His eyes curved sadly, like a lonely moon hanging in the night sky.
“I will become your friend.”
I was genuinely delighted by his answer.
“Oh. Really? I’m so happy.”
When I laughed joyfully, he followed with a smile. I hiccupped repeatedly, then fanned myself with my hand to cool down.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, perfectly fine! Don’t worry about me.”
I stood up and walked to show him I was okay, but he let out a hollow chuckle. Though I tried my best to walk straight, I must have looked wobbly to him.
“He’s more tolerant of alcohol than I thought.”
I learned another new fact. The breeze blowing through the open window cooled me slightly, and my mind began to clear.
The drowsiness in my head faded away.
“Yezar.”
“Yes, Julietta.”
“I’m not so drunk that I’ll forget everything later, right? You can’t take back your promise to be my friend! Understood?”
I stared at him earnestly, and he nodded gently.
“I take responsibility for my words. Do you really think so poorly of me?”
“No, of course not! I trust you. Where else would you find someone as faithful as you?”
In the novel, Yezar was the very embodiment of a sincere, gentle, and kind secondary male lead.
“What is it about me that makes you trust me so much?”
I almost blurted out, “Because I’ve seen you in the novel.” Instead, I evaded.
“Well, even though I’ve been stuck in the Orbetian household all my life, I’ve still heard rumors.”
“Rumors about me?”
Even if I hadn’t known the contents of the novel, I wouldn’t have thought poorly of Yezar. A nobleman of impeccable integrity. Kind to the weak, decisive in punishing the wicked—the top candidate every noble lady swooned over.
“Yes, you probably don’t even care about such rumors, but your reputation is actually quite good.”
As I praised him, he rubbed the rim of his wine glass. His ears turned red, as if he were getting tipsy too.
“I didn’t know that…”
Of course not—he was obsessed with his sword and the female lead. Anything else wouldn’t have caught his attention.
“Well, now you know. Besides, I’ve been on several arranged meetings, and not a single person approached me with such sincerity from the start like you did. Now do you understand why I trust you?”
A straightforward man like him was far more trustworthy than someone who would sweet-talk me from every angle.
“Yes, I understand.”
As he replied, he started rubbing the rim of his wine glass again, so I quickly snatched it away.
“If you’re not going to drink, why keep fiddling with it? That’s wasteful.”
My drunkenness had faded, and I downed the wine in one gulp.
“To drink it all at once…”
“Ugh. It’s quite strong.”
I frowned in discomfort, and he couldn’t hold back and burst into loud laughter.
“Kk. Hahaha.”
“I’m suffering here. Is it really that funny?”
“I’m, I’m sorry. But hah, hahahaha…”
Now his shoulders were shaking too. At the wedding, he’d looked half-dead, expressionless. Seeing him laugh so brightly, I felt both annoyed and relieved.
After laughing for a while, he calmed down and looked at me. Then, parting his lips, he spoke.
“You see… I’ve loved someone for quite a long time.”
His sudden confession made me hold my breath.
Slowly looking at the man before me, I saw his gaze return to me, appearing hollow. Yes, even if he looked composed on the outside, his heart must have suffered more than anyone else’s.
After loving the female lead for such a long time. Just like every devoted, blind-to-all-others secondary male lead in novels.
“Was that the reason you said you didn’t believe in loving someone?”
“Yes. But that person has already become another man’s wife.”
Though his expression remained calm, his voice carried pain spreading like ripples across a lake.
I didn’t want to offer some clumsy comfort that might only make him feel pitiful, so I spoke honestly.
“You look deeply sad. Didn’t it hurt?”
“…It’s fine. In fact, I think it’s fortunate. Since we’ve both married. Now, everyone will be happy.”
The female lead, the male lead, and Yezar were friends. It was Yezar who had been close to the female lead from the beginning… but after meeting the male lead during his crown prince days, the female lead helplessly fell for him.
And Yezar watched it all, suffering silently. He instinctively knew there was no place left for him. But still, “everyone will be happy”?
“Oh, come on! I didn’t want to interfere, but when you said ‘they,’ that means you were in the middle, right? You stepped aside for the sake of two people who loved each other—something like that, right?”
The surprise on his face said it all.
Ah. I’m furious. Seriously, who’s this much of a pushover?
“That’s exactly why people say you’re too kind! You’re the only one suffering alone.”
