Summer Must Die (16 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 7
Summer stretched her arm through the fence.
At the same moment, a sharp tingling sensation shot up her arm, but it didn’t matter to Summer.
Sky-blue hair and beautiful pink eyes—she knew instantly. Julian Dudley. The protagonist of this world.
“Forgive me, but may I ask for your identity?”
“I’m Summer Lindsey, daughter of House Lindsey!”
Summer cried out, her voice filled with desperate hope, and pulled from her bosom a document proving her identity.
Just the fact that Julian Dudley was looking directly at her overwhelmed Summer with emotion. She was the protagonist.
Unlike herself, who had fought so hard just for a job, Julian Dudley played the role of a kingmaker and boldly carved out her own path in life.
Right now, she was acknowledging Summer—a character never even mentioned in the original story.
“Open the gate.”
“My lady!”
“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you earlier. Please, come in.”
At Julian Dudley’s command, the guards hesitantly opened the gate.
That was it.
Summer felt like shouting for joy right then and there.
“What brings you here without notice, Lady Lindsey?”
Julian Dudley linked arms with Summer in a friendly manner and led her inside.
It was a silent plea not to hold the guards’ behavior against them.
Summer had expected outright rejection at the gate, so merely being allowed in filled her with satisfaction—though “satisfaction” didn’t even begin to capture the depth of her emotion.
The protagonist was special—it was an obvious truth. That’s why Summer had hoped Julian Dudley would be someone extraordinary.
As Summer had anticipated, the protagonist held privilege. She had just confirmed it in this very moment.
“To be honest, I’m a huge fan of Lady Dudley. I’ve always wanted to meet you, just once!”
“A fan? What does that word mean?”
Julian tilted her head in confusion.
Her lovely sky-blue hair and pink eyes made Summer feel as if something inside her chest was being cleansed just by looking at her.
“It means… I admire you passionately.”
Summer’s eyes sparkled.
“I’m sorry, Lady Lindsey, but I like men.”
“Oh! That’s not what I meant at all. I just… I think Lady Dudley is cool, cute, and beautiful—all of it! It’s more like… I sincerely wish for your happiness.”
Now that she was face-to-face with the protagonist, Summer’s words tumbled out in a flustered jumble.
She desperately needed to win Julian’s favor, yet no appropriate words came to mind.
In a burst of reckless determination, Summer squeezed her eyes shut and blurted out,
“The reason I came here is because I wanted to get close to Lady Dudley. It’s truly pure admiration—well, I mean, genuine fondness—completely unrelated to our families!”
“Fondness? For me?”
At Summer’s unexpected confession, Julian’s lovely pink eyes widened in surprise.
In that trembling moment, Julian’s lips slowly parted.
“It’s a bit sudden.”
“I’m really sorry! I just thought that if I didn’t say it now, I’d never get the chance to tell you I wanted to be friends. I barged in without even sending word beforehand, and I—”
“And I’m happy.”
“…Huh?”
Summer’s eyes widened in shock. Seeing this, Julian burst into a bright laugh and gently pulled Summer into a light embrace.
“You’re the first person, Summer, who’s ever seen me so kindly.”
When the protagonist of a beloved novel hugs you and says your name,
“Waaahhh…”
The only natural reaction is tears of overwhelming emotion.
Thinking she’d spent the whole day crying from happiness, Summer pulled out the handkerchief the coachman had given her and blew her nose loudly.
Julian waited patiently until Summer’s tears subsided, then playfully linked arms with her and tugged her gently.
“Summer, shall we have some tea together?”
“Yes!”
She’d happily drink even the bitterest gosam tea if offered.
“Do you have a favorite kind of tea?”
“No, I enjoy them all.”
“Haha. Same here.”
Julian Dudley replied to Summer with easy familiarity—a cheerful, protagonist-like answer.
They—the protagonists—were exactly as Summer had imagined: both the living embodiment of the story and yet free individuals.
Unless their core personalities were drastically altered, they faced no restrictions in responding even to Summer, who was clearly an anomaly in this world.
Thus, the number of people with whom Summer could truly converse had now grown to three: Mary, Fay, and Julian.
Ian Lancaster, the male lead, was probably similar.
Julian invited Summer into her private quarters and prepared a simple tea time just for her.
It was delightful. Julian was as kind and gentle as Summer had read about in the novel.
Summer clumsily mimicked Julian’s etiquette.
