#8
Avoiding the devil, the next person to come would be a cruel old man. An old man who threw out his first wife into the cold streets when she went mad from enduring abuse. An old man who allegedly cut open the belly of his second wife and killed her. An old man who supposedly crippled his third wife. An old man who allegedly strangled his fourth wife! On the other hand, how was the devil?
I recalled how it quickly removed its hand when I said it hurt. I remembered the fierce grip that trembled pitifully over me. So I cupped the devil’s horns with both hands. I felt the devil’s startled vibration. As if it never expected me to touch it, it remained frozen for a moment.
I wrapped my arms around the devil’s nape and pulled. As I pulled, the devil lowered its head deeply and exhaled once more. Its single wing spread as if about to tear, then folded, and kept quivering repeatedly. That wing constantly reminded me that what clung to my body was not Johannes.
Ah, I was fine with that. Because while I couldn’t take my eyes off Johannes’s face, I wanted to forget it was Johannes. The fluttering shadow of wings was casting a veil of immorality over my mind.
“So, it can be done… Right…? Hm? It’s… certain, right…?”
The devil peered at my flushed face as if to confirm. Had it answered? I don’t know. I just stared intently into the devil’s eyes, and its trembling breath touched my lips, so I think I parted them slightly. The devil’s tongue desperately plunged into my mouth. All those things happened in an instant, without any gap.
And so, I who was not of this world, and one beast. We lost our senses. It was a time of madness. Going mad. Raging madly.
My gums were scraped by the devil’s fangs. It was the kiss of a hungry animal, as if it would bite and tear off flesh to eat right away. That day I learned for the first time that such an enormous sound could be made when tongues intertwined.
A sound unsuitable to even describe as wet. That sound of moist flesh and mucous membranes squelching each time jaws twisted and angles misaligned, each time we entangled our tongues and briefly caught our breath.
Johannes. Johannes. I felt like I would die recalling that old summer.
Ah. Ah. The devil’s pained cry burst out exactly once even amidst the intense kissing. It cried like that several times. A beast’s cry boiling up from deep inside the chest. It wrenched my insides. Soon, one of the devil’s shoulders tilted up into the air.
The devil moved only its hand without withdrawing its tongue from my mouth. It pulled up the hem of my nightgown to my waist in one go, then tore it to shreds and threw it away. It was a rough gesture as if thoroughly enraged.
There was no gentle touch. Anyway, we who could not control our desperately heightened emotions were already absorbed in each other by then. The devil urgently groped my flesh.
And once again it painfully strained its neck. That reaction truly seemed like crying. I’m going mad because of you. I can’t stand you. Just like that, as mournfully as dirty curses.
Then when the devil’s sharp fingertips brushed against my sensitized self, I ended up shuddering. I trembled, ah, I trembled. I hugged its long, firm neck and shivered. Pitiful and dizzying tears flowed freely.
I was given no foreplay or sign. But the sensations that followed felt terribly good.
My waist lifted briefly, and then it thrust in haphazardly. The devil pushed itself in so mercilessly, without mercy. My breath caught at that heaviness.
It was hot. Dizzyingly hot as if preheated. The scream I let out without realizing was swallowed into the devil’s mouth. Ah! It gulped down and sent down its throat every bit of my cries that matched my whole body’s trembling.
The devil even spread its own moans onto my tongue. I had to helplessly receive and drink it. Just as I had swallowed the kisses mixed with saliva that were no longer distinguishable as whose. The devil did not stop kissing for even a moment, not even for an instant.
The unfamiliar sensation rising from below ran up my spine and raced through my whole body. As I writhed unable to bear it, the devil held me down relentlessly and wouldn’t let go. You’re going to run away from me? Don’t do this to me. No. You can’t do that. Its gestures were as if such voices could be heard.
In the end, I clung to the devil’s hot body. I wrapped both legs around its waist. Like someone who believed the moment of separation would be the moment their life ended. Like someone who felt they would die right away, their breath stopping. As if this filthy ecstasy was my end.
Then my left hand that had gone over to the devil’s back grasped the root of its wing, and the devil’s upper body jolted. I felt and caressed the muscles moving the bones. The devil began to moan even louder.
