Tome of Troubled Times - Chapter 61: Path Filled With Thorns

"When will people understand.... I'm only half insane?"

[COMPLETE] Can a royal Romeo and Juliet find their happy ending?

Ayleth, Princess of Zenithra, is secretly trained in hand-to-hand combat, and collects swear words she doesn't know how to use. During the Festival of Peace, in which every royal son on the continent will be at the castle for a month, she is instructed by her parents to find a husband. Yet, Ayleth has never even been kissed—until the very first ball, when she meets the man in the Lion mask.

Etan is a seasoned warrior, and the Prince of Summitras. He attends the Festival hoping to find a powerful wife who will help him conquer the dark sorcery of their bloodsworn enemies, the Kingdom of Zenithra. But at the very first ball, he discovers the masked woman who captures his heart is the Heir to the evil empire.

Ayleth and Etan face an impossible battle. Will their love survive? Or will their parents' dark dealings keep them apart forever?

[Mature content. No sexual violence.]

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“You…” She stepped back. Then back again, her mouth dropped open. “You… You cannot be…”

“I am,” Etan said, and his hair raked back as he pushed his mask off his handsome face. So handsome her heart raced.

His hair was ebony black, his skin a warm brown that threatened to fade in in the winter months. He stared at her with glittering green eyes, over high cheekbones and a noble nose, his jaw tight and shadowed this late in the day. His chin was high over the pillar of his neck that she’d just touched with its hard lines and steel strength, so different to her own. And his chest... She gasped and covered her eyes. She’d humiliated herself revealing her stupid, childish curiosity.

“No, Ayleth. This changes nothing.”

“How can you say that? It changes everything!” She was horrified to realize she was crying.

“Ayleth, please.” His voice cracked on the plea and she stared at him, shoving her mask up and off, despite how it would pull her hair out of the beautiful twist the maid had managed for her.

His eyes locked on hers and she couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe.

She had met her One. And he was the son of her bloodsworn enemy.

She stared at him as he stepped forward again, offering both hands, palm up. “Touch me,” he whispered. “Hold my hands. This is real, Ayleth. I don’t know how it happened, but this is real. Please don’t deny it.”

She couldn’t resist. She raised a trembling hand to his cheek, letting her palm catch on the scruff of his jaw. He blew out a breath and put his hand over hers, and that jolt that happened whenever they touched shivered through her again.

“Please, Ayleth.”

“I cannot deny it,” she whispered.

In her previous life, Jiang Yan's mother was murdered by her stepfather under the guise of celebrating their wedding anniversary with a trip abroad, and Jiang Yan herself, holding a huge inheritance, was locked by him in the basement of a villa and had one of her hands mangled. As natural disasters became more frequent and the apocalypse descended, the stepfather's family, hiding in the villa waiting for the apocalypse to pass, ultimately set their sights on Jiang Yan...With the opening of her eyes, Jiang Yan was reborn three months before the apocalypse. After activating her portable Space and successfully taking her revenge, she, now in possession of a massive amount of funds, started a global shopping spree: yachts, helicopters, off-road RVs, weapons, amphibious boats, necessities for clothing, food, shelter, and transport; everything from five-star delicacies to tasty street food hidden in remote corners... she bought and hoarded them all, bringing everything into her Space!Seeing that there was only one month left, Jiang Yan began a cramming-style learning binge: shooting! Flying planes! Driving boats! Hand-to-hand combat! Agricultural Planting! She even learned how to operate an excavator from the Red Xiang Technical School!In July, a double typhoon that caused seawater backflow starting from Japan marked the beginning of the apocalypse. A super high temperature wave followed right after, sweeping across the globe, along with torrential rains, earthquakes, pest infestations, extreme cold, nuclear contamination, mutation of animals and plants... one natural calamity after another ensued!While others fought over a packet of instant noodles or half a bottle of water, Jiang Yan was leisurely planting vegetables, raising fish, sitting comfortably in her safe house with air conditioning on, and enjoying her hot pot meal~PS. This entire story is fictitious.