The Labyrinth of the Monsters - Chapter 14 – Hornblower

In a land where ancient families are as common as the stars, the weight of millennia-old legacies brings not only honor but also the chains of rigid traditions. Here, bloodlines are the cornerstone of power, the unyielding foundation for climbing the ladder of authority.But what hope does the descendant of a mere hunter have in such a world? How can they claim a seat at the table in this grand feast of ambition and betrayal? Is it through the fragmented remnants of a cheat ability from the game For Honor, now warped and unrecognizable? A fleeting glimpse into an uncertain future? Or perhaps a stroke of intangible, invisible luck?The stage is set, the pieces are moving—will this unlikely contender rise, or will they become just another casualty of the Game of Thrones?

Alzi had a promising future. At seventeen, the Goddesses blessed her with a life affinity—a rarity for commoners in a small village; a few days before the class-choosing ceremony, her Mother gets sick. After using her little mana to keep her alive, she runs to the capital to find a true healer. With no money, she sells herself into slavery for a decade. The decade is almost up, but she has been turned into a broodmare for the nobles and faces a sale to keep her enslavement going.

The aristocratic Lu family has produced a joke, a beautiful one, but a joke nonetheless. The daughter they have been rearing all this while turns out to be an imposter! With the real heiress returning to take her rightful place, everyone is eager to know the outcome of the imposter…Will she be able to survive in poverty after living a life of riches?Having just transmigrated, Huo Yao imagines that this experience will be pretty interesting. However, imagination and reality are always so different!Dad: “Daughter! Take this black card. It has no limit! Use it freely.”Mom: “My dear Yao Yao! If you don’t like this jewelry, I’ll get them to change it immediately.”Huo Yao: “…”Weren’t they supposed to be poor and ordinary? What is with this hidden lavish behavior?Her eldest brother, an investment company’s CEO: “Sis, inherit my company!”Her second brother, a top lawyer: “Whoever dares slander my sis will face the full brunt of the law!”The third brother, an international genius doctor: “Bullying my sister? Should I display the prowess of my scalpel?”Mysterious fourth brother: “My sis is the cutest!”Huo Yao: “…”What happened to being a good-for-nothing person who lives off her parents?A top aristocrat secretly changes into his cheap clothes and drives his crappy old car to her. “Baby, my heart is yours. Why don’t we get married to test if I’m telling the truth or not?”Everyone who knows about it, doesn’t dare say it out loud.All they can do is curse inwardly: “Bah! Keep acting! No one believes it!”

Power comes with a cost... and it was something she was willing to trade her soul for.A few nights before her wedding, Lauren sought a way to break her fourth engagement. Known for her bad reputation as the rebel princess, she was the only lady who had the guts to step foot on the Everston mansion, the house of a notorious warlord, in the middle of the night.She offered him a wicked alliance that the entire kingdom did not see coming: a marriage.A vixen pretending to be a damsel in distress and a man whose crimson eyes screaming for bloodshed. Could something blossom in this treacherous dance of lies and deception?--“Are you upset?”She eyed him sharply. “Should I be honored that I got tricked by you, milord?”He drank the remaining wine in his glass with one gulp and put it on the wooden table.He stepped in front of her. His hand was on the rail on her side while his other hand grabbed her glass and finished her wine before putting it down.The way his Adam's apple moved with his every violent gulp made her feel a tickling heat around her nape.When he brought his attention back to her, he licked his lips to wipe off the trace of wine.“How shall I make it up to you then?” he asked with his deep voice, like a seductive devil asking his victim how she would like to be killed. Dangerous yet… enthralling.