It dug in deeper than before. I mindlessly devoured all of it aimlessly going back and forth inside my belly. Like that, we were no different from a single snake eating its own tail out of excessive hunger.
And then.
“Urgh… Ta…”
I heard it clearly.
That sound mixed with the violent vibrations in my abdomen and the devil’s intense panting. It was a call from the grave that pierced my eardrums and lifted the veil. I don’t know how the stench of death pushing me to the edge of the cliff could be so refreshing and sweet.
The scent of wind passing through a rain-soaked forest. Ah, Johannes’s scent. No. No. I writhed in the scent of Johannes that the devil wore. Please don’t call out.
“Hah… Ah… Netta… Ugh…”
No. No. No. Don’t do this! It was the death throes of instinct that had killed reason and was running wild on its own.
“…inetta… Ah, urk… Giovinetta…”
The utterly rotten name was called out.
“…Nngh… Giovinetta…”
“Ha, no. Ah, no, no! Johannes! No! Ah!”
“Giovinetta.”
And climax.
That miserable and wretched.
Climax.
***
“…Where’s Johannes?”
“He just finished lunch.”
“Is he going to the bedroom?”
“No. To the library.”
“…Tell him I’m coming.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s important. And it won’t take long.”
“…Yes, young lady.”
Griselda withdrew. I was relieved it wasn’t the bedroom. I was determined never to visit Johannes’s bedroom again if possible.
The busy daytime comes without even covering the guilty chest. I got up late and skipped meals, just curled up sitting in the woodpile like a lump of wet cotton. I didn’t want to think about anything until I faced Johannes.
I listened to the low noise coming through the window. The noise that flew in like a flock of small birds was warm as if in their own world. Without any consideration.
When I opened my eyes, it was my room. The underwear that had been torn the night before was intact as if nothing had happened. The nightgown was also neat without any damage. Nevertheless, I could tell well enough that it wasn’t just a nightmare.
The pain in the parts that had been conquered by the beast several times after reaching climax once, in my waist, in my wrists that had been bound by the devil’s tail for a long time, and in my shoulders that now felt like they would fall off soon after being pulled up for so long – all proved that everything I had experienced for the long hours until dawn was not a simple dream.
I hurriedly got up and rummaged through the clothes chest, and found that exactly one set was missing besides the nightgown and underwear I was wearing. Did that thing change my clothes? How did it dispose of the torn clothes? Surely, surely they won’t be discovered somewhere.
The scene of someone finding the underwear and doubting and cursing my chastity flashed through my mind like fire. No, what would they know even if they found out? Would they even guess it was mine? Even amid the anxiety, the shame that flared up slowly, slowly died down. I just sat down. Thud, I hit my forehead against the clothes chest.
“…Giovinetta, Giovinetta…”
“…Johannes! No, no, no! Johannes. Sob. No. Stop, stop now…”
“…Ah, Gio, Giovinetta… Giovinetta…”
It was a night when I could not think clearly. As if determined to engrave in me who you were joining bodies with so that I would never forget, the devil endlessly chanted my name. Even then, I could not clearly determine its identity. The tone with which it called my name was too familiar to not be Johannes, but the attitude, ah, its ignorant and merciless attitude.
My screams. My voice. My revulsion. My guilt. As if it could neither hear nor see any of it.
Its attitude of focusing only on the filthy act without any words other than that cursed name made judgment even more difficult because it was so different from the Johannes I knew.
Especially throughout our union, the satisfied curve it drew by pulling up the corners of its mouth on its face dripping with sweat looked like a trap choking my neck. Nevertheless, the clear way it called my name was definitely Johannes’s manner of speaking. Ah, please answer me. Who on earth were you!
Did I have relations with the ‘devil’ or ‘Johannes’? Did I really do such a thing to avoid marriage to the old man? What was it that I truly wanted? This pain like an unknown lump of lead carved into my chest, what to do about it! …Fine.
Without the strength to erase the intermittent moans from the previous night mixed with the white noise, I vaguely thought such things.
That night. The incomprehensible feelings in my heart were none other than my own. It was noon when the fragments of my completely shattered soul scattered like ashes, piling up in my lungs.
You, whom I want to kill by tearing off your flesh.
Kretzman.
I thought all the pain tormenting me was karma that I, a fool, deserved to bear. And so now that I know the mastermind who drove me to the brink, I applaud the meticulousness of that curse.
