Iron Blooded - Thirty Two: Secrets

The mighty heavens exist, ruling over all things. Those favored by its will are granted power and fortune, while those who dared to oppose it perished, leaving none behind. This is the tale of a man who once defied the heavens, underwent multiple reincarnations, and returned once more to the cultivation world. But here’s the twist. This young man remembers nothing of his past lives and is simply a teenager from Earth. How will he who has no knowledge of cultivation and experience in fighting, survive this grim world while being an inner disciple of a lower realm force—or so Xiao chen, the teenager thought till he heard a systematic sound in his mind. [Ding! Host has awakened the heaven’s destined villain system!]

[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.]

******

“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.

To correct the mistakes of his past, a young man is forced to narrow the space between science and witchcraft, as he ventures on a quest to save his world from complete destruction.

“The civilians here are not simple, they are cunning, they are greedy, they are tyrannical.”

“The nobles here are not noble, they are selfish, they are arrogant, they are insidious.”

“I used to be angry about this, but now I pity them. This is a dark world. Since they were born, they have not had the opportunity to choose another life. Now it is up to me to give them.”

“I will bring food and clothing to them, and then they will have morality. I will bring comfort to them, and then they will have faith. I am a traveler from a distant world, and I will bring the fire of civilization to In this dark and wild place, I know I am doing the right thing, eradicating famine, driving out disease, suppressing crime, ending war, and giving anyone who wants a change a second chance.”

“Then, kill all those idiots who are shameless.”

- Description from novelbuddy