“Miss, your room is this way!”
“Oh my, you’re too thin. You need to eat more and gain some weight.”
“My goodness! This bruise… Don’t worry, Miss. Now that you’ve returned to the Duke’s manor, you won’t ever have to suffer such injuries again!”
Bonita was swept away by the chattering maids like a sparrow caught in a whirlwind.
Far more skilled than Aria, three maids bathed, dressed, and combed the girl, then gasped in awe at the transformed Bonita.
“Good heavens! You look exactly like the late Duchess. It’s like she’s been rejuvenated!”
“The Duchess, as in my biological mother?”
“Of course! Oh, and Miss! You mustn’t use formal language with us!”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re the Duke Lysianthus’s only daughter and the future Duchess!”
“What, what?”
Me, a Duchess?
…Me?
It was unbelievable.
A girl who’d lived seven years as the daughter of a country prostitute was actually an esteemed small Duchess of the Empire.
It was like something out of a fairy tale her mother used to read to her when she was younger.
‘Like a bonfire.’
Glorious and warm, but extinguishing before the night ends.
Bonita’s heart pounded. Unfamiliar with the luxurious fabric, she fiddled with her sleeve.
“Um, where is my mother? Where is she now?”
“…Your mother?”
Maid Mary raised her eyebrows at Bonita’s question.
“Do you mean Miss Aria?”
“Yes. No, I mean, yes.”
“Miss Aria is currently…”
Mary looked troubled. Reading her emotions, Bonita clung to her.
“Please bring my mother! Okay?”
“Alright, Miss. Let’s put a ribbon in your hair and shoes on your feet, and then we can meet Miss Aria. Right?”
“But I want to see my mother now.”
“Even if your feet get all scratched up?”
“Ugh… Then, I won’t wear a ribbon!”
The maids exchanged glances.
‘The Duke said to keep her here at all costs!’
‘But if that woman raised her, could she be responsible for that bruise? Should we really take her?’
‘I don’t know! You figure it out!’
‘But what if she cries?’
‘Absolutely not! If the Miss cries, the Duke will kill us!’
Their silent conversation continued.
None wanted to be the one to make the newly returned cotton candy Miss cry. Their lives were precious.
Finally, Mary took the initiative.
“Okay, Miss. We’ll do that!”
Bonita’s face brightened at the confirmation.
Seeing her smile up close, Mary’s lips relaxed. There’s something magical about a child’s bright smile.
Especially when that child resembled their deeply respected and dearly loved late mistress.
Mary fitted Bonita’s small feet with soft lambskin shoes with low heels, meticulously sewn in black. The shoes peeked out from under the white dress, showing just a bit with every step she took.
“Now to see Mother!”
Bonita urged, forgetting she wasn’t supposed to use formal language. Mary smiled helplessly.
“Okay. Miss Aria is currently with the Duke in the drawing room. Let’s go there, Miss.”
“So, you’re telling me, Miss Aria, that you’ve…”
Tap, tap.
The man, elegantly crossing his legs, tapped the armrest of his plush velvet chair.
“…been hiding and raising my daughter all this time? Knowing how much my wife and I grieved?”
“Not exactly, but essentially, yes.”
“What’s the reason?”
Intense animosity emanated from Luke. Despite this, Aria remained calm.
‘So, this was his attitude in front of others.’
In the past, Aria – or rather, Elodie – had married Luke romantically and became the Duchess.
Luke, smitten with Elodie at first sight, had followed her around incessantly. Their romance was a well-known story in society, with the sugar-coated Lysianthus Duke turning the world upside down.
Elodie was the only one who knew aspects of Luke that others didn’t see, but ironically, she knew nothing about the Luke Lysianthus that everyone else knew.
This was because Luke transformed into a gentle lamb in front of Elodie, to an almost obsessive degree.
Thus, this side of her ex-husband was – to Aria – incredibly fresh. Was it scary? Not at all.
Aria was recognized as someone with a strong heart.
No, that would be an overly positive assessment. Elodie’s nature was not merely ‘fearless’.
The youngest and pampered child of the wealthiest earldom in the kingdom. Always surrounded by her older brothers.
Elodie, with her kind nature and being coddled by her family, grew up to be a sunny adult.
Somewhat lacking in practical sense, though.
Her sunny disposition didn’t change much after marriage. The focus of her attention merely shifted from family to husband. To her, the world was simply a happy place.
However, the stillbirth of her daughter – or rather, what she believed to be a stillbirth – was a tremendous shock.
As a happy person, she had no defense against the sudden descent into misery.
“You’re saying that, Elodie?”
“Actually, your daughter didn’t die. I took her away.”
“Since you’re going to die anyway, I’m telling you this out of old affection.”
And to add, the betrayal of a trusted friend.
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.]
