As soon as Jade finished speaking, the courtroom was filled with confusion.
“No! No! Jade, how could you do this to me? After all I’ve done to take care of you, how can you say such things!”
Grand Duke Usith was restrained by the imperial knights as he caused a commotion.
“Marquis Rowe. Is what you just… said the absolute truth without any falsehood?”
“I swear on my parents’ honor.”
The coachman also swore an oath and gave a detailed account of the incident that day.
He said he had no choice but to follow Grand Duke Usith’s orders under threat that his elderly mother would be killed if he disobeyed, and that he killed the former Marquis and Marchioness Rowe and lived in hiding all his life.
“Have you ever… seen such a heinous villain! Dominic Usith! Do you know that what you’ve done amounts to patricide! Even beasts don’t do such things!”
The emperor condemned Grand Duke Usith, his neck veins bulging.
Just moments ago, Grand Duke Usith’s sentence was merely to be stripped of his title and have his assets confiscated.
At most, he would have done forced labor or been confined in the underground prison in the imperial palace.
After all, he hadn’t directly committed murder, and I hadn’t died.
But ‘patricide’ was a crime of a different weight altogether. Moreover, Grand Duke Usith was the elder brother of the former Marquis Rowe.
“I order the public execution of Dominic Usith and Sharlin Winst immediately after the trial ends!”
The emperor, as if not wanting to be in the same space as Grand Duke Usith any longer, rose roughly and left the courtroom.
Usually in cases of public execution, time was given for family visits before carrying out the execution.
But it was decided to proceed immediately after the trial for these two, without such mercy.
“Patricide, how could he commit such a horrible act……”
“And he had the audacity to act as Lord Rowe’s guardian.”
Everyone in the courtroom threw a word or two at Grand Duke Usith.
They all hurried to the square to watch Grand Duke Usith and Sharlin’s public execution.
The matter was so serious, and the square’s capacity was limited.
“Jade, how dare you…… I will never forget today. I will surely have my revenge.”
Grand Duke Usith, subdued once again by the imperial knights after acting up, gritted his teeth at Jade.
“How, when you’ve lost everything?”
“……You bastard!”
“Revenge requires power. Just as I did.”
Jade stood before Grand Duke Usith and spoke with a smirk.
Even more enraged, Grand Duke Usith tried to lunge at Jade but was finally dragged away by the imperial knights.
The courtroom was suddenly left with just Jade and me. Jade looked around the empty courtroom and approached me.
“When I stood before the Duke, I wanted to kill him myself with the sword the imperial knights were wearing.”
He slowly whispered, burying his head on my shoulder.
“Jade, you did well to hold back.”
“Now that I’ve avenged their wrongful deaths, both of them can rest in peace.”
Though he made no sound, Jade cried freely like a child for the first time since his parents’ deaths.
Thinking of how he must have endured and held back until he could shed these tears, my own vision blurred with tears.
I was truly glad that Jade didn’t meet the ending of the original story.
[This is the timeline separator]Rimaire Square.
“Execute the criminals! Execute them!”
“He killed his own brother! Kill him!”
The square was filled with the angry cries of imperial citizens who had heard the news.
I was waiting at the passage where Sharlin would come out, while Jade was at the opposite passage where Grand Duke Usith would emerge.
Not long after, Grand Duke Usith came out staggering, bound in ropes.
Jade went to Grand Duke Usith and whispered something, then exchanged glances with the executioner.
‘What is he saying?’
It was hard to see what Jade was doing from the distance. More importantly, I had something to say to Sharlin too.
Sharlin, who was coming out weakly, stopped when she saw me, keeping her gaze fixed on the ground.
Her face was resigned. Sharlin, who had been screaming and cursing with resentment when I saw her in prison, now had unfocused eyes.
Come to think of it, it was the same in the courtroom. Sharlin easily admitted her crimes and showed no resistance.
As if she had known in advance that this would happen.
“……I’m sorry.”
“……!”
A small voice flowed from Sharlin’s parched lips.
‘Did she just… say she’s sorry?’
The apology I received last time was merely a cry begging to be spared.
