MTL - Lanke Chess Edge - ~ The unbroken past 39

“Had that night been quiet and windless… If she had never appeared in front of me…”

Whenever he recalled the past, Clyde felt endless regret. If he had known that being a Suzerain would be so troublesome, he would have never picked up that troublesome Bloodkin. In fact, he would never have even left that secluded Death Canyon.

“Big Brother Clyde, don’t be so dejected. You are now a well-known Suzerain, a hero of the entire continent, the Human Race’s Savior!”

“Lucifer, enough. I just want to return to my quiet life.” Clyde, an Evil God, had yearned for a quiet life, but by chance— or fate— he had met a young a mysterious Bloodkin Lolita named “Lucifer.” Under her guidance, Clyde embarked on his destiny, rising from the unknown as a nameless wanderer to become a Suzerain of a fief before taking the throne of the entire Ximengsi Continent.

There was just one problem: he who would be the torch of the human race wasn’t even from this dimension.

“I’ll clear your mother’s debt entirely. In return, you’ll marry me.”“Are you out of your mind? Do you really think I’d agree to such an absurd proposal?”“Possibly. But it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. You keep your shop, and I get what I need.”“And what exactly is it that you need?”“That’s none of your concern. All you need to know is that this deal benefits both of us.”Two years ago, Lunara entered a marriage she never wanted. Desperate to save her mother’s flower shop, she was cornered by Eryx, a man with a hidden agenda. With no other choice, she agreed, and found herself bound to him in a transaction of convenience—he needed something from her, and she needed him to prevent her world from falling apart.But after the papers were signed, he disappeared without a word, leaving her with nothing but unanswered questions and lingering bitterness.Now, fate has thrown them together once more but with a cruel twist, Eryx doesn’t remember her at all.Lunara believes she’s long since moved on. But when she sees him again, a stranger who has no recollection of their past, old wounds resurface. What was the truth behind their marriage? And why, despite the resentment, does her heart still stir when he’s near?

When an alien ambassador crash-lands in Tim's backyard and demands, 'Take me to your leader,' the 12-year-old does what any kid would do: he points to himself and says, 'That’s me. I’m the King of Earth.'Now, thanks to a hastily signed treaty (and a promise to hand over Jupiter), Tim’s got an armory of world-ending alien tech, an invulnerable Planetary Base in his backyard treehouse, and one tiny problem: nobody told him ruling a planet would be this hard. Between conquering Earth, fending off hostile fleets, outsmarting intergalactic bureaucrats, and explaining his absences to his Trekkie dad, Tim’s in way over his head. But if he can’t bluff his way through alien diplomacy fast, humanity might end up as collateral damage.“King of All I Survey” is a fun, heart-pounding sci-fi adventure where one kid’s lie decides the fate of Earth—and homework is nothing compared to intergalactic war.

Tang Qiu was a substitute bride–forced to take her half-sister’s place and marry the young master of the Jiang family, a deformed cripple with less than 6 months left to live.

“Who would have thought that even a sickly whelp like Jiang Shaocheng would find himself a bride?”

“I hear that he’s practically on his deathbed and he’s only marrying the Fengs’ daughter to improve his lifespan.”

Tang Qiu ignored the whispers around her and focused on her husband-to-be, who coughed violently in his wheelchair. At the altar, after they had said their vows, she lifted her veil and knelt in front of Jiang Shaocheng, pressing a hesitant kiss to his lips.

The marriage contract was signed. No matter his physical deformities, he was now her husband.

She wasn’t afraid of the scars that marked his face, nor was she repulsed by him being confined to a wheelchair. Every morning, she made him breakfast, attended to his needs, and thought of little else beyond her duties as a wife.

“Young Master Jiang is a cripple who can’t get it up,” her best friend argued. “When he dies, you’ll still be untouched. You should set your sights higher.”

“A sickly invalid like Jiang Shaocheng can’t give you happiness,” her ex-boyfriend insisted. “I’ll wait for you.”

But Young Master Jiang only scoffed. “I have plenty of time left to be with her.”

Later in their marriage, Jiang Shaocheng wanted to enjoy his little wife in all ways–the press of her lips against his, the brush of skin on skin; the way a husband and wife were supposed to. But Tang Qiu refused him, blushing. “No, we can’t. The doctor says you can’t exert yourself.”

Jiang Shaocheng’s desire was surging through him, a heat in his core that demanded to be satiated. He cursed, I should have gotten rid of that doctor and the wheelchair long ago.

But he yearned to make love to his little wife, and so he revealed his true identity. In the blink of an eye, the deformed cripple transformed into a powerful businessman–tall, dark, and handsome. He quieted Tang Qiu’s protests, his body positioned over hers, his arms caging her as she lay on the bed. His voice was low when he asked, “What about now?”