Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi - Chapter 43: Footsteps of War

200 years after the world has ended, the laws of society have long been forgotten.

Shi Man was the best special agent in the organization, and she was supposed to retire in peace, but they came after her to purge her anyway. She died exhausted after turning the tables against the organization’s agents… but was reborn, transmigrating into a book as its villainess! The villainess’s family is rich and powerful. Being the only daughter, her mother and brothers would pamper her out of control, and she was engaged to the male lead at birth. Yet, the body’s original owner messed up big-time despite being dealt the perfect hand. She harassed the female lead to win the male lead’s attention and affection until she eventually incensed the male lead. He threw her into the colosseum ring, where she was torn to pieces. Her family naturally went all out to avenge her and ended up suffering multiple casualties as they fell into desperate straits…

On the other hand, when Shi Man reincarnated, she told the male lead that they should go their separate ways and pretend they never knew each other even if they met again. She even paid the female lead with emotional duress compensation and told her they had nothing to do with each other from then on. However, after parting ways with them and preparing to begin a new life, the male lead regretted his choice and started wooing her. The supporting male characters who were never interested in her also had a sudden change of heart, and even the female lead was now offering to be her follower! Staring at the mob flocking around Shi Man, the Shi family was furious. “She belongs to our family! Stay away!”

Theodora is the Queen of Polis, a city-state that lost the war against the most powerful empire in the continent.

She is sure that they'll execute her immediately but, somehow, she survives the meeting with the Emperor, and she finds herself... Married?

Tossed in a new world without connections and allies, she has to either accept her fate or lose the chance to help her people once again.

She soon finds out that her new husband knows more about her than she does herself, and that his purposes are often far from what she expects.

A fallen queen that doesn't know how to be anything else. A handsome Duke who's the cause of her ruin. And their efforts to find some happiness in a marriage that's been forced on them.

WARNING: there are contents not suitable for a sensitive audience.

The smut scenes are half-censored at the beginning, but the amount and details will increase after a few dozen chapters (according to the Queen's mood .-. )

***

«I'm sorry for lying to you, your grace...»

«You're a Duchess. No one will dare to consider your words a lie: if you say that you were painting souls, then it's the truth.»

«I will remember it.»

«No, you have to understand it, Theodora. You're not a prisoner, but my wife. I'll protect you when you need it, and I'll help you with any issue you have. You're not just a Duchess in the name. You're my Duchess.»

«It's hard to believe in such a short amount of time.»

«For now, stop shaking like a chicken. I won't hurt you.»

***

Leon never asked for greatness.He just wanted to escape his flirty stepbrother and survive another miserable day.But fate had other plans—delivered by a lightning bolt and a cosmic accident.Reborn in a brutal world of mana, monsters, and cultivation, Leon starts at the bottom.No legacy. No allies. No system.Just seven divine treasure spins.And then—everything changes.[Class: Elemental Paragon(SSS)]A class whispered only in dread. A name that doesn’t exist—only a myth followed.Along with the class came another gift.[Ding!][Host successfully connected to Cosmic System!]Unlike the standard system others in his world use, Leon’s was different.It came with features no one else had—like a mysterious [SHOP], filled with items so rare they bordered on myth. Treasures that could warp reality. Twist fate.Even in the lowest of the low Earthly Planes, Leon could purchase artifacts of Legendary or even Mythical rank.But every treasure had a cost—one no amount of gold could pay.And then there was the [CHAT]. A place where the most terrifying beings in existence—galaxy-shattering Absolutes and universe-warping entities—casually exchanged words.Like The Keeper of The Dimensions, Lord of Space and Time…In that chat, Leon was mistaken as one of them.One of the powerful.One of the untouchable.In reality, he was weaker than a worm compared to them.But that wouldn’t last.Leon made himself a quiet promise:'One day, I’ll meet them for real.''And when I do…''I won’t be mistaken anymore.'He’ll rise.He’ll reach the apex.And the stars will remember his name.____#NO NTR#NO Yuri