The Villainess Doesn't Want Love (20 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 7
While Karina and Jeremiah glared at each other in tense standoff, Mikhail, the one actually imprisoned, lay on his bed humming a tune.
The guard watching him clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“In all my life, I’ve never seen a prisoner so carefree.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Haven’t done anything wrong? They say this recent jailbreak was your doing. If that’s not wrongdoing, what is?”
“If it’s my fault, then I merely happened to protect someone important by sheer coincidence.”
“All prisoners say the same thing at first—claiming it’s a misunderstanding or that they’re innocent.”
“Just wait and see. Everyone will understand by tomorrow.”
“Hah. We’ll see about that. Here, eat your food.”
“I’ll enjoy it.”
Mikhail cheerfully accepted the tray the guard handed him.
The guard clicked his tongue again and left the cell.
Not long after he disappeared,
a crow flew into Mikhail’s cell.
Unafraid of humans, it perched directly on the bed, tilting its head as if examining Mikhail like a curious animal, then opened its sharp beak.
“Your fortune seems to be looking up.”
Surprisingly, what emerged from the crow’s beak wasn’t a harsh caw—but a human voice.
Though such a sight should have startled anyone, Mikhail remained perfectly calm.
“Is that so? You have good eyes.”
Having finished his meal, Mikhail flopped back onto the bed.
Though the bed was made of hard wooden planks, he looked as comfortable as if lying on clouds.
“Ahhh, this is nice.”
“Is that something a prisoner should be saying?”
“I feel like I just heard something similar a while ago.”
“Then why go out of your way and get yourself falsely accused?”
“If you’re just going to nag, stop. Tell me instead—how did it go?”
At Mikhail’s question, the crow straightened its posture.
“The mage who aided the escapees and caused the explosion in town—we’ve already secured him.”
Mikhail’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Who is he?”
“A man who underwent only basic training at the Mage Tower years ago before running off.”
“He’s that incompetent, yet caused such a massive explosion?”
“We confirmed he used illegal substances alongside his magic.”
“No wonder it seemed so crude.”
“He seems desperate for money, hence his involvement. How should we handle him?”
The crow’s voice dropped even lower.
“Shall we follow the Mage Code?”
“No. Deal with him discreetly and dump him in front of the Duke’s manor.”
“You’d hand a magical matter over to the nobility? May I ask why?”
“I have my reasons. Just do as I say—no more questions.”
“…Understood.”
The crow dipped its head once and flew out through the bars.
Watching it disappear, Mikhail propped his head up with interlaced fingers.
Suddenly, the events of the day came to mind—
Karina’s figure, darting straight into his arms…
“There was definitely something familiar, something recognizable about her.”
He couldn’t understand why he felt that way from someone he’d never met before.
“Well, I’ll find out soon enough.”
With a sense that something interesting was about to happen, Mikhail resumed his humming.
Just then—
Creeeak…
The cell door groaned open.
Mikhail turned his head absentmindedly—and his eyes widened in shock.
“…You.”
Karina.
Standing before the now-open cell door, she gestured toward the hallway with her chin.
“Come with me.”
[This is the timeline separator]“How did you even get in here?”
Mikhail sat up abruptly and asked.
“Can’t you tell? I came to get you out.”
“…Has my name been cleared?”
Mikhail asked, clearly bewildered.
“The interrogation hasn’t even started yet. There’s no way your charges could have been dropped already.”
“Then why are you getting me out?”
“I don’t want to watch an innocent person suffer for a crime they didn’t commit.”
“How can you be so sure I’m not the culprit?”
Karina met his gaze and replied with a question of her own.
“Are you?”
“No.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“But…”
“We don’t have time to dawdle. Unless you enjoy torture, let’s go—now.”
She spoke with barely concealed urgency.
She’d slipped in during the shift change between guards and couldn’t afford to linger; she never knew when another guard might return.
“What about you? Won’t your position become difficult if you help me escape?”
It was a valid concern, but Karina didn’t seem to care.
“I’ll probably be a bit of a nuisance for a while. But I am the Duchess, after all. At worst, I’ll get a light reprimand.”
