At Cedillo’s words, Meiana, who had roughly gathered her fallen hair and fixed it in place, chuckled briefly, as if sighing.
“It’s fine if you sit well. Your Excellency leaned over, so…”
“Throw this away.”
Cedillo kicked the chair aside and grimaced like a troubled child, then extended his lips. Meiana chuckled softly.
“Come over here and sit.”
As she spoke, she moved a bit on the edge of the bed to make room. Cedillo silently sat down next to her, and for a moment, their shoulders seemed to touch, then they moved slightly away from each other as if both were maintaining proper etiquette.
Meiana spoke.
“Now, tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“I asked if you had experience spending a night in prison.”
Cedillo made a sound of understanding, nodding his head.
“Once. A few years ago when I first visited Osraphen, soldiers monitoring the border mistakenly thought our envoy was spies and threw us into prison.”
“Really? How could they mistake an envoy?”
“We were helpless too. We presented official documents stating our envoy status, but they didn’t believe us and acted recklessly. Later, I found out it was the doing of Osraphen’s Prime Minister. It was his attempt to break our spirit, and he even dared to insult His Majesty’s face.”
“He would do such a thing?”
“It’s surprisingly common.”
He explained how the Prime Minister of Osraphen manipulated the weak Zenzu king, how he worked tirelessly to antagonize El Bluyen. There was probably also a story about wanting war. People said that the Prime Minister still held onto issues between the three nations from the past, but the reality was not that simple.
He portrayed the Prime Minister as a feeble, stubborn old man who was preparing to swell his belly by carefully laying the groundwork.
“But fortunately, his health deteriorated, and he withdrew from the front line. Thanks to that, my workload has decreased a bit.”
Meiana nodded in understanding.
“I heard you haven’t been going to Tongsudo these days.”
“Right. The most troublesome thing disappeared. If three nations can maintain peaceful relations like this… I could have a bit more free time. Then maybe I could travel somewhere. With Ariante and you, of course.”
Meiana’s lips slightly parted. They were trembling faintly, as if cold. Words that hadn’t come out yet seemed to be oscillating inside her. By tapping her tongue, biting it, slipping.
“Your Excellency.”
Cedillo’s slow-blinking gaze was gentle. It felt like it could melt away like cream if touched, and Meiana found herself almost raising her hand unconsciously.
Pressing her own back of the hand to hide the tremble, Meiana realized she was about to do something foolish. It was a foolish act regrettable even before the words were uttered.
“Why?”
“Your Excellency…”
Meiana’s words trailed off unexpectedly.
She didn’t particularly desire anything. There might have been a time when she did, but she had forgotten everything now.
The difficult life in the capital, the humiliation she had to endure at the Forbeck estate, conflicts with the housekeeper Jocelyn. Going through such events, battling an inexplicable yearning, Meiana had unknowingly become indifferent.
The only thing that kept her alive was Ariante.
Whenever that child smiled, got angry, cried, threw a tantrum, or was happy, those were the only moments when Meiana thought, “I’m alive.”
But now, another existence had emerged. Unwanted and unexpected, it surged like a tide, becoming her excitement without any connection to her own intentions.
“Speak.”
At that moment, Meiana felt warm heat against her back of the hand, which she was holding.
A large, heated, neat hand. Wrapped around her back of the hand were the hands of a noble, distinguished by the absence of scars, calluses, and roughness caused by labor.
It was a hand she couldn’t covet.
Yet, at this moment, it was the only thing she desired.
“Your Excellency… Do you love me?”
Cedillo’s pupils shook once. He furrowed his brow as if he didn’t understand her words for a moment. But soon, his eyes slowly widened. It was an unexpected expression, as if he had heard something truly astonishing.
“Answer.”
Meiana said. She couldn’t endure the silence. Even if he ridiculed her, it would be more comforting than this. Cedillo, however, kept staring at her as if his words were choked off.
Meiana tried to glean fragments of emotions from his deep blue eyes, like searching for seashells buried in endless sands.
Cedillo spoke.
“If I answer.”
He swallowed for a moment, momentarily stopping his words. This time, Meiana stared at him in silence. She had to, even if it felt as heavy as a rock. There was no other way.
“Will you give me an answer as well?”
Meiana’s fingertips, quietly tucked under Cedillo’s hand, shrank. It was like a small creature trying to cower away from a trap.
Suddenly, Meiana was taken aback by Cedillo’s hand gripping hers more tightly. There was a determination not to let her escape anywhere. When she stopped moving, the strength in Cedillo’s hand faded away again.
“Answer, Meiana. Will you give me an answer too?”
“…Is my answer important?”
“It is.”
Meiana’s head moved slowly from side to side.
“It’s not, right? No matter what I do in this house, no matter how important it is, I am nothing more than an employed maid. If Your Excellency wants something from me, I can only give it. Whatever it is. If Your Excellency wishes to take me to the bedroom right now, I can only follow. But why do you say my answer is important? What does my intention, my will have to do with Your Excellency’s feelings?”
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.]