Devouring the Hero's Family - Chapter 227: With Exquisite Hand Movements

*Slow Burn Historical Fantasy Novel*

Elise had about to change into the dress that was lying on the corner of her bed when she heard a knock lightly calling from her door. Curious, she turned the door knob only to have a tall man towering in front of her.

“Master Ian!” She called.

Ian smiled with the usual mischievous smirk that he always used. His crimson eyes trailing a little over her room and spotted the black dress over her bed and shifted his eyes over to the woman in front of him. He stepped forward and spoke. “Where did you acquire that dress?”

“Mr. Harland gave it to me.” Elise replied and strained her neck to see Ian’s brows knitted in its elegance.

“Do you know why a man would love to give a woman a dress?” He gave the riddle that she always had to think twice before replying. But this time, she found no answer and instead shook her head. “I don’t know.”

His grin grew bewitching as though something had stirred deep inside the scarlet eyes that he had. He slowly slid his hand over the collar of her dress, sending a cold shiver that startled her for a moment due to its freezing temperature. After unbuttoning the first two buttons on her collar, he tilted his head down, whispering to her ears. “Because they want to be the one to undress the cloth.”

He paused and kissed her neck, turning the pale skin to red before retracting his move to fix his eyes on her and leisurely replied. “Unfortunately, you can’t wear the dress over there with this.” He chuckled and passed a box over to her hand. “And the fortunate news is I prepared a dress for you.”

Elise was a cursed little girl who could see ghosts. Her family hated her and threw her from one adoptive family to another. However, misfortune didn't act alone. When she was brought up by her aunt, she was sold as a slave. When she had thought she would become nothing but a sacrifice to the sorcerer, she was saved by a man whose identity was far different than a normal mythical being.

The countries of Mephius and Garbera have been waging a war for ten years and are trying to put an end to this long fight through a political marriage between the two royal families. Orba, who was driven from his home because of the war and was forced to become a gladiator, looks exactly like the crown prince of Mephius, and it has been decided he will be substituting him during the wedding ceremony. On the other hand, Vileena, the princess of Garbera, has secretly decided to ensnare the crown prince for her own country’s interests.

In a world where villains are crafted, not born, Vyan's life takes a detour from dull to downright dramatic faster than he can say “abracadabra.”Meet Vyan, the most ordinary knight in the realm, with all the magical prowess of a damp sock. Loyalty? He's got it in spades. Betrayal? Well, that's the surprise twist in his not-so-fairy-tale life.Framed and forsaken, Vyan is left with nothing but a grudge and some pretty gnarly scars, courtesy of his once-master, Iyana. Oh, did he mention she is the daughter of a marquess and the object of his unrequited affection? Talk about adding insult to injury.Just when he is ready to unleash his inner berserker, a butler comes along with news that makes his hair stand on end: Vyan is the last heir of the Grand Duke's mage dynasty!With power crackling at his fingertips and more mana than he can shake a wand at, Vyan is ready to show the world what happens when you underestimate the underdog. Will Vyan rise from the ashes like a phoenix, or will he crash and burn like a fire-breathing chicken? There's only one way to find out.

In a world that is aware of other worlds and systems, a reality show was created to have participants receive a system and face challenges. All for the entertainment of the world's that cam view it.All participants have no idea about other worlds actually existing, let alone something like this going on.Elmo is a young man who had been shopping when he was chosen to take part in this challenge. Part of him is intrigued by the idea of the challenges, but most of him would rather just go home. If only that was an option.The following are the main challenges in order in the story:Challenge #1: defeating the starting dungeonChallenge #2: prevent the assassination of the kingChallenge #3: defeat the fire dragonChallenge #4: locate and capture a firebirdChallenge #5:There will be no graphic descriptions of any mature content. When such material will appear, it will either be lime or just glossed over.I'm writing this as I go along. If you have any suggestions or thoughts I'd be happy to hear them.Also, starting at chapter 406, all subsequent chapters will be updated every other day, due to stresses in my life in rl. I hope at some point I'll be able to start updating every day again on this book, but right now I'm not going to be able to do so. I ? sorry for anyone who is unhappy with this.