Kiss Me Not - Chapter 50 - Healed

Isabella was supposed to be sipping champagne at a luxury spa, not waking up in the middle of a forest. Worse, a SYSTEM had attached itself to her like some clingy ex, spouting nonsense about survival, quests, and—oh, hell no—manual labor.“System, I was NOT built for the wilderness! My ideal ‘roughing it’ experience involves a five-star hotel with bad WiFi!”Now, instead of lounging in silk robes, she’s being ordered to farm? To hunt?“A farming quest? You want me—a city girl—to grow food? System, I once killed a cactus by overwatering it. This is NOT my calling!”And don’t even get her started on the hygiene situation.“You want me to bathe in a cold river? Darling, I require warm water, scented oils, and an ambience! What do I look like—some barbarian?!”Unfortunately, the locals—big, muscular beastmen—don’t seem to understand the concept of self-care. The women? Neglecting their skin like it’s a crime to be radiant. The men? Walking hygiene disasters.“Ladies, if your man can smell you before he sees you, we have a problem.”“You see this? This is lotion. It exists so you don’t look like a dried-up leaf. Use it.”“A beard should be majestic, not tragic. Let me fix it.”And the beastmen? They don’t just stare at her like she’s an oddity. No, they hover. They smirk. They lean in too close, fangs flashing with amusement.“Why do you keep looking at me like that?” she huffed, crossing her arms.The panther grinned, his tail flicking. “Because you’re fascinating when you’re annoyed.”No, absolutely not. She was not here for this nonsense.“If you have time to stare, you have time to moisturize.”She didn’t ask to be here. She didn’t ask to be their savior. But if she has to suffer through this world, she’s making everyone around her suffer less—through skincare, style, and some serious attitude.“If I hear one more ‘We don’t season our food here,’ I’m launching a war.”“If you have time to gossip, you have time to do squats.”“You want to impress a woman? Start with not smelling like the battlefield.”Survival isn’t just about fighting monsters; it’s about looking good while doing it. So what if the System keeps throwing impossible quests her way?“What do you mean ‘you can’t skip quests’?! Since when?! Where is the skip button?! I demand a skip button!”But somewhere between dodging ridiculous quests and fixing these people’s tragic grooming habits, Isabella found herself in situations. Uncomfortable, heart-racing situations.Like being trapped against a tree by the red python, his red eyes half-lidded as he murmured, “You talk too much, little star. Should I silence you?”Like waking up with the lion lord’s fur-lined cloak draped over her shoulders, his deep voice gruff, “You shiver in your sleep. I’ll fix that.”Like the phoenix watching her every move, his burning gaze searing into her skin as he mused,“You cause chaos wherever you go, but I find that I don’t mind.”Oh, hell. No. She was not about to fall for four beastmen. She was too pretty for this much stress.“If you insult me again, I’ll make sure your soul needs a beauty upgrade.”“I refuse to be disrespected by anyone who dresses like an unwashed tree branch.”And yet, when a rival tribe came to challenge her, when danger lurked too close, those same beastmen stood beside her—smirking, taunting, fighting for her.“A beastman growled at me today. I growled back. He ran. I am the alpha now.”Isabella isn’t just surviving. She’s thriving. And this world better keep up.

Shen Yu was sincerely in love. For that person’s sake, Shen Yu ignored his illness-ridden body and plotted to overthrow the tyrant. It was only after Shen Yu died that he learned the truth. He was a character in a book, and the man he loved only viewed him as a stand-in for the protagonist. To pave the way for that couple’s happiness, Shen Yu lost everything.After he was reborn, the sickly Shen Yu was so done with that.As for that man, whoever wanted him could have him.Shen Yu took his half-brother’s place and became the male concubine of the tyrant. The tyrant didn’t like men anyway, and Shen Yu didn’t have much time left. Since he was going to die, he might as well go to the palace to sit around and wait for death.After entering the harem of the tyrant everyone feared, Shen Yu ate and drank without a care in the world.The tyrant, with long black hair on his shoulders and crimson eyes, didn’t hide his hostility. He grabbed Shen Yu by the neck. “You’re not afraid to die?”Shen “Just get it over with” Yu felt a little excited. “Are you going to kill me now?”Tyrant: “? ? ? ? ?”Shen Yu entered the palace expecting to die, but he waited and waited and waited. In the end, the officials petitioned to make him the empress, and the tyrant cured his deadly illness.Shen Yu: “…”Shou: jumps frantically up and down on the gong’s bottom line but never diesGong: all he can do with the shou is lower his bottom line again and again

In this latest work by Lord of the Mysteries author, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, be prepared for a well-thought out and detailed apocalyptic, cyberpunk world with a setting superseding Lord of the Mysteries!

What are the odds that Zavian, the son of the devil, would fall for the only woman whose destiny is to destroy him?

In the beginning of time, war broke out between the fallen angels and the devil, and the devil was defeated and cast into the underworld. During the war, Zavian, the devil’s son, turned against his father and joined hands with the other demons to defeat him, which made the devil kill his son’s wife as a punishment for betraying him.

But 500 years later, there appeared a woman slave who looked exactly like his wife, and Zavian, who had longed for his dead wife, couldn’t help but get drawn to her.

But the devil had other plans for his son. To return to earth his son has to die. Is the queen’s doppelganger part of the devil’s plans?

Would Zavian fall right into his father’s trap or has fate got other plans for him?

…

Everyone stood before the king, the high and the low, with their heads bowed. This was the day they had waited for, for centuries.

King Zavian was finally getting remarried.

To strengthen the bond between the seven kingdoms of the earth, Zavian was to get married to one of the beautiful princesses standing in front of him.

But his eyes were drawn to the lowly maid standing afar off. The witches had warned him about her, and he knew he shouldn’t be with her, but she was something he couldn’t resist. The more he tried to run away from her, the more drawn he was to her.

Even though everything in him screamed not to, Zavian stood up and walked past the princesses in front of him and to the maid;

She was tiny in her dress, and her whole body trembled as he approached her, her eyes pinned to her feet, afraid to behold his face. He smiled as he held her face, tilting her head to look at him;

“Neera, will you be my queen?”

And that was when all of hell broke loose…

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