To My Beloved, I Present My Exquisite Nightmare (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 2
Laila stood frozen, unable to even breathe. She wished she could just faint—but even that escape was denied her.
Dozens of pitch-black hollows stared at her trembling form.
The children’s figures were merely gray, their eyes missing—yet otherwise they looked little different from living children. Realizing this, Laila suddenly felt her stomach twist violently.
“Come here.”
At that moment, a man’s arms pulled her shaking body close, almost dragging her into an embrace. Only then did Laila feel her senses snap back into focus.
It was the warmth of a living person—a feeling she’d rarely, if ever, experienced even from the mother who bore her. As it spread through her body, her mind went numb and heat rushed to her head.
“What on earth are you doing?”
Just as Laila tried to turn her head, the man leaned his own over her shoulder.
Laila nearly screamed—she’d almost kissed his cheek—and struggled desperately to wriggle free from his arms. Yet his strength was inexplicably, impossibly strong.
“I’m sorry. Just stay still a little longer. Yes… that’s it.”
One of his arms loosened. Though it was now far easier to break away than before, Laila inexplicably obeyed his words and stayed still. It wasn’t her own will… and that was the strangest part of all.
Why didn’t she want to defy this man?
While Laila was lost in this absurd question, the man fiddled with something resembling an ornament beside his monocle. A faint clicking sound, like a winding gear, echoed, and he spoke.
“Ah, I can see clearly now. You truly have remarkable eyes… Good. Stay just like this.”
“What in the world are you babbling about? We need to run away from here right now!”
Laila shouted with all her might, yet the voice she heard in her own ears was pitifully tiny—no louder than a mosquito’s buzz. The man glanced at her with his bare eye, the monocle removed.
“It’s alright. I’m here. You’ll be fine.”
“Fine? Fine about what—?!”
It was at that instant.
From the eye sockets—or rather, the empty spaces where eyes should have been—of the twelve children, something identical to what had crawled out of Tommy began squirming forth.
Some resembled thin snakes, others centipedes. Still others looked like tangled cobwebs. All were horrifying—but far worse was the realization that they were slithering toward Laila herself.
Just as Laila screamed and tried to shove the man away, her vision suddenly turned pitch black. Terrified, she cried out.
“I can’t see! Good heavens! I can’t see anything at all!”
“Shh… shh. It’s alright. Open your eyes. Look straight ahead.”
“What are you talking about? I already have my eyes open—!”
Her voice and breath both choked off abruptly. Though darkness swallowed everything, the moment she strained her eyelids, Laila’s vision cleared instantly.
“You see it, don’t you?”
The man still held her with one arm, his head resting near her shoulder as he stared ahead. At that exact moment, Laila realized something strange.
Earlier, when she’d encountered Tommy alone, he had clearly intended to attack her.
She couldn’t have missed the malice in his grotesquely grinning face. Had the man not appeared, she surely would have died.
But now, the twelve spirits before her were different. Against her will, Laila felt their emotions flooding into her: hostility, rage—and endless fear.
‘Afraid? You’re afraid? Of what, exactly?’
—Hh… krr…
—Heh, heheh…
The children began emitting eerie sounds—neither human nor beastly. Just as Laila’s fingertips and shoulders tensed, and her knees stiffened like wooden logs, the man whispered.
“Good. They understand now too—that you’re ‘the one who can see.’”
“What… what are you saying? I can’t understand a word…”
“You will.”
From a leather bag, he pulled out a small box. Flicking the lid open with one hand, a slender chain floated up into the air from within.
In that instant, the children’s jaws gaped wide—nearly touching their necks—as their mouths split open into dark, gaping holes. A deafening, ear-splitting scream rang out.
—Aaaaahhh—!!
Stop it!
Laila thought—but no words came. Her head felt ready to burst.
Their screams, their wails, forced their way into her skull like heavy boulders.
‘Stop! Please stop! My head’s going to explode!’
At that moment, the man’s voice cut through.
“The tin soldier stands by the window; the broken spoon lies in the hearth.”
—Keeeek…!
—Ghk, grrk…!
The box began rattling. Despite her splitting headache, Laila watched the scene clearly: the spirits’ forms twisted grotesquely, just like Tommy’s—but multiplied many times over, making it far more horrifying.
“Are all things in their rightful place?”
As the man finished speaking, the chain hovering midair shot forward like an arrow, hissing sharply.