Do you think they’ll ever understand Yezar’s painful heart? Absolutely not! After the story ends, they’ll stay together, fussing over each other like a lovey-dovey couple, living happily ever after.
And this fool will be the only one silently suffering, getting sick, enduring pain, yet still wishing them happiness!
“I’m fine.”
Even as he said this, his expression darkened completely. I boldly grabbed both of his cheeks with my hands.
“J-Julietta?”
“Say it again! Say you’re fine! What’s fine about it? You were trembling at the wedding today! Your face was half-dead!”
“You’re drunk.”
Seeing Yezar flustered and trying to calm me down only made my temper flare, and I declared defiantly.
“No! I’m not drunk!”
How can you say I’m drunk? I’m not dizzy at all! Right now, all I feel is a mission—to say something to this foolish man.
“Stop saying you’re fine! If you’re struggling, you can say you’re struggling! The one you love has become someone else’s wife. How can you possibly be fine? If it were me, I’d have stopped eating and drinking for a whole week. I’d scream until the mansion shook, crying and calling them a terrible—!”
“Are you getting angry on my behalf?”
“Of course! Even if it’s just a contract, I’m your wife!”
That’s right. Even if it’s a two-year contract, I’m still his wife. I was panting fiercely from excitement, and he gently placed his hands over mine.
“Yes, my lady. Thank you. The truth is… I’m not fine. It’s hard. I loved her for such a very long time.”
Tears welled up as this long-overdue confession poured not toward its intended recipient, but to me.
What am I supposed to do with this pitiful, lovely secondary male lead? I can’t just gobble him up entirely.
“Pfft. Right now, I don’t have a single shred of romantic feelings for you, so I can accept this. But later, if I fall in love with someone, don’t speak of your past love with that expression. Your next lover will feel their heart tearing apart.”
Yezar nodded at my honest answer.
“I understand. But Julietta, if you’ll listen to me as a friend, that won’t happen.”
I tilted my head, meeting his blue eyes filled with faith and trust. Because, frankly, Yezar had just said something utterly ridiculous.
“Huh? What are you talking about? After divorce, we’ll be complete strangers. Our friendship is just a contract friendship!”
At my reply, his pupils trembled.
“Contract friendship?”
“Yes! After the divorce, I’ll travel and make new friends.”
“So I’m just… last priority?”
His voice now sounded distant, muffled. Definitely, chugging down that potent fortified wine in one go had made my head spin and my body hot. My words spilled out without passing through my mind.
“Hmph. What would I do with an ex-husband? It’d just give us bad rumors.”
“I suppose so. An ex-husband, of course.”
“Yes! Naturally!”
Answering cheerfully, I reached for the wine glass again. But he confiscated it—and then, and then… what did he do again?
I vaguely remember something sweet and warm sliding from my lips down my throat. But I can’t recall clearly…
[This is the timeline separator]Birdsong pierced my ears. My eyelids felt as heavy as wet cotton when I tried to lift them.
My head throbbed terribly, as if someone were striking a gong right beside it.
My entire body felt unpleasantly heavy, my stomach queasy, and I desperately wanted to escape this discomfort.
But suddenly, a clear, refreshing scent brushed past my nose. As I leaned toward it, I felt something cool and refreshing against my cheek.
Desperate to escape the splitting headache, I pressed my face against it without knowing what it was, groping with my hands.
‘Cool and refreshing.’
Gradually, the heaviness in my head began to clear. Ah, now I faintly remembered drinking wine all night last night.
So maybe I got sick from the alcohol. What a nuisance. On our wedding night. A bride passed out drunk on her first night. But Yezar would’ve prepared something, surely. Maybe he brought ice?
Or perhaps some modern hangover remedy…
“P-please… stop…”
Huh? That’s Yezar’s voice. He sounds troubled. What is it? What’s going on?
“Stop touching me.”
Stop touching? I slowly opened my tightly shut eyes. And there, right before me, was the upper body of the man who’d made me nosebleed last night.
“Kyaa!”
I jumped up in shock, starting to grasp the situation. I had a vague idea of what I’d been touching with my face and hands just moments ago. But I didn’t want to know.
“I told you to stop… This is embarrassing.”
His expression, turned slightly away, was sharply imprinted in my pupils—the redness on his neck and face, the bobbing of his Adam’s apple.
“I’m sorry!”
My voice came out hoarse and shrill from the dryness of my throat.
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.]
