A person who knows they’re going to die wants to eat and do everything they can, piling it up to the sky, but Helena wanted just one thing.
To have a small, modest house of her own in Pretterita.
That village housed the graves of Basil and her mother. It was her cherished and beloved hometown. Being near a cemetery, it wouldn’t cost much to build a cozy log house.
Once the house was built, she’d place a soft, plush single sofa and a table with a white lace cloth by the window.
She’d fill shelves with honey and various jams, oh, and she almost forgot the clattering wooden cutlery. Maybe use glass bowls for storing fruit.
She would buy ingredients from the friendly grocery and butcher shop in town, cook her meals, and like a gravedigger, visit the graves daily, weeding and catching bugs.
Dropping the title of Duchess, what she really wanted was this. Instead of allocating funds for her mother-in-law’s banquet, she planned what to fill her house with.
While doing so, Helena took the road to Higher, towards the Owen estate in Pretterita. Before heading to Pretterita, she intended to collect Basil and her mother’s belongings left at the Owen house. She needed to gather funds to build the house too.
“There, pretty lady! These just came in this morning, they’re very fresh! Take a look before you go!”
“You’ll miss out if you don’t buy now, it’s a loss!”
“Give me a bit more off, will ya?”
The journey was hectic. The bustle was something she could never have imagined at Evergail.
Helena wandered aimlessly, picking clothes as she went. Stopping in front of a store’s window, she saw a pitiful, country-mouse-like woman reflected back at her.
Suddenly, she realized how difficult it was to live without a plan. Even the smallest actions had always been calculated for someone else.
A baby elephant tied to a stake cannot pull it out when it grows up. For Helena, regression was just that.
Not an opportunity for enlightenment, but a shackle that gradually forced conformity and breakdown through repeated failures.
She couldn’t be the protagonist in a story who boldly shakes everything off and stands up.
At best, a minor character who must continually strive. The price of stepping off the stage by herself was high.
‘He’s gone now. I left him. I was the one who walked away.’
She repeated this for the thirteenth time, habitually untying the thin string that had always bound her hair. There was no longer any need to be prim.
People can’t suddenly change. Even after leaving Eugene, she was still Helena, even more insignificant.
So, she constantly reminded herself.
‘I’m not lonely. I’m not empty.’
Even this felt calculated, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Remembering her mother-in-law’s reprimand, she bit her lip.
“A man doesn’t water a wilted flower, Helena. You’re like a dry pile of wood, hard to even look at.”
At the time, she was too busy swallowing her tears to discern any lies.
Didn’t she lack the courage to discern them, which led her here?
That’s why Helena deliberately did things a noble Duchess would never do.
She forced laughter at street clowns, ate food sold on sidewalk stalls, and even slept in a corner of a shabby stable.
Before leaving the mansion, the time Helena had worried about seemed ridiculously unnecessary.
‘I’m not lonely.’
It was enjoyable.
It had to be.
She repeated this habitually.
Unsure whether she was living or just enduring, time passed quicker than she thought.
The carriage bounced up and down in rhythm with the clattering of horse hooves. Inside, Helena placed her hand on her hungry stomach. Her own hand should have been warm, yet it felt cold.
Hunger quickly exposed itself, and she acutely felt a yearning for everything.
She regretted not bringing some money from the ducal estate. But she quickly dismissed the thought.
‘Even if it’s a struggle, it can’t be helped. I can’t deceive myself, so I must leave no room for return.’
She hadn’t expected her life to turn rainbow-colored the moment she left. If so, she wouldn’t have rashly dashed out.
She just wanted to finally deny the nest that had become her skin, even if it meant vividly bleeding. Even if it meant peeling it off.
‘And even amidst this…’
Ignoring the hungry side and stomach, she turned her head to the side. Dark green foliage whisked by at the edge of her vision.
It had been five full days, switching carriages frequently due to the considerable distance from her destination.
Though somewhat uncomfortable, she was soon to meet her family.
‘Not the warmest of people to me.’
Her mother, the only one on her side, had died giving birth to her brother. Her father, hardly letting the soil settle on her mother’s grave, brought home a new woman.
The new stepmother’s son had always made unsavory advances towards her until she left for Evergail.
People blinded by money, who sold her off like livestock. Yet still…
“At least they are family.”
“Hmm?”
The coachman, sitting next to her, queried, hearing her mutter to herself. His eyes were round with wrinkles.
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.]