What had been no longer than a necklace suddenly stretched endlessly, winding tightly around the grotesquely tangled spirits.
Holding the box forward with one hand, the man watched as the chain whooshed back inside with a sucking sound. Once the lid snapped shut, the screams clawing at Laila’s mind vanished—and so did all the spirits.
Cold sweat dripped down her forehead. Only then did Laila realize she’d been nearly buried in the man’s arms, and she hastily stumbled backward. Her trembling body wobbled as if about to collapse.
Her lips quivered.
“What… what did you do?”
The man raised a hand slightly, as if signaling her to be quiet.
Laila, who had never lived a life obeying others’ orders, bristled again—but deep within, something like an invisible hand reached out and clamped down on her rising temper.
‘What is this feeling?’
While Laila stood bewildered, the man opened the box, which had closed on its own.
Fearing the trapped spirits might burst out in an even more monstrous form, Laila flinched—but what emerged was a small, black, round bead, gleaming with an ominous luster.
“Eat it.”
Without even looking at her, the man held the bead up to shoulder height. At that instant, an impossibly black smoke rose behind him, enveloping his hand as if swallowing it whole.
A dreadful sound began.
It was the sound of a living person’s bones snapping and crushing wholesale. Between the cracks of that noise, Laila faintly heard a thin, childlike scream.
The man kept his hand raised and turned his head away, wearing a distinctly displeased expression until the crunching sounds ceased entirely.
When the ghastly noise ended, the smoke vanished as if washed away—and the bead in his hand was gone too.
“It’s over.”
Sighing, the man removed his monocle. Laila finally thought it was time to run. At that moment, her wobbly heel caught on a stone.
“Ah!”
She cried out as she fell hard on her backside. The man reached a hand toward her.
“Don’t you dare touch me!”
Laila slapped his hand away fiercely. His leather glove made it unlikely to hurt him much—but she had no intention of letting him help her anyway.
Yet in that instant, she felt it clearly: a sharp pang in her chest. It was guilt.
Why? Confused, Laila pushed herself up. Why do I feel guilty toward this man?
The man spoke gently.
“I only meant to help you up.”
Laila glared at him as if to say she needed nothing from him.
“Who in the world are you? Are you some consecrated priest who can banish spirits? Or a mage? Who did you just feed that bead to? What trickery is this?”
The man gave a faint chuckle.
“You’re full of questions. Is your curiosity inherited from your mother?”
“My mother wasn’t the curious type at all.”
“That’s impossible. Witches are obsessed with inquiry—studying nature, magic, and strange things. Isn’t that how witches spend their lives?”
Laila’s face darkened.
This man wasn’t from the village—yet he knew precisely about her bloodline, even that she could ‘see’ strange things.
“Who… who exactly are you? Did you seek me out on purpose? Did you already know I’m a witch’s daughter? That I… see odd things?”
The man fell silent—but this time, he didn’t smile. Gazing at Laila thoughtfully, he finally said,
“Could you spare just one piece of bread? In return, I’ll answer everything you’re wondering. I’m starving—about to collapse any second.”
[This is the timeline separator]Though they’d briefly argued, Laila had no choice but to bring the man back to her house.
She couldn’t very well let someone dressed so strangely wander down into the village, and more importantly, she knew she’d never sleep peacefully again without uncovering who he truly was.
Indeed starving, the man devoured in an instant the half-loaf of bread Laila had left over from breakfast and the simple herb soup.
Though he ate astonishingly fast, there was nothing gluttonous about it—and Laila found herself watching him, almost without realizing it.
“That was delicious. Did you make this soup yourself?”
“As if some nymph would’ve brought it over for me?”
Even after her sharp retort, the man merely smiled, seemingly unfazed. Laila tossed the empty plate and bowl carelessly into the sink and dragged her mother’s old chair to sit across from him.
The man said,
“You look rather solemn.”
“Don’t even think about sneaking off after eating my bread and soup. You can see plainly enough—I am truly a witch’s daughter, and a witch myself. If you lie to me, I’ll dry your tongue until you stammer for the rest of your life.”
Despite her fierce threat, the man remained calm, offering only a gentle smile.
“Fine. I’ll answer everything honestly. What’s your greatest question?”
Laila leaned forward across the table.
“Who are you, where did you come from, how do you know about me, and above all—what exactly did you do back there?”
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[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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