This apology was quite different from then.
What exactly was she sorry for? Sharlin had said she hadn’t directly harmed Blanche, that she hadn’t done anything wrong.
‘Even if she apologizes now, it doesn’t change the fact that she’s facing execution.’
So what could she be thinking?
“Now I understand, thinking I’ll never see my child again.”
“……”
“Why you were so angry when I kidnapped your daughter and you were in prison.”
With those final words, Sharlin left the passage without regret and was pelted with stones by the imperial citizens.
Dark red blood dripped from her forehead, but she walked on silently.
Perhaps the greatest punishment for Sharlin wasn’t death, but never seeing her child again.
I realized this from Sharlin’s words saying she understood my feelings.
In turn, Sharlin and Grand Duke Usith ascended the scaffold.
The executioners placed the neck restraints on Sharlin and Grand Duke Usith.
I took a slow, deep breath.
It was a feeling that couldn’t be explained by simple expressions like ‘I’m trembling’.
This was my first time watching an execution.
‘I feel nauseous……’
No matter how many times you see it, watching someone die before your eyes never becomes familiar.
My chest felt tight, and I wanted to run away right then.
“……Larien.”
“When did… you come?”
“When I saw you with that woman. In case something happened.”
Jade, who had appeared behind me at some point, wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me into his embrace.
“Nothing happened. We didn’t even have a proper conversation. More importantly, Jade. What did you say?”
Jade avoided my gaze and changed the subject.
“If it’s too difficult for you to watch the execution, you can close your eyes.”
“……”
“It’s not a good scene for you to see.”
“Aaaagh!”
As he spoke, a scream filled with fear echoed through the square. Sharlin’s cry was brief.
In contrast, Grand Duke Usith’s screams were repeated several times.
“The coachman said.”
“……?”
“When the carriage overturned, Father and Mother clung to life for a few minutes. He said they begged to be saved, to be helped.”
Jade swallowed his grief, his face contorted.
“If only they had closed their eyes right away, they wouldn’t have felt such pain. Thinking about that, I suddenly felt I had to do the same. If they go cleanly in one go, they won’t know. How my parents met their death.”
Could it be…….
The neck, where the spine runs, doesn’t cut easily.
If it’s cut in one go, death is clean, but if the number of strikes increases, the pain grows.
Knowing this fact, he had bribed the executioner to deliberately kill them slowly.
“Jade, you.”
“……Yes. I asked them to choose the dullest blade.”
I felt an inexplicable unease in my chest.
“What if someone finds out and it causes trouble for you!”
Jade turned around and started walking as he spoke.
“It’s not just me, everyone has always done this. It won’t be a problem, so don’t worry about that.”
“Still……”
“It wasn’t just because of my parents. I’ve already avenged them enough.”
Jade’s steps gradually slowed as he gritted his teeth.
“When you lost consciousness after being stabbed. Do you know what the doctor said?”
The period I was unconscious was about two days. Similar to when I fell down the stairs in the past.
“He said you might die from severe bleeding due to miscarriage. I was so scared you might really die that I didn’t care if you lost your memory or couldn’t recognize me, I just wanted you to wake up.”
……Jade was already extremely afraid of my death.
“The possibility of you dying, it was really different from simply hearing about death. Especially since you were hurt because of me.”
“……Jade.”
“I couldn’t show my distress in front of Blanche who was crying for you to wake up. Because she would be more anxious. I thought I had to stay calm for Blanche to feel at ease.”
The more I heard, the more sorry I felt.
I hadn’t considered Jade, who had to watch over me as I remained unconscious, lost in the grief of losing our child.
“So, Larien. Please don’t do that anymore.”
“……”
“Please don’t leave me. You’re all I have now. Without you, I’m really… alone.”
Jade’s subdued voice was heartrending.
“That being alone isn’t good, that in the end you need someone by your side to live on. You’re the one who taught me that.”
Because of the desperation hidden in those words.
“Before, I told you I wanted to marry you to make Blanche my heir.”
“……Did you?”
“It was a lie. I was afraid you would refuse, so I made up a stupid excuse.”
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.]
