People who had been waiting outside the courtroom without a spectator’s pass saw Ariana coming out with Rachel. Reporters who were luckily inside had intermittently relayed the news, so everyone roughly knew the claims from Rachel’s side.
The fact that Rachel had won meant that, as she said, Ariana was a notorious villain. The glares toward Ariana, who had tormented her own mother and sisters, were far from friendly.
Although people pointed fingers and criticized Ariana, she walked with her head held high. Despite her defiant demeanor, her heart felt like it was crumbling.
‘Seo Jehu must have noticed something.’
Even Dong Jehu, and his predecessors, couldn’t outwit Seo Jehu strategically. If they could have, they wouldn’t have fallen for Seo Jehu’s schemes and become subordinate to the emperor in the past.
Dong Jehu might be a good person, but his goodness didn’t help in avoiding these kinds of moments.
‘What if Seo Jehu makes the first move?’
Ariana had two options.
Either stubbornly run away from this place and cling to Dong Jehu or obediently follow Rachel to the Western Command and wait for another chance like this.
But she knew the second option was not feasible.
She realized it from the way Seo Jehu had looked at her earlier. Seo Jehu had no intention of letting Ariana live.
‘Seo Jehu is a cautious man. He won’t trust me again if I run away once. He’ll think I’ll run away again, no matter where he locks me up or whom he arranges for me to marry.’
The moment she returned to the Western Command, she would be locked in Rosen Castle’s underground dungeon until people forgot about this trial, and then he would make his move.
She vividly imagined her moment of death.
The time when she was locked up, her whole body rotting and decaying, was still fresh in her memory.
Her body began to tremble, but she barely managed to hold back. To not reveal her fear, she bit the flesh inside her mouth.
Rachel got Ariana onto the waiting carriage. Seo Jehu also got into the same carriage.
Rachel and Seo Jehu sat side by side, and Ariana had to sit alone facing their scrutiny.
The suffocating silence weighed on Ariana until the courthouse was out of sight. Her days in the Eastern Command seemed dreamlike as her memories of death grew stronger.
Though nobody spoke until they reached Seo Jehu’s villa in the capital, the carriage was swirling with countless emotions.
As soon as they disembarked and entered the villa, Rachel turned sharply to look at Ariana and raised her hand. Seo Jehu spoke softly.
“Rachel. Don’t hurt her. Be careful until we leave the capital.”
“……Yes.”
Rachel reluctantly lowered her hand.
Ariana wished Rachel had hit her a few times. That way, when she seized the opportunity to escape, she could use the bruises as evidence.
But with Seo Jehu present, Rachel wouldn’t dare to act recklessly.
Seo Jehu ordered the knights to guard Ariana’s room tightly and even attached three maids to her.
Seo Jehu gave the command, disdain in his eyes as he looked down at Ariana.
“Prepare her food properly; she might accuse us of not feeding her. And change her clothes too.”
Surrounded by the maids, Ariana headed to her room. The maids followed her into the room without asking for permission.
One of the maids brought a wine-colored dress, a formal attire of the Western Command.
“It’s better if you don’t think of running away. There are knights guarding outside the window too.”
Ariana knew she couldn’t escape that way.
She sat on the sofa. Although the room was spacious and clean, it felt like the underground dungeon where she had been imprisoned for a long time.
+++
Seo Jehu firmly admonished Rachel.
“I’ll be leaving the empire in two or three days. Until then, don’t act rashly. Assume eyes are watching you everywhere.”
“Yes, Father.”
“The Eastern Emperor may not be cunning, but he is someone willing to do something for my daughter, so you must be extra cautious.”
Rachel stared at her father, who kept reiterating his point.
Graying hair, wrinkled face. At 65, the Western Emperor was the oldest among the rulers of various nations, but his blue eyes still sparkled like those of a young man.
It was customary for a child, once grown and ready for marriage, to succeed the emperor, but the Western Emperor continued to hold his position, excusing himself that he had no son to pass it on to.
He could adopt a child to be the successor, or take a second wife to have a son, or even leave it to his daughter, but the Western Emperor chose not to.
“A greedy old man.”
Rachel knew her father wouldn’t step down from his position until he died of old age.
Though she won the recent trial with her father’s help, he had gotten involved only because it concerned his own honor.
“He must think Ariana might have learned some family secrets while she’s been by my side. What could a young thing like her find out?”
The Western Emperor was worried that Rachel had let something slip to Ariana. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have interfered in the trial, even if it meant severing ties with Rachel.
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.]
