Devil Gambit - Chapter 55 : The Princess in the Ash

Ashley Gusman, a determined young Filipina, was driven by her sole ambition to provide a better life for her family. She was willing to go to great lengths to achieve this goal, even taking on the role of a surrogate mother for a Billionaire Heir.***~***CEO Tanaga Jones, who needed an heir for his empire, was adamant about not wanting a wife. Ultimately, he contracted with a woman to bear him a child.

Seventeen-year-old Grayson has endured a harrowing childhood, leaving him with a dark and twisted philosophy. Driven by this painful doctrine, he imposes his skewed beliefs on everyone and everything around him. His malevolent actions draw the attention of an ancient evil, an entity wrapped in darkness and legend. This being sees in Grayson the potential to carry on its legacy.As the ancient evil begins to mold Grayson for a future drenched in darkness, he finds himself drawn deeper into a web of manipulation and control. Questioning whether he has the strength to defy the fate that has been thrust upon him.Theós, an ancient deity whose origins are lost to time, rules with an iron grip, instilling fear and absolute control over those who dare challenge him.“If it is not within Theós' plan, it cannot be done!”

[COMPLETE] Can a royal Romeo and Juliet find their happy ending?

Ayleth, Princess of Zenithra, is secretly trained in hand-to-hand combat, and collects swear words she doesn't know how to use. During the Festival of Peace, in which every royal son on the continent will be at the castle for a month, she is instructed by her parents to find a husband. Yet, Ayleth has never even been kissed—until the very first ball, when she meets the man in the Lion mask.

Etan is a seasoned warrior, and the Prince of Summitras. He attends the Festival hoping to find a powerful wife who will help him conquer the dark sorcery of their bloodsworn enemies, the Kingdom of Zenithra. But at the very first ball, he discovers the masked woman who captures his heart is the Heir to the evil empire.

Ayleth and Etan face an impossible battle. Will their love survive? Or will their parents' dark dealings keep them apart forever?

[Mature content. No sexual violence.]

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“You…” She stepped back. Then back again, her mouth dropped open. “You… You cannot be…”

“I am,” Etan said, and his hair raked back as he pushed his mask off his handsome face. So handsome her heart raced.

His hair was ebony black, his skin a warm brown that threatened to fade in in the winter months. He stared at her with glittering green eyes, over high cheekbones and a noble nose, his jaw tight and shadowed this late in the day. His chin was high over the pillar of his neck that she’d just touched with its hard lines and steel strength, so different to her own. And his chest... She gasped and covered her eyes. She’d humiliated herself revealing her stupid, childish curiosity.

“No, Ayleth. This changes nothing.”

“How can you say that? It changes everything!” She was horrified to realize she was crying.

“Ayleth, please.” His voice cracked on the plea and she stared at him, shoving her mask up and off, despite how it would pull her hair out of the beautiful twist the maid had managed for her.

His eyes locked on hers and she couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe.

She had met her One. And he was the son of her bloodsworn enemy.

She stared at him as he stepped forward again, offering both hands, palm up. “Touch me,” he whispered. “Hold my hands. This is real, Ayleth. I don’t know how it happened, but this is real. Please don’t deny it.”

She couldn’t resist. She raised a trembling hand to his cheek, letting her palm catch on the scruff of his jaw. He blew out a breath and put his hand over hers, and that jolt that happened whenever they touched shivered through her again.

“Please, Ayleth.”

“I cannot deny it,” she whispered.

Peter Orion lived for books, until the day he died clutching one. But death wasn’t the end. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer an ordinary reader. He was reborn into his favorite light novel, Darkness of a Hero.Not as the destined hero.Not as the fearsome villain.But as an extra, the youngest son of a ruined Baron family, a side character fated to die early and be forgotten.But Peter isn’t willing to die a second time.Gifted with the mysterious Dimensional Library, a boundless archive of lost knowledge and forbidden tomes, Peter gains the power to reclaim what his family has lost and carve out his own destiny.[The Dimensional Library is active]A new volume appears on the First Shelf.Title: “Basic Mana Flow”Condition: [Unread]But the Library wasn't just a tool he could use to get stronger, it was a dangerous structure, and the deeper he gets, the more changes he sees inside the library and in the world.follow as he uses knowledge and skill to deal with issues in his world and beyond. will he master the library, or will his search for knowledge end up consuming him.Discord: https://discord.gg/hMVtZ3da