Refining the Mountains and Rivers - Chapter 1716 – Looking at Us With Hostility

[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.

What if you could unlock the deepest secrets of the human mind? What if every word, every gesture, every thought could be shaped and bent to your will?Jason Cross was once an ordinary man, trapped in a life he didn’t deserve. His family’s fortune stolen, his dreams shattered, he was left with nothing but bitterness and regret. Forced to work a dead-end job, Jason’s life seemed doomed to mediocrity—until a tragic accident changed everything.Now, Jason has been given a gift. A mysterious system has awakened within him, revealing the hidden language that can influence the mind—Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) at a level beyond human comprehension. With every task completed, Jason unlocks new abilities, gaining the power to manipulate emotions, thoughts, and desires.But power comes with a price.Jason's rise to influence is swift. He becomes a master of persuasion, able to seduce anyone, outwit rivals, and build an empire from the ruins of his former life. His enemies fall one by one, their minds broken before they even know what hit them. But as Jason climbs higher, so do the stakes. Rivals from the shadows, powerful enemies, and his own unchecked ambition threaten to consume him.How far will Jason go to reclaim what is rightfully his? And when the world bends to your will, can you ever trust anyone again?

He had always wished to live a new, ordinary life. That was his one and only wish.

But the world did not allow him to.

‘I wanted to live ordinarily, but you’re the ones who provoked me first!’

Who was the one who provoked the sleeping lion first?

It’s now time to witness the great Demon Master’s reproval of the modern times!

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