“Save me?”
“Yes. This is a magic stone that protects its owner from danger. Always keep it with you.”
There was a time when Joshua thought, looking at the pendant, ‘If only my mother had this, she wouldn’t have been poisoned so senselessly.’
He knew the appearance of the gemstone well, as he often looked at the pendant and regretted his past.
But now, the usually radiant stone had lost all its light and turned pitch black.
‘Why is this happening…?’
Did an assassin sent by Duke Lilith come while he was asleep?
But why have I become younger? Did someone feed me a strange drug?
Puzzled, Joshua thoroughly searched his room and realized that he had not just become younger; he had returned to the past, to his twelve-year-old winter.
‘What about the others?’
Master and Daniel? As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Joshua flung open the door and asked a passing servant.
“How is the Duke of Adrian, my master?”
The servant, taken aback by the sudden question, composed himself and replied.
“If you’re asking about Duke Adrian’s whereabouts, he just left to meet His Majesty… Your Highness?”
Joshua brushed past the servant and headed towards the Emperor’s audience chamber.
“Your Highness, this is not proper!”
“Move aside for a moment!”
He barely pushed aside the obstructing servant and entered, finding Duke Adrian conversing with the Emperor.
Duke Adrian, a master swordsman, aged very slowly. So, he didn’t look much different from the last time Joshua had seen him.
But his aura was different. It was less polished and carried a colder undertone, unlike the mature composure of middle age.
‘Master is back too.’
Joshua clung to Duke Adrian and wept like a child.
At the same time, he resolved himself. Although he didn’t know how he had traveled back in time, he was determined to protect all his loved ones this time.
That was the beginning of his story.
Back in the present.
After reminiscing about the past, Joshua took out the necklace from a secret jewelry box. The pendant was still black.
‘I want to ask my mother about this pendant, but…’
That would surely cause a commotion. It might even cause his frail mother, Ophelia, to collapse. Worse, the Emperor might initiate an investigation.
That would complicate everything.
‘But I can make some guesses.’
Joshua speculated that someone had turned back time.
During this process, the magic stone considered it harmful magic and protected Joshua, allowing him to retain his memories of the future.
It seemed plausible, but for now, it was the most likely theory.
‘The question is, who turned back time?’
Until now, he hadn’t thought deeply about ‘who’ did it. Returning to the past seemed more important. Joshua had been contemplating how to change the future.
He had vaguely guessed it might be Celine Owen, a magician of the Adrian house and known as the Witch of Fire.
But now things had changed.
‘If Rosette Dallas is the one who turned back time…’
What was her motive for doing so, and why is she in the Adrian house?
What is her intention?
‘I’ll have to meet her.’
First, he needed to confirm if Rosette Adrian was indeed Rosette Dallas.
Then he could decide her fate.
Just as he was about to visit the Adrian mansion, a calm knock sounded. Joshua invited them in, and a servant entered, bowing.
“What is it?”
“The Empress is looking for you, Your Highness.”
“My mother? I understand.”
Joshua put the pendant away and headed for the Empress’s palace.
Walking from the Sapphire Palace to the Empress’s palace, Joshua thought about his mother, Empress Ophelia Ernhardt. In his now faint memories, his mother was always a beautiful and graceful woman.
Although her status as Empress meant she couldn’t always be around him, her love for her child was no less than any mother’s. Ophelia Ernhardt, originally a princess from the magically renowned Kingdom of Ibelin, left her beloved family to come to the Ernhardt Empire for the sake of her country.
Tragically, Joshua had never met Ophelia’s family. He had never set foot in Ibelin, as the Emperor had not allowed it. Similarly, people from Ibelin were not permitted to visit the Empire.
Ophelia lived isolated in a foreign land. Her quarters in the Empress’s palace, although decorated more lavishly than the Emperor’s palace, were nothing but a well-decorated cage.
Even as a child, Joshua could see his mother withering away day by day.
‘I must protect Mother when I grow up.’ With that thought, he diligently learned swordsmanship and magic.
However, before that day could come, Ophelia suddenly passed away when he was just twelve.
At her funeral 13 years ago, Joshua held back his tears. People thought him a heartless, cold-blooded boy, but the truth was different.
He was heartbroken. He wanted to lie down in front of her coffin and beg her not to leave him alone.
But he pretended to be calm, thinking his mother shouldn’t linger in this world because of him. It was the consideration of a twelve-year-old child.
He also didn’t want to appear weak to others.
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.]