‘If they bring up divorce over this, that would actually be even better.’
To Karina, this was nothing more than a minor incident.
But this man’s situation was different.
If the real culprit wasn’t caught while he remained falsely accused, he’d inevitably be branded as the criminal.
He might even be tortured…
‘And if he’s really unlucky, he might actually die.’
She couldn’t just stand by and let someone who saved her suffer such a fate.
“Don’t worry about me. Just focus on getting out of here safely.”
“…”
“Once you’re back, stay indoors for a while. Unless you want to get dragged back here again.”
Just in case, Karina added.
But Mikhail wasn’t thinking of running away—he just kept staring at her intently.
“Hurry up. And remember what I said.”
“I won’t go.”
“You’ve made a good decision. Stay home and absolutely don’t go out.”
“No, I mean I won’t leave this cell.”
“…What did you say?”
‘What on earth is this man talking about?’
“We don’t have time to play games. We need to go—now.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay here until the real culprit is caught.”
“Are you insane?”
Karina’s voice turned sharp.
Yet Mikhail remained perfectly relaxed.
“I have nowhere else to go anyway. If I leave, I’ll just end up wandering the hills and getting captured again.”
“Nowhere to go?”
“Didn’t I already tell you I’m a wandering mage?”
Mikhail shrugged his shoulders.
“At least here I have a roof over my head, something to cover myself with, and food shows up eventually. It’s far better than sleeping on the streets.”
“Hah. Is that even worth saying?”
Karina let out an exasperated sigh.
“Do you really think they’ll go easy on you once the interrogation starts tomorrow? You don’t even know when they’ll catch the real culprit—yet you still want to stay here?”
“Yes.”
Karina’s voice dropped dangerously low.
“You could actually die. Do you think this is some kind of joke?”
“I don’t think it’s a joke at all. But since I’ve done nothing wrong, I don’t want to flee like those guilty prisoners I saw earlier today.”
Karina felt increasingly frustrated.
“Are you really not coming out?”
Mikhail shook his head firmly.
“No.”
“Fine, then. Suit yourself. I’m done here.”
Helpless, Karina closed the door and left.
She didn’t know when the guard might return. She couldn’t stay any longer.
“Don’t blame me later. I clearly offered you a chance to escape. You’re the one who refused.”
With that warning, Karina turned away.
As she slipped out of the prison, Mikhail’s voice followed her from behind.
“If I’m proven innocent someday… will you come see me again?”
Karina pretended not to hear and ignored him completely.
[This is the timeline separator]She woke up in the morning feeling nauseous.
Her body felt as heavy as a soaked sponge, accompanied by intense headache and waves of dizziness.
‘Ugh, why do I feel like this? Was I ever this sick before?’
She tried to recall, but found no memory of being particularly ill during this period.
Karina stayed face-down on the bed, waiting for her stomach to settle.
‘Could it be because of yesterday’s explosion?’
But thanks to Mikhail’s protection, she hadn’t suffered any direct harm from the blast.
‘Maybe it’s just all the stress.’
She reached for the water bottle on the nightstand, hoping a drink might help.
Her hands trembled so badly that even lifting the bottle was a struggle.
By the time she managed to pour water into a cup, more than half had spilled.
But her headache was so severe she didn’t have the energy to care.
Suppressing her dizziness, she barely managed to take a sip.
Yet even that didn’t improve how she felt.
“Ugh…”
Overwhelmed by sudden nausea, Karina bolted from the bed.
Only after dry-heaving in the bathroom did her stomach calm slightly.
“Haaah…”
Splashing cold water on her face eased the throbbing in her head a little.
‘Sigh… I can’t afford to get sick. If I do, I’ll be the only one who suffers.’
Slumping onto the floor, Karina sat blankly, lost in thought.
She carried a sort of obsession: she couldn’t allow herself to fall ill.
In her past life, before becoming the villainess, Karina never received proper medical care when sick.
Because Caroline had already bribed the Duke’s personal physician.
Naturally, fearing Caroline’s wrath, the physician avoided treating Karina altogether.
And Jeremiah—the one person she’d wanted by her side most—
“Jeremiah… just stay with me tonight? Until I fall asleep, at least?”
