Swordsmeister of Rome - Chapter 198: Provocation

Yuan Xiao was reborn. Only after her death did she discover that she was living in a book. In the book, she was a fake heiress who did terrible things and made the real female protagonist look like a good person. After being reborn, Yuan Xiao decided to become a scholar. As long as she studied hard enough, she’d repeatedly get the opportunity to draw prizes and stop herself from being controlled by the storyline. She wanted to change her life. Yuan Xiao did not want the terrible fate of her past life to repeat itself.

She wanted a life that belonged to her! Other students looked down on her. She made sure to win as many prizes in competitions as she could and consistently claimed the number one spot in school. Some people suspected she might have forged her educational accomplishments due to her young age. She directly solved the toughest questions in the world to prove those people wrong. Did somebody mock her for not being able to do anything else but study? She’d show them her world-class piano-playing…

Yuan Xiao went down the scholarly path and never looked back. She was no longer the bad student she used to be. The smart student in school, who nobody dared to offend, forced her into a corner and nervously gave her a lollipop. “I just gave you a lollipop, the thing that I like the most. When will you be my girlfriend?” Yuan Xiao tapped on his chin and chuckled. “I’ll be your girlfriend if you get into Q College with me.”

After being torn from the only life she knew, 16-year-old Margo is forced into a new home with strangers who call themselves her parents. Haunted by memories of her past and consumed by feelings of isolation, she struggles to adapt to her unfamiliar surroundings. School offers little relief—until she meets Lucien, a mysterious boy who appears just when she needs a friend the most.Gabriel is everything Margo needs: kind, attentive, and always ready to whisk her away from her troubles. Each night, he invites her to secret places—an abandoned playground, a fog-choked garden, a crumbling train station at the edge of town—each more unsettling than the last. Yet with every chilling rendezvous, Margo feels more alive... more seen.But something isn’t right. Gabriel never comes to school during the day. Her adoptive parents never see him. And when they catch her talking to thin air, their concern deepens into fear. They say Gabriel isn't real—that he’s a figment of her imagination. Margo wants to believe them, but Gabriel feels real. More real than anything else in her life.As the nights grow colder and more twisted, Gabriel’s true nature begins to surface. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Time warps in his presence. And the places they visit seem to echo with whispers from another world. Margo is forced to ask herself: Who—or what—is Gabriel? Why does he only want her? And what will happen on the final night he asks her to come with him?As the line between reality and delusion begins to crumble, Margo must make an impossible choice: stay in a world where she feels loved, or return to one that barely feels real.But one thing is certain—some friendships never let go.

Born and raised as a nameless shadow guard for his kingdom’s crown prince, his life’s purpose was to be used and discarded at the whims of his liege.

And his meaningless life ended when the gaze of a princess lingered on him for too long. The crown prince had him beheaded without a second thought, as if throwing out trash.

Transmigrating into the body of a baby girl, the nameless shadow finally had a name, a family, and a place to call her own. Throwing away his past, the shadow guard was now called ‘Emilia’, and walked on a new path to seek fulfillment.

It was not meant to be, however, as the girl whom she had loved with all her heart and soul ended up mercilessly plunging a dagger through Emilia's love-struck heart at the highest point in her life.

The crowd clamored at the ‘deserved death of the villainess’, and at that moment, the shadow could only wonder… why?

Why am I always the one to dedicate myself fully to someone, only to be thrown away like trash in the end?

And thus, as her soul floated away while cursing in resentment, ‘Emilia’ vowed to herself that in her next life she shall never be the one to fully dedicate herself.

Whatever she likes shall be held in her palm, and shall never escape.

The moment the vow was made, a self-proclaimed villainess system proposed to partner with her, to explore and conquer the worlds through their anchors—the heroes and heroines.

And by cultivating this energy, she shall one day go back. Back to the world she was born as ‘Emilia’ in, and face the so-called heroine once more.

The second time they meet, Emilia won’t be the one drowning in regret!

...

Author's Note: The heroines are not just trophies she’s collecting, only to be forgotten once she collects them. Each of them will remain relevant throughout the story. And it won’t become a mess, promise!

Carry a full belly, her husband brings another woman home and even wants to kick her out!

Tragically dying and reincarnated, she is determined to escape, yet he relentlessly pursues: “Dare to flee, I’ll search the entire city, find that woman within 48 hours!”

He’s arrogantly domineering, turning his hand he treats her as insignificant, reversing his hand she’s the treasure held in his palm.

She scoffs: “Stay away from me, we’re already divorced!”