Shinka no Mi (Shiranai Uchi ni Kachigumi Jinsei) - Chapter 184: DRIFTER

15 years ago, his elder brother was killed right in front of him in the middle of the night – killed by their most trusted driver. Since then, Stefan had a hard time sleeping and often got nightmares. He learned not to trust anyone.

Cayenne worked almost all day and all night. She only got three hours of sleep every day. She was the breadwinner of their family since her mother was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She thought she would have a great time working as a receptionist in a hotel.

Until…

“I’ll pay you an additional $3000 a month. Sleep with me.” Stefan placed a signed check on the table in front of her.

Her head was spinning at the large sum of money. She can finally buy her mother’s medication and send her brothers to school without worry. But to sleep with him?

“I’m sorry if I come off rude but, I can’t sleep with you sir.” She tried to refuse politely, afraid that she will lose her job if he felt displease towards her.

Stefan took off his coat and placed on the backrest of his chair. “Think about my offer carefully. It wasn’t so bad sleeping with you after all.”

It was a mistake she made on her part when she fell asleep right beside him on his bed, drunk and dizzy.

Will he make the mistake of trusting someone again? Will he entrust his life to her by sleeping soundly beside her? How will they face each other when they started to unveil the mystery of their identities?

In the year 2033 it began.

Gods, monsters, devils, angels every higher creature from every mythology began to bless those they found worthy and share their powers.

Eventually with the emergence of the gates, we realized they were preparing us.

The so called chosen heroes who enter gates are known as the Blessed and in it’s become the most sought after career in the world.

They are the most famous and well known people in the entire world and some are even the leaders of their own nations.

They are immensely powerful, beautiful, and charming beings.

After five whole years, we still have no idea what the higher’s criteria are for blessing a human.

Despite the seemingly loose criteria, only 1 percent of the population actually end up as blessed and gain the privilege of entering gates and defending our world.

With all of the excitement around the Blessed, we seem to have forgotten the most important question.

Why are they doing this for us and what will they require in return?

……………………………………………………………

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[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.]

******

“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.

A princess's duty is to be beautiful, quiet, not loud, to be seen and not to be heard, which was how Dahlia lived most of her life. Bound by the expectations of her title, she spent years trying to prove to her father that she was more than just a princess and capable of being more than an ornament in his court but each time she never got the chance. Instead, she was forced into a marriage of convenience with the bravest knight in all the kingdom, Reagan Hawthorne.Dahlia thought she would use this marriage to escape the brutal crutches of her father and glide out of her cage but Reagan’s cold disdain was an unexpected prison of its own. While he waged wars on distant lands, she stayed behind, holding his household together and protecting the people he seemed to ignore. But Dahlia carried a dangerous secret. By day, she was the perfect wife. By night, she became the “Black Knight,” a masked vigilante fighting for justice in the shadows.Reagan returned, ready to focus on his personal mission: avenging his father’s death. To him, Dahlia was just another pawn in his plans—a spoiled princess he needed to tolerate. But as cracks began to form in her perfect façade, Reagan couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to his wife than met the eye.Now, with enemies circling closer and their secrets threatening to collide, Dahlia and Reagan must confront the lies they’ve told themselves and each other. But when masks fall and truths are revealed, will their fragile bond withstand the storm—or will it shatter beyond repair?One wound. One secret. One night that changes everything.