Though the manners were absurdly complex and useless—she eventually gave up and ate normally again.
Truthfully, anyone who’d read the original knew Julian herself wasn’t exactly refined in etiquette either.
That was part of her charm—but somehow, Summer felt like an orangutan eating a banana with bare hands in front of a human.
“So… you’ll really accompany me throughout the entire social season?”
“Accompany you? Summer, we’re friends—we’ll be together because we want to.”
“Julian, you truly are my light.”
To Summer, Julian was light itself.
Julian Dudley, as the protagonist, held the key that might ultimately allow Summer to return to her original world.
After all, protagonists usually possessed special abilities or at least a slight power to bend the story’s logic.
Perhaps she could even twist the narrative just enough to send Summer back—maybe by redefining Summer’s role in the story or accelerating the day Summer’s soul was meant to appear.
“Haha, Summer! You’re being too much!”
“Not at all! Julian, to someone like me, you’re…”
It might sound like a dream.
But if she were honest about that, Julian might get upset or sad right now.
“It’s a bit embarrassing to ask, but… what exactly do you like about me? As you know, I’m a little…”
Julian Dudley trailed off. Summer understood why she asked.
In the story, Julian Dudley struggled to fit into aristocratic society.
It was because she had been adopted into House Dudley.
Worse, her true origins were unclear.
Julian Dudley wasn’t a drop of Dudley blood—she wasn’t even born a noble.
When Summer had read the novel, she’d noticed that the male lead, Ian Lancaster, was just as deeply wounded as Julian—if not more so.
She hadn’t cared much about the male lead and skimmed over his backstory, but she knew he’d carried many scars—and that Julian Dudley had been the one to uncover and heal them.
Julian had managed that thanks to her un-aristocratic mindset, her positive yet principled nature—
And her healing abilities.
“Julian, you’re a little special to me. It might sound silly coming from a noble, but honestly—these complicated, impractical manners exist only to show how ‘different’ we are from commoners.”
Holding her warm teacup, Summer spoke slowly and gently.
“Goodness! You really think that too, Summer? You’re the first noble young lady who shares my views!”
“That’s exactly why I’ve always been interested in you. Even with all those stares and whispers, you never bowed your head.”
That’s why she admired Julian.
Because she was the complete opposite of words like “desperate” or “cowardly.” Summer smiled faintly, recalling her own grueling exam-prep days.
She’d barely eaten, worn clothes that still smelled damp, and queued outside the academy before sunrise.
On days when her living expenses ran out, she’d snapped angrily at her mother—redirecting her self-loathing onto her because she couldn’t bear it herself.
What expression had her mother worn then? Her memory was blurry.
But one thing was certain: she couldn’t stand how wretched and humiliating her situation had been.
“Summer?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just remembered a time when my heart felt wretched. But thanks to you, Julian, I’ve improved a lot.”
She admired how Julian always acted with conviction, pushed forward boldly, and saw things through smoothly—earning the recognition of the male lead and everyone around her.
“Hearing you say that makes me both shy and happy.”
“I’m happy too that I got to meet you. Oh, by the way—is your preparation for the imperial ball going well?”
“Of course! How about yours?”
“Well… I suppose it’s going fine.”
Summer replied nonchalantly, stirring a spoonful of honey into her black tea.
After all, Summer Lindsey was clearly just an extra created for the imperial ball—she’d magically receive a dazzling, perfectly fitted dress, and maids would frantically dress her without her lifting a finger.
There was nothing Summer could actually do in that process.
“You don’t seem nervous at all, Summer.”
“Well… I’m not thinking about marriage.”
After all, the social season was essentially a marriage market designed for political alliances.
“Really? Me neither! Meeting you today must be my lucky break.”
“Julian, do you happen to know Duke Ian Lancaster?”
“Of course. He’s a war hero, isn’t he? I heard he recently reclaimed territories the empire had lost.”
Summer watched Julian’s expression closely.
It was the indifferent tone of someone mentioning a famous person they didn’t particularly care about—
If anything, her expression leaned slightly toward dislike.
“What do you think of His Grace Ian Lancaster? He’ll probably be the star of this imperial ball.”
He would see the debutante and be reminded of a nameless childhood friend.
And he would realize that Julian Dudley was the very friend who had rescued his tattered soul long ago.
Then, he would fall in love—and they would have a happy ending.
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.]
Hahaha what a stubborn male lead, leave her alone.
They’re always like this, thay think it is always about the male lead.