“I’m busy. I don’t have time.”
He was always absent, citing work as his excuse.
Back then, lying alone in bed, sick and groaning in pain, she would cry—not from physical pain, but from heartbreak.
It was the crushing loneliness of knowing no one cared enough to worry about her or stay by her side.
‘It’s the same now.’
Karina pulled herself together.
‘Just how much longer will I have to stay in this damn Duke’s household?’
The question suddenly struck her.
All memories she had of the Duke’s household were unpleasant.
The Karina of the past had been desperately lonely and isolated.
That’s why she clung so obsessively to Jeremiah, begging for his love.
‘All of it was pointless.’
She clicked her tongue inwardly.
She still didn’t understand why she’d been sent back three years.
But one thing was certain: she absolutely refused to repeat the same miserable path.
‘Is divorce really the only way out?’
But she couldn’t just demand divorce right away without any preparation.
To officially end this marriage on her own terms, she needed the Emperor’s approval.
And this union had been forced upon them directly by the Emperor himself.
There was no chance he’d grant divorce over some trivial reason.
Even when Jeremiah first requested divorce in the past, the Emperor had adamantly refused.
‘Back then, I caused such a scandal in high society that they finally divorced me.’
That meant she needed a similarly glaring, undeniable reason—a major, undeniable scandal.
Otherwise, the Imperial family would never allow her and Jeremiah to divorce willingly.
Therefore, Karina needed a valid justification to obtain the Emperor’s permission for divorce.
And there was one more reason she couldn’t divorce immediately:
Her birth family—the Marquis Milainer household.
Even there, Karina had never been treated well.
To Marquis Milainer, she was nothing more than a tradable asset for the sake of the family.
She’d realized this painfully during her previous life.
Right after being forcibly divorced by Jeremiah for being labeled a villainess,
Karina returned to the Marquis’s estate—only to be berated and tormented by him.
“You useless fool! I sent you off to marry into the Duke’s family, and you get yourself divorced for misconduct?!”
The Marquis raged, repeatedly slapping her face.
“You’ve brought such disgrace upon our house! Do you even realize how embarrassing this is for me?!”
Beaten until her cheeks swelled and her lips split open, Karina had to kneel outside the estate gates all night, begging for forgiveness.
“Father… I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
No matter how ruthless she appeared to others, in front of her father—the lifelong source of her terror—she was just a trembling child.
The memory made Karina scowl.
Now, of course, she didn’t have to return there after divorce.
But she had no intention of being thrown out onto the streets with nothing but the clothes on her back.
‘I need power. I must prepare for life after divorce.’
Anything would do.
Whether it was money, influence, or people—she needed something truly her own.
And among them, money was the easiest and most reliable.
She assessed how much wealth and property she currently controlled.
As the Duchess from the Milainer Marquis family, Karina appeared to have abundant riches.
On the surface, at least.
In truth, Caroline—the Duke’s daughter—had seized all administrative authority that rightfully belonged to the Duchess, citing various reasons.
That authority included management rights over the Duchess’s allocated living expenses and funds.
‘I don’t need anything else—but I must reclaim control of those funds.’
And there was another reason beyond that.
Having resolved to escape the influence of both the Milainer Marquis and the Colesburg Duke families,
using their money or assets held no meaning for her.
To become truly free and independent from their reach, she needed her own, separate source of funds.
‘I need a source of money that can’t be traced—one I can spend entirely as I please.’
Determined, Karina stood up.
At that moment, she sensed an unfamiliar presence outside her door.
‘…What’s that?’
She slowly approached and opened the door.
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.]
Chapter Comments (10)
Inline Comments (159)
Jeremiah’s well-shaped eyebrows twitched into an uncomfortable angle.
😂 good keep twitching
“I can help you—with the Duchess’s divorce.”
And then get with him.Even though he’s hiding things, he still seems more honest and trustworthy than the duke at this point.
“I can help you—with the Duchess’s divorce.”
Let him see we need a fallback plan.
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I love when it’s just them
i’m really hoping for divorce next chapter
why did I unlock all the chapters? I wish I didn’t do that because he’s irritating me.