empire, only foreigners don’t know him.”
“Is that so?”
Lirien added a lackluster response, seeming uninterested in her brother’s fame. Instead, she stole glances at me as I smiled while surveying the bedroom.
“Is there anything else you’d like to say?”
“…Actually, I wanted to apologize to you again about that matter. It doesn’t feel right to just let it go.”
An apology. From my perspective, Lirien was the victim.
I knew exactly how vile and thorough Devon was at deceiving his partners.
Etricia, too—precisely because she knew Devon had betrayed her by deceiving others, she never blamed the other women before her descent into darkness. She understood it would be unjust to accuse another victim instead of holding her husband accountable.
“That truly isn’t necessary, Lady Lirien. But could you promise me one thing?”
“What is it…?”
“I’ll silence Devon’s mouth. In return, you must stay silent about everything that happened between you and my husband. To absolutely no one—not even Count Mipidian.”
“So today’s meeting…?”
“Let’s call it a chance encounter, where you took pity on my plight and kindly offered me shelter.”
Because I couldn’t possibly let your brother kill Devon.
If Devon died before our divorce, I’d be stuck with the label of “widow”—something I’d rather die than accept. Then again… maybe letting that scum die would be satisfying enough to endure it.
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.
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Chapter Comments (1)
Inline Comments (49)
Each of my cells, previously melted into languid relaxation, jolted awake, sensi
Moment! Wouldn’t the hero have shown up in five days? Etricia is in an unenviable position. Etricia way is dead end.
“You needn’t worry about that. Anyone who dares speak disrespectfully will be de
What’s really going on here?Edmund’s behavior is strange. Is it love from the first death threat? (• `_´ •)
And so, he’d discovered, to his dismay, that his naive sister had already given
Since you are the male lead, you will give her your heart too. Waiting for that. (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)
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oh man girl, using your self as bait never goes well! just kiss the man instead