The Tyrant's Terminally-Ill Childhood Friend (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 7
Anette’s life is in danger? At those words, Simoren Lindel, the Emperor’s First Knight, was utterly dumbfounded.
“How can someone who was perfectly fine just yesterday suddenly be on the brink of death? Does that even make sense?”
No matter how shamelessly one might have pushed their way into the palace merely out of greed for the seat beside the Emperor, this was far too transparent a scheme. It was obvious they were resorting to tricks, knowing full well Peter would never visit her otherwise.
He never imagined they’d stoop so low.
If she already thought she could manipulate the Emperor after merely surviving one night, she would surely cause no small amount of trouble later.
Frowning deeply, Simoren opened his mouth.
“Your Majesty, please send Anette Martinek away. If we leave things as they are…”
But his words halted abruptly before he could finish. The reason was simple.
“Ha ha, ha!”
Peter’s face was even more flushed with fury than Simoren’s.
Normally, Peter was a man of remarkably little emotional fluctuation—so much so that his infamous title of “tyrant” seemed almost undeserved. Or rather, it was precisely because of that icy composure that the title suited him. Yet now, countless emotions churned violently across Peter’s face.
The man slowly raking a hand down his own face looked astonishingly impassioned—and at the same time, ferocious.
“Anette Martinek… how dare you…”
A voice thick with suppressed rage scraped low from Peter’s throat.
The moment he heard Anette was gravely ill, Peter’s reaction wasn’t much different from Simoren’s.
Yet Peter knew this wasn’t merely a ploy to gain his attention. Unlike Simoren and the others, Peter knew one crucial fact: Lowell had been terminally ill.
‘Not only does she bear a face uncannily like Lowell’s, but now she’s pretending to be ill just like Lowell did.’
The implication was chillingly clear.
Whoever had placed Anette before him knew Lowell.
The thought struck him as absurdly amusing. After laughing for a long while, Peter called his knight with a smile still lingering on his lips.
“Simoren, do you remember what happened back then?”
“Back then…?”
“When my father caused an uproar trying to find me a consort.”
“Ah…”
Simoren, recalling that moment, couldn’t bring himself to continue. But Peter, seemingly still amused by the memory, snorted as he untied a handkerchief bound in his hand.
About ten years ago, the Former Emperor had literally rummaged through Peter’s mind.
His justification? A father’s duty to worry over a son who refused to save his own consort.
Binding his rebellious son’s limbs like a dog’s, the Former Emperor threw him before the high nobles and used his magic to rifle through Peter’s memories, displaying them openly.
“[Mark this image well. This is the face my son loves. Find him a consort who resembles her closely enough to win his favor.]”
It was a mad command. Even among those born with dragon blood, whose empathic abilities were notoriously weak, how could anyone do such a thing?
In truth, the Former Emperor had already been half-mad by then, frequently committing outrageous acts—but that day stood out even among them.
Thus, it was revealed to the entire world that Peter’s first love had been a noble girl with black hair.
However, since that memory was so fragmented—and because Peter had killed everyone present who’d witnessed Lowell’s phantom immediately after stabbing his own father to death—no further details ever leaked out.
Even the fact that such an event had happened to young Peter was thoroughly concealed.
Consequently, very little was known about “the Emperor’s first love.”
Only that she was a girl with black hair and black eyes.
The story of fifteen-year-old Lowell became something only Peter himself remembered.
‘And yet someone dares to act like this.’
This was absolutely something only someone who knew Lowell could do. Anette was brazenly dragging up the past and shoving it right in his face.
A poisoned cup, sweet enough to make his tongue ache.
His mouth tasted bitter. Peter drew a shallow breath. Even now, the madness gnawing at his reason still filled his very core.
Right, he’d promised to play along—so he’d keep his word.
Slowly clenching and unclenching his scarred hand, Peter spoke at the same deliberate pace.
“Where is Anette Martinek?”
[This is the timeline separator]Blink. Lowell lifted her eyelids. The canopy adorning the bed was the first thing she saw.
‘I expected at least one person to be nearby.’
The room where she lay was empty. Whether this was truly for her peace of mind, or because no one wished to watch a woman destined to die soon—she couldn’t tell.
In truth, she’d never wanted anyone else to see her awake. From the very beginning, there was only one person she hoped to see upon opening her eyes.
