Ascension of the Monster Queen - Chapter 26: From a village to a town

After being torn from the only life she knew, 16-year-old Margo is forced into a new home with strangers who call themselves her parents. Haunted by memories of her past and consumed by feelings of isolation, she struggles to adapt to her unfamiliar surroundings. School offers little relief—until she meets Lucien, a mysterious boy who appears just when she needs a friend the most.Gabriel is everything Margo needs: kind, attentive, and always ready to whisk her away from her troubles. Each night, he invites her to secret places—an abandoned playground, a fog-choked garden, a crumbling train station at the edge of town—each more unsettling than the last. Yet with every chilling rendezvous, Margo feels more alive... more seen.But something isn’t right. Gabriel never comes to school during the day. Her adoptive parents never see him. And when they catch her talking to thin air, their concern deepens into fear. They say Gabriel isn't real—that he’s a figment of her imagination. Margo wants to believe them, but Gabriel feels real. More real than anything else in her life.As the nights grow colder and more twisted, Gabriel’s true nature begins to surface. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Time warps in his presence. And the places they visit seem to echo with whispers from another world. Margo is forced to ask herself: Who—or what—is Gabriel? Why does he only want her? And what will happen on the final night he asks her to come with him?As the line between reality and delusion begins to crumble, Margo must make an impossible choice: stay in a world where she feels loved, or return to one that barely feels real.But one thing is certain—some friendships never let go.

Life used to be so simple,

Full of false hope and endless beliefs in one’s ability in wooing that beautiful girl.

But in a single instant,

Everything as you knew it, plummeted faster than a spoken rejection.

What is real and false can’t be determined,

As the world slowly falls into the maws of the apocalypse.

How will our simple friend respond to the call; the summons?

No matter what he chooses,

Chaos SHALL Reign!

- Description from Novelupdates

[Warning: r18+/strong mature content]He is her salvation. She, his demise. Yet, he refuses to let her go…Mineah, the youngest Princess of Ebodia, was cursed at birth to remain untainted and bring misfortune to those around her. This prophecy looms over her like a dark cloud, growing bigger every year it does not come to pass.She exists in hushed rumors as a pitiful figure - fragile, meek, unwanted. Underneath that mask is a strong and feisty vixen worthy of being a queen. And this would-be queen has set her eyes on breaking her curse, even if that means tricking the most cunning vampire ever born.Nikolai, though reclusive and enigmatic, is revered by the Kingdom of Valcrez as a wise and powerful ruler. Unbeknownst to his loyal subjects, his image of perfection is a web of lies that if exposed can send their kingdom and everything they hold dear crumbling beneath their feet.When these two find their paths crossed in a marriage alliance, the game of Crown's Seduction begins. But just who is the hunter and who is the prey?********Excerpt:“Why are you stripping naked in front of me?” she questioned with a frown, doing little to hide the irritation in her voice. Her goal was to capture only his heart, not his whole body!“Am I not allowed to have a bath with my wife?” he remarked with a cold tone. “I purposely asked for a big tub to just make sure that the two of us will fit in it together.”She sighed, not tearing her gaze away from him as she regained her composure. Seeing him smirk she forced herself to get comfortable as he spoke.“That’s more like it. You said it yourself that no one forced you into marrying me. Instead, you offered and volunteered yourself willingly for it, so I expect that you’ll be confident enough to share a bath with your husband,” Nikolai confidently stated. “After all, we’ll do more than this soon enough.”Shameless…Preventing herself from rolling her eyes, she managed to give him a smile as she said, “Don’t blame me if you die on me then.”

She has come a long way.

Orphaned, born a weakling, and being the infamous good-for-nothing of Azure Dragon Country. Gu Ruoyun was the shame of the proud Gu household. Falsely accused of a crime she did not commit, she was betrayed by her family and beaten to death by her own grandfather. But life took a fateful twist on that very day — she was revived.

Newly awakened, she is now the Master of an ancient treasure that resides within her body. Precious cultivation pills, treasures beyond her wildest imagination and spiritual beasts, all within her grasp… She is the apple of the eye of all under the heavens, including that of a mysterious, handsome man.

Now she only has one goal — to conquer the world.