MTL - A Smile from the Villain - ~ 22 thinking

Cairn is a prince who is already tired of ruling. Faced with an imminent coronation and an overbearing father, he wants nothing more than to drown his responsibilities in cheap liquor and poor decisions. With the help of his sister, he hatches a plan to escape the clutches of the throne once and for all. It all goes terribly wrong, and Cairn finds his priorities shifting in the face of unimaginable tragedy. The change of heart comes too late, however, and Cairn dies. He reawakens to find himself transported ten years in the past. He immediately begins to plan for the future, only to discover his killer has somehow followed him. To succeed, Cairn must unite the kingdom and discover the motivation of his killer, using as many tries as it takes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I exhausted pretty much every time loop story ever written and decided to write my own. You'll see a few similarities here between this story and some existing stories, at least initially. There's a lot of inspiration drawn from both MoL and Re:Zero, though in terms of pathos and darkness, this story leans more towards the latter. Be warned, it is something of a slow burn. The main character will grow and become powerful, but a theme of this story is that power comes slowly and often at great cost.

Xiao Xiang Zi, a cloud spirit in heaven, and Chu Kong mess up the red strings of fate by accident during their brawl.

All Chu Lian had done was to read a book where the female lead had cheated on her wonderful husband. While wondering why, before she knew it, she was waking up in the body of that very same female lead!

Wait, did that mean the handsome husband from the book was hers now? Chu Lian decided to welcome him with open arms!

However, what she got wasn’t the kind husband she had been expecting. Instead, his personality seemed to have been completely flipped! He left her all alone on their wedding night… and just five days into their marriage, her dear husband abandoned his loving wife and left to enlist in the army!

Fine! Be that way! She could pass her days perfectly well somehow, even if she had to do it alone!

Chu Lian put her household in order, charmed the rest of her new family, and did a little business on the side. She even opened up some new trade routes! Her days passed peacefully and leisurely… Until her dear husband got into trouble at the frontline of the war.

Hmph, isn’t he crawling back to me for help in the end? Forget it, I’ll go save him myself!

In a world far more dangerous than the one he once read about, Nero Ravenclaw is reborn as the heir to Rowena Ravenclaw’s legendary bloodline. Armed with knowledge of the books and a mind sharpened by experience, he quickly realizes that this isn’t the same Harry Potter universe.It’s darker, deeper, and filled with wizards far more powerful than he ever imagined.Determined to carve his own path, Nero seeks to reach the apex of the magical world. As he unearths the secrets of the founders, navigates political intrigue, and clashes with forces both known and unknown, he must forge his strength to survive.With new ranks of wizards, powerful bloodline abilities, ancient magic, and a reimagined magical system, this is the untold story of a Ravenclaw who refuses to be bound by destiny.The wizarding world is far greater than anyone imagined.And Nero intends to claim his place within it.Disclaimer : I don't own Harry Potter or its characters (except the original characters I create).