The Duke's Passion - Chapter 1 - PROLOGUE

In her past life, Jessie Sterling moved abroad for Julian Grant, only to have him break his promise and stand her up late at night for another woman on her birthday.Reborn into this life, Jessie Sterling personally severed her past adoration and affection, and instead entered a marriage of convenience with Victor Morgan, the heir to a century-old prestigious family in Aethelburg, a match approved by her family.She had originally thought it would just be a marriage for mutual benefit, and that they would treat each other with polite respect after the wedding.People in their social circle were not very optimistic about this newlywed couple with vastly different personalities.Until one day, some friends paid a late-night visit.By the huge floor-to-ceiling windows of the Four Joys Courtyard, a group of people saw the man who dominated the business world by day having his knee stepped on. He held a bottle of cat-eye nail polish and was currently bowing his head, diligently painting the toenails of the foot resting on his knee.“Is this okay?”With a coquettish air, Jessie Sterling glanced down, her chin slightly raised like a spirited little peacock, “Well, it's passable, I suppose. But I think it could use another coat?”Victor Morgan was almost driven to laugh in exasperation by her words. After setting down Jessie Sterling's leg, he moved forward, planting his hands on either side of her, his eyes deep and dark as he said in a low voice, “Mrs. Morgan, that's enough!”Before Jessie Sterling could react, in the next moment, the man had already leaned in and captured the red lips before him that had been tempting him for so long.“Mrs. Morgan, don't you think this... is what really needs another coat of color?”The group of people who had just walked through the courtyard entrance froze on the spot. How the hell could this be called... treating each other with polite respect?

I have given up power that can make the strongest of men tremble. I bore scars very few can imagine; loved women, very few had the gall to talk; and tread paths with chaosfiends.

“And I'm still standing.”

- - -

Gale was summoned into a mysterious world of magic and monsters for no particular reason. Thrown into squabbles of beings vastly higher than him, Gale strived to make a place for himself in the vain dream of immortality and a better world.

That was six years ago.

Beaten and battered from years of brutal war, Gale finally had enough and resolved to start over a new peaceful life in a totally unremarkable town with his trustworthy companion, Vale. Give up the weapon of slaughter and take up a hoe? That seemed like a fine deal to him.

Unfortunately, the valley wasn't as unremarkable as he thought it to be. Dictatorial governing bodies, suspicious practitioners, an exceedingly unwelcoming guest, and a secret that would change the entire world, all impeded his peaceful life. Gale will need all his mental stability to keep his temper in check, lest he brutalises his way out of trouble. Again.

“I’ve been reborn as the potential man of this world?”…Eric Lane was an ordinary man with one extraordinary obsession: To Be The Extra — a webnovel he had followed religiously from its humble Instagram promotion to its global fame, award-winning acclaim, manhwa adaptation, and even an upcoming anime.It was the story of Cayden Cross, an average gamer who transmigrated into his favorite game as an irrelevant extra, only to shake the world and rewrite its fate.Eric loved every second of it.Until he died, he didn’t even know how he died… all he knew was that he died.When he opens his eyes again, he’s not Eric anymore. He’s Lucius von Hohenberg — a minor villain from To Be The Extra.The same Lucius who lost everything after being humiliated by Cayden.The readers understood the man, he had been in a coma for years only to wake up and find out his beloved had been betrothed to the Cayden.He had tried to fight but like the fate of any character that faced the Main character, they got stomped pretty badly.Armed with his obsessive knowledge of the novel’s plot, Eric is determined to rewrite Lucius’s fate.He wants to live a care free life in this world.But as he soon learns, this world is not a one-to-one copy of the story he read.The events are different but who cares? He didn’t want to follow the plot anyway.