My Idle System - Chapter 290: Making a Move (3)

The Last Touched is a haunting fantasy of bloodlines, broken fate, and the perilous cost of power.Elsbeth MoonChild is the last of the touched—the final descendant of a cursed lineage bound to the flame. As Alpha of the shattered 12th pack, she bears the ruin left by her father’s crime: the murder of the queen. Branded by his betrayal, hunted by her former chosen mate, and driven into exile with the last of her people, Elsbeth has one desperate path forward—to survive, she must stake her claim in the Rite of Queens, an ancient trial that demands strength, sacrifice, and the will to rule.But the Rite does more than test her body and mind. It pulls her backward in time, submerging her into the forgotten life of her ancestor—the first queen. As memories bleed into dreams and dreams into waking, Elsbeth begins to unravel a long-buried truth: the flame in her blood is not just magic. It is a weapon. A curse. A gift once traded in blood and sacrifice to end an age of chaos.And she is not the only one who carries it.Julia, her estranged sister—exiled, fire-born, and half-mad with hunger—is no hybrid. She is the living echo of the power their bloodline tried to bury. Ruthless, charismatic, and driven by the belief that the throne was stolen from her, Julia is building a gospel of grievance and flame. Her army grows in the shadows, fed by secrets and stolen children. And with each ritual, the ancient seal weakens, waking something that was never meant to rise again.Torn between duty and desire, Elsbeth clings to the one thing that keeps her tethered—Fen, her true mate, a being older than he appears, hiding a divine truth of his own. Their bond runs deeper than fate, but it terrifies her. To surrender to it would mean choosing love over the kingdom. And if she falls too far, the flame inside her might burn her from within… just as it did her father.As old gods stir and the fire in her blood begins to answer the call of something watching from beneath the ice, Elsbeth must decide: will she become the queen her people need? Or the weapon her blood was meant to wield?

As the overweight daughter of the Sutton family, Kelsie is an eyesore to everyone. Her father can't wait to get rid of her, his wife and their daughter daughter too.The man she's supposed to marry can't stand her and looks for ways to end their engagement, all to no avail.But on the day she's to get married, she finds out she's pregnant.Her fiancé finally uses the opportunity to break off his engagement to her and her father sends her packing to her aunt in another city never to return after she refuses to remove the baby like he asked her to.Seven years later, she returns to the city to claim her position as the heiress of her mother's fortune, which her father and his wife and daughter has been living off of all these years.But not as the overweight duckling everyone expected, but as a stunning, glamorous woman.Behind her are three children: a daughter who looks exactly like her, a handsome son, and another handsome son who looks too much like the most powerful man in the city.Unexpectedly, the dimwit, her fiancé who broke off their engagement comes begging for them to get married like they were supposed to.“So what if you're stunning now and lost all that weight? Everyone knows you used to be an ugly duckling. Who knows the underhanded ways you resorted to to lose weight. Forget our past and marry me again.”The woman looked at him and snickered. “Aren't you the heir of the Baker family? Why would you marry a fatso like me?”The man huffed and said arrogantly. “Hmph! Do whatever you want. But I assure you that no one in Silicon Valley will want to marry a woman saddled with bastard children!”The triplets came up on his face and snorted in disdain. “Who's this? Where is daddy when a man like this harasses mommy?”“I told you he wasn’t worth her. Hurry up and call him quickly.”The man who was in the middle of a conference call ended it as soon as he heard the news and went straight to where she was.“Are you hitting on my wife? Bastards? Are you calling the beloved children of Jett Adler bastards?”“Eh-what? Jett Adler? The most powerful man in the city? How is that even possible!”

Elara’s first life crashed hard. Cruel tricks ruined her name, broke her dreams, and turned the whole entertainment world against her. Friends betrayed her. Lovers sold her out. Everyone she trusted stabbed her in the back. The pain piled up until she felt trapped with no way out. One night, she couldn’t take it anymore. She walked to the river and ended it all in the cold, quiet water.Later, proof came out. Messages. Recordings. Everything showed she had been framed. People posted apologies online. But it was too late. She was already gone.The universe, though, clearly has a twisted sense of humor.Because somehow, Elara came back. She woke up in her own past, every awful memory still sharp in her head. Right then she made a promise she would never break: protect her gentle grandfather no matter what, and never let anyone push her to that dark place again.This time she steps into the entertainment world with her head high. She trains harder, sings better, fights smarter. The same people who once crushed her? Now they get to feel the pressure.Love? Not happening. Her heart is locked tight. But why is it that as she rises and shines brighter, handsome, powerful men start circling her—guys who never even glanced at her in her previous life were now hovering around her.The actor smiled at her during a press interview, leaned closer, and said softly, “We should have dinner sometime.”The footballer sent flowers so big they blocked her room door.The surgeon she met at a charity event checked her pulse and then forgot to let go of her wrist.The singer she collaborated with kept calling her name during rehearsals, as if the mic could not hear him well enough.Elara stared at the ceiling that night and sighed.She only wanted to sing. Why did everyone look like they wanted to adopt her, date her, or both?But the worst one came after the concert.The lights had just gone off. Her ears were still ringing. Sweat clung to her neck. She had barely stepped backstage when a shadow blocked her path.She looked up.The CEO of the greatest company in Aurelia stood there. The same man who once said her voice was “not worth investing in.” The same man who did not even know her name before rebirth.Now he held her wrist lightly, but firmly.“Let’s talk,” he said.Elara blinked. “About… sponsorship?”“No,” he replied calmly. “About marriage.”Her brain froze.“…What?”“I will give you everything,” he continued, as if asking for a glass of water. “Resources. Protection. Freedom to sing. Become my wife.”Elara stared at him, her mouth open, her thoughts running in circles.This was not how it was supposed to be.Why was the world now skipping steps?NB:This story takes place in a fictional world. Aurelia is a country. Solmere, Veston, and Starfall City are the three capital cities of Aurelia. Other cities, such as Lorien and Crelou, are smaller cities.