Gunmage - Chapter 148: Waltz of knives

Delia's life was a cruel reality: the neglected and abused illegitimate daughter of a noble family, the Ellington family, she yearned for the love of her stepmother, Baroness Augusta, and younger sister, Lady Anne, who relentlessly mistreated her.Her world crumbled when she discovered a double betrayal: her beloved husband, Lord George had secretly pined for Anne, marrying Delia only to be near her sister. Simultaneously, her step mother framed her for a crime Anne committed.Overwhelmed and heartbroken, Delia's attempt to escape a death sentence led to a fatal carriage accident.But death was not the end. Delia awoke one year in the past, finding herself still engaged to George. This was her second chance, and the naive girl was gone, replaced by a woman consumed by a burning desire for revenge. Her first target: Duke Eric Carson, the powerful and wealthy man her sister Anne desperately pursued.Delia boldly approached Eric with a proposition for a contract marriage. To her surprise, Eric agreed, but with a condition: their fake marriage would become real and they can go their separate way after a year, hiding his own secret agenda. Now, armed with Eric's unexpected devotion and his willingness to lay down his life for her, Delia meticulously begins to dismantle her family's world. With Eric's help, she exposes the secrets they hide, manipulates their desires, and turns them against each other, orchestrating George’s demotion, Anne's downfall and seizing everything her sister coveted, including Duke Eric love and obsession.Will Delia and Eric be able to conquer all odds to get what they want? What happens when Eric doesn’t want their contract marriage to end? What happens when the last petal of that indicates her second chance falls?———————EXCPRET“I can’t return your feelings, your grace,” Delia whispered, her back against the cool wall.“But I can,” Eric murmured, stepping closer.Delia’s voice trembled. “It’s not the same.” She choked out. “ No one can love me without hurting me.”“Then teach me,” he said, his breath warm on her cheek. “Teach me how to love you the way you deserve to be loved. I’m a quick study.”When she stayed silent, he sighed contentedly, a soft smile playing on his lips.“It’s alright. Just… use me. Anything you need. if you want money, ask the treasury, take as much money that’s needed. if you want power, use my name. if you want security and love, use my body.”His breath warmed her skin, his chest rose and fell with hers. “As long as it's from you, I'm happy.”

Lan Xi made a mistake during her interstellar travel and landed on Earth.

As the princess of Planet Moyi, she decided to save herself. First, solve the money problem.

So she took out the “Guide to Conquering Earthlings 2003 Edition” that experts from Planet Moyi had carefully compiled years ago –

“Chapter 1 How to Elegantly Make Money”:

“Beginner’s Guide: Find a high-end building, take a broken bowl, and sit there for a day to elegantly make enough money to spend for one day.”

However, after sitting bitterly for a day, Lan Xi didn’t make a penny and was driven away by security guards –

“Don’t sit here begging, President Xie already criticized us for negligence! Besides, it’s not that era anymore, beggars use QR codes now!”

No problem, there’s still –

“Intermediate Guide: Find a luxury car, pretend to be hit by it, lie on the ground paralyzed, and you can elegantly make enough money to spend for three months.”

However, before Lan Xi could lie down, a driver got out of the car –

“We have dash cams installed! Move away quickly, President Xie is in a hurry. I’ll sue you if you try this scam again!”

This tactic also failed. But no worries, there’s still –

“Ultimate Guide: Find a rich Earthling, conquer him, marry him, and you can elegantly make enough money to spend for a lifetime.”

Very well, might as well go all out and get it done once and for all!

Lan Xi already had a perfect candidate in mind, the boss of the company she begged at on the first day, the owner of the luxury car – Xie Cheng!

Xie Cheng met a strange beautiful woman.

On the first day, she begged at the door of his company;

On the second day, she staged a car accident scam on him;

On the third day, she blocked him in an alley, with a face of great mercy –

“I really like your money, I hope it becomes mine.”

“So I’ve decided to marry you.”

She coughed –

“Are you going to voluntarily be conquered by me, or be forcibly conquered by me?”

[Story background is Earth in 2023 AD]

After a shocking reincarnation, our hero opens her eyes to a new (and messy) world the last thing she remembers is reading Lady Viper’s Vow, a dark fantasy novel about a cruel, misunderstood villainess and her path of doom. But when our protagonist finds herself reborn right in the heart of an attack, she’s moments away from a second, way-too-soon death. Just as she’s about to face the end, a mysterious “system” pops up with a single mission: Level Up or Die Trying. It’s bossy, snarky, and her new best friend. As she levels up into a borderline-cheater powerhouse, she discovers her fate isn’t to be a hero, a princess, or even a sorceress, but to protect the one person no one ever expected her to side with: the villainess herself.

She is a daughter of a marquis. People only know her as the timid and cowardly young maiden, unaware that her other identity is the imperial capital’s famous, who awes the world, “slender gentleman“ is her.

She was promised a marriage 10 years ago and painstakingly waited 4 years for her groom. The morning her supposed partner returned to imperial court, he’s holding another woman.

In a single evening, from primary spouse she was demoted to secondary spouse.

For love, she supports and assists him. Together they share trials and tribulations, flying side by side. Who would expect all he did was for another woman?

He was born in the top chain of power, yet he grew up inside the darkness, enduring among conspiracies. Maturing from a weak youngster to a war-god.

For the woman he has once loved, he met her on the battlefield [1]. Every move fierce. He helplessly watched her ripping apart her sleeve, falling into bottomless cliff with a smile….he was hurt to the core. After this imperial ancestral temple and jiang hu, sky and sea, are we never to meet?

Coming out of prince’s manor, visiting vast sea, walking on the grassland and dealing with maritime power struggle.

The world is in chaos, love came in troubled times. Palace. Jiang Hu. Power. Mutiny. Naval battle. Four years of silent endurance. She, commanding thousands of pirates, returned, swirling the imperial court and jiang hu.

Only, you have once said you have been waiting for a person — a person who you admire, who you adore, a woman who could stand side by side with you.

Now, have you regretted?

- Description from Novelupdates