“Just wait a moment, please. I need to gather some things necessary for the treatment.”
‘I need to keep my wits about me. If things go wrong, grandfather and I might both meet our end today.’
While pretending to gather my belongings, I whispered in a tiny voice, audible only to my grandfather.
“Always claim to know the treatment method, and never directly reveal how to make the medicine. Say it’s complicated and difficult, and that it must be done by you. Also, the medicine cannot be taken all at once but needs to be consumed little by little over a long period.”
I didn’t say it aloud, but the intention was clear: dragging out the treatment might prolong our lives. My grandfather, understanding my intent, nodded firmly.
Given the slip of the tongue by the elderly man using the word ‘His Highness,’ I wasn’t surprised when the carriage headed towards the royal palace.
The stern-looking old man introduced himself before we reached the palace. He was Simons, the chief steward of the First Prince, and the ill person we were to treat was the Prince himself. He cautioned us to maintain decorum in our diagnosis and treatment.
My grandfather and I nodded nervously.
It wasn’t my first time in a palace, but being inside the Emperor’s palace was indeed an unprecedented experience.
Despite having seen the outer walls and guessed at the interior’s vastness, the actual size was beyond my imagination. We stayed in the carriage for a while even after entering the gates.
Due to the darkness and my anxiety about my precarious situation, I didn’t get the chance to look around. I just followed Simons.
In the room he led us to, a frail child lay buried in a large bed, groaning in pain.
Had I not been told beforehand, I would have mistaken this child for the four-year-old Prince Daniel, not the six-year-old Prince Ian, because of his small stature.
His pale, sweat-drenched face looked as if it could crumble at any moment.
As I walked into the room, all other thoughts vanished, replaced by the sole wish that the small, fragile-looking child before me wouldn’t have to suffer any longer.
The child extended his hand towards me, desperately, like someone drowning and begging to be saved. Quickly, I approached, knelt by his bed, and held his hand. Though it couldn’t alleviate any physical pain, I held on as if in prayer.
He didn’t speak, but his silent plea rang in my ears like a scream for help.
I wiped his sweaty forehead with my cold hand and whispered, more to myself than to him, “I’ll protect you…”
The child then opened his eyes and looked directly at me. His pale blue eyes, resembling a vast lake, suddenly changed to a startling red, as if ink had been spilled into them.
Startled by this change, Simons behind me sighed deeply. The Prince’s changing eye color was the reason they had secretly summoned a pharmacist.
For the treatment, the doctors had drawn Ian’s blood, pricked him with needles here and there, cut his hair, and even put on a bird-like mask and mimicked bird sounds to scare away the illness, but none succeeded in curing him, nor did anyone precisely identify his illness.
Ian was feverish as if a boiling cauldron, writhing in pain as if skewered by spikes.
Up until now, every doctor had listed all the diseases they knew: mysterious diseases, measles, scurvy, smallpox, even absurd diagnoses like puerperal fever.
But no one could explain why his eyes, tranquil as a lake, suddenly turned blood-red.
“There’s fever but no rash. The whites of his eyes are slightly bloodshot, but not severely. There are no signs of jaundice. Upon examination, there are no other injuries, bug bites, or snakebite marks. No discoloration or bleeding in the mouth. It doesn’t seem to be from external injury or poisoning.”
Listening to the symptoms I relayed, my grandfather asked in a calm voice, “Were there any other peculiar symptoms?”
He wasn’t asking me but Simons, who introduced himself as the chief steward.
My grandfather was a highly skilled pharmacist.
He knew not only the common diseases but also endemic illnesses specific to certain countries. He even studied conditions akin to witch curses, difficult to classify as diseases.
Often, his intense study of diseases and patients was why we couldn’t settle in one place and had to travel across countries. His curiosity was driven by diseases unique to different environments, native herbs, and local people’s traditional healing methods.
Thus, in terms of rare diseases, there was no equal to my grandfather. I felt relieved by his response.
He didn’t ask, ‘Were there any other special symptoms?’ but ‘There must have been other special symptoms,’ indicating he had a disease in mind.
If he suspected a particular illness, he must also know the treatment. I sighed in relief, reassured by the thought that my grandfather could help this suffering child.
The steward hesitated to answer, simply stroking his long, thick white beard.
“You must tell us, even if it’s difficult. We need to diagnose accurately.”
“I don’t know how to explain this, but… His Highness seemed to foresee the future. If he said someone would fall down the stairs, it happened; if he said someone would visit, they did; if he said it would rain on a sunny day, it rained without fail.”
I looked at the steward skeptically. I had heard of witches who could predict the future or saints who received divine revelations, but the idea that this small child had the gift of prophecy was hard to believe.
“His Highness himself told me to seek out the blind pharmacist on 17th Street. I was skeptical of his words. We called several renowned doctors for a diagnosis, but none could even guess his illness. But seeing you identify the disease right away… it seems His Highness really knows the future.”
He indicated me with a nod.
“I didn’t even know this kid’s name, but His Highness immediately called her ‘Jane.'”
My grandfather nodded and spoke in a calm voice.
“It’s inevitable, as this is not an ordinary illness. It’s both a blessing and a curse. And those who can recognize this symptom no longer remain in the Calobanian Empire.”
“What do you mean? Explain so that it’s understandable.”
“To put it simply, His Highness suffers from a ‘divine illness.'”
I nearly let out a scream but managed to stifle it with my hands. A divine illness! Even if the prince can foresee the future, to label it as a ‘divine illness’!
Chills ran down my spine.
To dare diagnose it as ‘divine illness’ in a situation where the sharp edge of a sword is practically at our necks. It seemed like my grandfather planned for us to be buried side by side somewhere in the palace.
As expected, the steward responded with an angry face.
“How dare you…”
My grandfather nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and said,
“It seems you don’t like my expression. It’s also called ‘The Prophet’s Agony’ or ‘The Prophet’s Fever.'”
Honestly! My grandfather must have lost his guts along with his sight.
Despite softening the term ‘divine illness’ to slightly different terms, the steward’s distorted face showed no signs of relaxing. My heart shrank in tandem.
Unaware of our expressions, my grandfather spoke nonchalantly.
“It’s not that special. Prophets appear everywhere. Especially, the Kingdom of Stephan, once known as the Holy Land, has had many such people born there. I believe His Majesty’s mother is also from there. So, it’s not strange for His Highness to suffer from a divine illness.”
It’s true that Stephan Kingdom was known for having many prophets. It transformed from a mere country to a significant kingdom, not because of its soldiers on the battlefield but because it was a land beloved by the gods.
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.]