In fact, ‘he’ could have easily assaulted me like crushing a colony of ants. But he must have gone to such lengths to push me into the antlion pit you desired.
If the curse had not sown such unfathomable confusion within me, I, who would have been terrified a hundred times out of a hundred, would not have dared think of meeting Johannes alone and would have hidden myself in a corner of the women’s quarters. And then, sending Johannes off to the frontlines again…
What followed would not have happened.
Griselda soon returned. I got up groggily and headed to the library, followed by Griselda and two guards.
My body felt so heavy, as if it would crumble and be ground against the floor at any moment.
Male lead Asks for a Divorce Every Day
It’s not often you come across a plot like this in the female-dominant genre — make sure to check it out!
This is a novel I’m planning to reread as well.
The male lead is strong, skilled in martial arts, and not the usual fragile type you often see in matriarchal novels.
Meanwhile, the female lead is a scientist—rational and logical. Even when she falls for the male lead, she doesn’t let her emotions cloud her decisions.
If you push through the first few chapters, you’ll gradually find the story really intriguing.
It has a mix of mystery, detective elements, and romance.
The author’s writing style is like crafting a puzzle—except they deliberately leave out a few pieces, making it hard to predict what happens next, yet keeping you hooked.
In the end, everything will come together and be explained.
One-sentence summary: Wife, stop playing with beakers and look at me!
In a laboratory accident, research scientist Zhu Wansheng accidentally travels to a matriarchal world. The original owner of the body is an eighteen-year-old only daughter of a wealthy rouge merchant, already married with a handsome young man.
Zhu Wansheng grins: Nice! She always said she was heaven’s favorite granddaughter. After a life of toil in her previous life, she can enjoy blessings in this one.
However, her joy lasts no more than three seconds as bad news arrives: the original owner’s family is about to go bankrupt, and her husband wants a divorce.
Even worse, she’s stuck with a research system full of restrictions.
Zhu Wansheng: ? Is this the destiny of a research dog?
——
Faced with this mess, Zhu Wansheng pours herself a bowl of wine to drown her sorrows. In her drunken haze, her husband arrives.
His figure is imposing, holding a long sword, with a dignified air that captivates Zhu Wansheng.
Gu Yingqing, however, looks at the alcohol-reeking Zhu Wansheng with undisguised disgust and coldly asks, “Divorce or not?” The intoxicated Zhu Wansheng mumbles vaguely, “I think… it’s not… it’s not… impossible!”
——
The next day, after sobering up, Zhu Wansheng is full of energy, rolling up her sleeves ready to make a big move. As for yesterday? She has no memory of it.
Zhu Wansheng is ambitious; a research dog fears nothing!
Upgrading rouge, extracting fragrances, producing perfumes, researching lipsticks… all shall bow to the power of modern technology!
The original owner’s dying rouge shop is revitalized. Her mother is pleased and with a wave of her hand, passes on the family business to her. As she takes control and her experimental results gain popularity, it’s the pinnacle of her life…
——
But there are always those who can’t stand to see her doing well. Jealousy, scheming, assassination attempts – they want nothing less than her life.
The person who has always kept his distance from her suddenly holds her tightly in his arms, eyes full of concern.
She is unharmed, but he falls into a pool of blood…
Zhu Wansheng feels guilty, “I can grant you one wish.”
Gu Yingqing tentatively circles his arms around her, carefully resting his head in the crook of her neck, pleading softly, “I regret it. Can we not divorce?”
Zhu Wansheng: ? When did I agree to a divorce?
[Small Theater]
The newly developed rouge is beautifully packaged, and Zhu Wansheng is eager to try it.
Gu Yingqing suddenly appears: “My lady, may I apply it for you?”
Cool fingertips lightly brush her lips. His Adam’s apple bobs as he leans in for a light bite.
Zhu Wansheng: ?
Gu Yingqing: It smells so good, I wanted to taste it…
On a warm spring day, Zhu Wansheng tries a new perfume: “Spring Night.” Gu Yingqing corners her against a wall.
Warm breath lingers on her neck.
“My lady, from now on, may I test the fragrances for you?”
[Humorous female scientist vs scheming live-in son-in-law male lead]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
