Married to the Protagonist - Chapter 20: Do you still like him? (3)

[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.]

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“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.

Upon awakening, Lu Xuan found himself as an ordinary spirit plant cultivator, tending to an acre of land merely scraping by in the realm of cultivation.

Fortunately, he stumbled upon an unexpected revelation: with each maturing spiritual plant, he received additional rewards.

Harvesting a The Firefly Grass yielded a Golden Sword Technique.

From the Blood-Devouring Vine, he obtained a Purification Talisman.

And the Phantom Spring Flower gifted him a prescription for the elusive Luminous Flame Pill.

Henceforth, he contentedly tended to his own spiritual fields, observing the tumultuous tides and shifts in the world of cultivation.

“Duels and clashes, expeditions into secret realms, immortal fortunes, obtaining mystical treasures… None of it concerns me!”

“I simply wish for peace and quiet to tend to my fields.”

Having spent her childhood confined in chains, Alice was a child who knew neither love nor joy. Scorned by her family while being tortured in the name of the greater good for years, she grew numb to all feeling and thought. That is, until one day, a man in black offered her a chance to escape.There were once rumours widespread of an endless hell, a land of glorious death and dreadful opportunity. Fools went in search of it, and the clever never ventured into it. Only when its baleful mysteries spilled unto the earth did all hear its name — the Abyss.A single drop of its blood could give someone the power to control shadows, move faster than sound, or strength greater than the strongest man. Yet, it all came at a cost; the blood would always make sure those who consumed it became part of the Abyss, with one exception — Alice. Cast away by her own blood, it was her destiny to rot in a gilded cage.But, that fateful day changed everything. Gifted a second chance at life, a chance to turn her life around and claim vengeance against her family, a chance to dive deep into the Abyss and gain the power to govern her own fate, Alice took his hand, unaware of the destiny unfolding before her.

In the previous life, she was a swindling charlatan who had neither learning nor skills and was beaten to death.

Upon opening her eyes again, she had returned to when she was five years old. An impact from a clay Buddha opened her divine eyes, gave her photographic memory, astonishing talent, ability to view another’s past, able to sever the ties of disaster and fortune of life and death, a heaven defying rejuvenation technique, and a technique to recognize treasures.

In the last life, her family became ruined and she ended up a homeless wanderer.

In this life, she will defy heaven to change her fate and take back her happiness.

In the last life, she had nothing, had no education nor skills, was despised by others, and was looked at with indifference.

In this life, she exerts herself to become a real master of metaphysics, stands in the summit of the world, became a legend in the business world, sought after in the political circle, and a VIP of the underworld……

Those who owe her, all will be given one’s due!

He, like a deity who shows disdain for the world not only treats her with familiarity but also guards her like a loyal dog.

Her life became an unprecedented and unique existence.

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