Peter alone.
‘Did I fail?’
Frowning, Lowell struggled to sit up.
After sitting so long in a steaming bath, her body felt as heavy as a water-filled leather pouch. She could barely lean her upper body against the headboard despite straining with all her might—but even so, Lowell stubbornly searched for the clock.
‘Quite some time has passed.’
Considering the last time she’d checked before entering the bath, a significant amount of time had indeed gone by.
Perhaps they’d discovered her unconscious form late. She’d awakened not in the bathroom but in her bedroom. Given her last memory was of being in the tub, it was logical that the maids, finding her unusually absent from the bath, had moved her to the bedroom—which explained the elapsed time.
Yet she’d awakened alone. Had word not yet reached Peter? Or had he simply chosen not to come, even after hearing the news?
‘Surely the report must have reached him by now…’
Given the palace’s rigid structure, a report would certainly have been filed. Having spent many years within Opherta’s inflexible system, Lowell had a fair idea of how this vast imperial organization operated.
Minor matters were never escalated upward; staff resolved them among themselves whenever possible. Only the most urgent crises warranted informing superiors.
Therefore, the maids must have tried every method imaginable to wake her before alerting the Emperor.
Outwardly, she was the consort the Emperor favored enough to spare for the first time—if Lowell died due to their negligence, their own heads would surely roll.
‘Judging by the empty room, they must have given up.’
By this point, it was clearly beyond their capacity to handle. They would have contacted their superiors solely to save their own lives.
Yet Peter hadn’t come—and worse, the room stood utterly empty. That could only mean her plan had failed.
‘Perhaps… this was only to be expected.’
Peter’s heart had been as readable as the lines on Lowell’s palm—but that was over ten years ago. Mountains and rivers shift in such time; how could a man’s heart remain unchanged? In truth, testing Peter should have ended with merely clinging to longing and risking her life.
Yet knowing this, Lowell had recklessly thrown herself into action—to test him, and perhaps… just to glimpse the faint shadow of a boy who might no longer exist.
Lowell lifted her head, which had been bowed downward. The fading sunlight streamed through her black hair.
‘In the old days, whenever I was unwell, you’d often rush over to cheer me up.’
They’d had a secret meeting place—a grand greenhouse built by her father so Lowell, confined indoors, could still enjoy the outdoors.
Every day at the same hour, they’d meet there. Thus, if Lowell wasn’t in the greenhouse, it meant her condition was too grave for her to leave her room.
On those days, Peter would knock on the Hessen mansion’s door, wearing a cap and pretending to be a letter-delivery boy.
“[A letter for Miss Lowell Hessen. You should read it right away.]”
No one ever wrote letters to Lowell. Too frail to have friends, she didn’t even have close cousins. When she once mentioned she’d never received a letter, Peter always came disguised like this to visit her.
He’d say, “Even when you’re sick, it’s nice to have at least one happy thing happen.”
Seeing that boy arrive with an empty envelope, delivering his innocent affection, brought her such joy—even feverish as she was. It was the only luxury a girl who knew nothing of the outside world could ever enjoy.
Thus, what Lowell truly wanted to confirm wasn’t whether she could move the Emperor.
‘But how much of that boy Peter still remains within the Emperor.’
Does the boy I loved still live on, even a little? Does my longing still hold any meaning?
“…”
The result was exactly as expected. Only upon feeling utterly despondent did Lowell realize she’d harbored even a sliver of hope. Foolishly so.
She hadn’t come all this way just to be disappointed by something so trivial. Shaking off her thoughts, Lowell steeled her resolve. Every endeavor has its successes and failures—this was merely one such instance.
‘Since things have turned out this way, I’ll need another approach.’
Just as she thought this and began to rise from bed, the door burst open.
Lowell jerked her head as if struck by an arrow. Against the backdrop of sunset spilling through the doorway, a familiar man strode in. The moment she saw the Emperor’s brow furrow upon spotting her—
“Hahaha!”
Lowell couldn’t help but burst into laughter. The reason was simple.
The Emperor’s face no longer looked like Peter’s.
That realization filled her with both unbearable joy and despair. Suppressing the hatred simmering in her calm black eyes, Lowell smiled brightly.
“Hello, Peter.”
Now, only your pained expression brings me joy.
Truly, it was a fortunate turn of events.
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.]
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