MTL - The General’s Little Peasant Wife - Chapter 73 Attractive new year

Asking help from the enemy was the last thing Samantha ever planned on doing, but who knew she would find her fate irrevocably sealed in the hands of a notorious Vampire Lord?In a world where Humans and Vampires have chosen to co-exist, the sacred orb of GreenHollow in the Northern Empire goes missing on a rainy night, right after the death of their ruler who was murdered in cold blood.It brought upon them an endless drought that can only be reversed when the sacred orb is found, and returned to its rightful place in the Empire.Ivan Chevalier, the heir and most feared son of the murdered Vampire King, has only two motives in life - to find his Father's perpetrator and behead him, his second motive is hunting down the sacred orb and restoring GreenHollow to what it used to be during his Father's reign.But when both motives lead him to the hands of his enemy's daughter, he has to choose between getting rid of her, or using her to his advantage by turning her into his blood slave.Samantha Dufort, a simple girl from EmptyHollow, is on the run with her younger brother after witnessing her Father being brutally murdered by a Vampire Lord.On the way, she gets abducted by slave traders.Forcefully separated from her younger brother, Samantha finds herself in a brothel, where she is trained to become a courtesan till she comes of age to be sold out.Her encounter with a mysterious man in white whom she referred to as her 'angel of death' saves her from a misery that only led Samantha into the cage of a Vampire Lords den.Tricked into becoming his puppet, Samantha tries to find different opportunities to escape the Vampire's den, and the Vampire Lord in person. But will she succeed when no one has ever left the Palace walls?Well, she was going to be the first to escape from these walls and find her missing brother.Twisted and trapped in the webs of Vampire politics interrelating with humans, Samantha discovers the main reason for her existence, a reason that could lead to changing the course of Empty Hollow. What happens when the Vampire Lord isn't the only darkness she has to run away from?

Born into a lower middle class family, Ace Lander grew up being told there was a simple formula for success: get an education, graduate, and work hard to build a prosperous future. But that formula failed him during the final stretch of his senior year when a local gang targeted him, putting everything he had and was building towards at risk.Trapped and desperate, Ace felt his life spiraling out of control—until Ria Hart, a fellow classmate, discovering Ace's innate aptitude to become a Curse Master, a being capable of wielding curse energy and abilities but haunted by Curselings, took pity and introduced him to the secret world hidden beneath the mundane surface of their world, the World of Curses.Awakening as a Curse Master, Ace discovers he possesses an extraordinary innate curse tool: the Cursed Toybox. This tool comes with a unique class, Toymancer, granting Ace powers unlike any curse master the world has seen before. The Cursed Toybox allows him to animate and actualize toys, transforming them into powerful, living beings bound to his will.From overpowered heroes to legendary gods, any toy that falls into Ace's Cursed Toybox springs to life with powers beyond one's imagination but bound to him in eternal servitude. Armed with his Toy Summons, Ace must navigate the perilous world of curses, protect his loved ones, and reclaim control of his destiny before the gang—and the darkness of the hidden world—consume him entirely.[ — Status Screen —> Your Cursed Toybox is animating the doll 'Silicone Sailor Stella' as a toy summons…> Your Cursed Toybox has animated the doll 'Silicone Sailor Stella.'> Toy summon 'Silicone Sailor Stella' added to your toy space.> Toymancer can now summon Sailor Stella.Summoning Toy Summons...Name: StellaRace: Curse ToolClass: Toy summonTitle: Silicone SailorDurability: (100/100)Enchantment: 1-StarIndividuality: (100/100)Curse Energy Consumption: 5 units per hourSkills: Toy Actualization, Seamanship, Armed Security, Adult Gratification.Toy Actualization: Bring Toy Summons' original character design and skills to existence when they are animated based on their individuality stats.Addition Effect: Toy Physiology.Seamanship: Expertise in navigation, sailing, and ship handling alongside wilderness survival, first aid, and emergency procedures.Armed Security: Proficiency in the use of small arms and other naval weaponry with training in close quarters combat, surveillance, and counterintelligence.Adult Gratification: Creatively addressing emotional, mental, and physical needs of Toymancer till gratification.]“Cursed armies, Curselings, and Curse slaves are nothing—I've got a Toy legion of overpowered action figures and unrealistically beautiful silicone goddess.”~ToymancerJoin the saga of the Toymancer's rise to become the Strongest Curse Master.

On their wedding night, she gnashed her teeth, yelling, “Your Highness, that’s shameless!”

Set off by the flickering light of red candles, he curved the corner of his mouth into a wicked grin, “Actually, I can be more shameless…”

…

When they met for the first time, he was the young prince who lived in his day of brilliance, while she was the pampered princess of the adjacent state.

When they met again, he became the crippled underdog suffering from frustration, while she became the lackluster hostage stranded in an alien land.

In his mid-life, he was defeated in the fight and had his legs broken; his wife passed away and he didn’t have anything left except his father’s detestation… After constant blows took the edge off his spirit, all he wanted was nothing but serenity.

In her teen-age, her state perished and her home lost; she lapsed into an awkward situation after being abandoned and having her marriage annulled… As endless hardships isolated her from happiness, everything she wished for was no more than peace.

…

“Lu Zhishan, when I first met you, I didn’t think I’d marry you…too old,” after years passed by, one day, she lay on his laps mumbling, with a kind of hazy beauty on her boozy face, “and lame.”

“Mu Nanzhi, you have the wrong memory. At our first meeting, I’m neither old nor limp.”

“…When was that?”

“When people were celebrating your first birthday,” that man assumed all gentleness and joy crept on his eyes and brows, “On that day, you were ‘drawing lots’ in the rear hall. I also sneaked there to have a look. But, out of my expectation, you directly grabbed my true-love knot.”

…

How vivid the red love pea is embedded in the exquisitely carved dice,

Just as my feelings for you deep in my bones.

- Description from Novelupdates

He was once a kind boy — loyal to family, faithful to love, and full of hope.But kindness means nothing in a world that spits on your loyalty.Roman died betrayed.His stepbrother beat him.His girlfriend cheated.His family used him like a slave — and when the world ended, they threw him to the undead.But death wasn’t the end.Roman was reborn — weeks before the apocalypse that would erase humanity.And this time?No more mercy. No more weakness.This time, Roman builds his empire in the shadows, manipulates nations, steals resources before the collapse, and creates a stronghold while the world sleeps peacefully — blind to the hell that’s coming.> What?! A supermarket in New York is completely wiped out overnight!Japan’s largest food storage warehouse was found empty — zero inventory, massive losses.Similar cases in South Korea and Australia? No trace, no witnesses. Just... gone.One man is preparing.One man is rising.Roman.But just when he thinks he's the only one pulling the strings in the dark...Others begin to move.Reincarnated. Ruthless. Just like him.The game is no longer survival.It's domination.In this new world, only one king can rule from the shadows.And Roman will burn the world before he kneels.