Unrivaled Martial Emperor - Chapter 24 - Drawing the Flames onto Himself

Ji Nai-tang paid attention to Cen Muqi for 12 years. This secret love had been hidden in his heart. When he finally couldn’t hide it, he sent himself in front of Cen Muqi, pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger and step by step planning to trap the golden thigh.

Ji Nai-tang: It is not that I look good, it is that you make me look good.

Cen Muqi: It turns out that it is important to have a boyfriend who will take pictures.

Ji Nai-tang: But you are not my boyfriend~

Cen Muqi: Can I apply for it?

Ji Nai-tang: What are you applying for?

Cen Muqi: Applying to be your boyfriend!

- Description from Novelupdates

Her previous life was pitiful. Soon after her birth, her father abandoned his wife and daughter for his first love and left for the city. Her mother left her at her grandmother's house, being indifferent to her suffer, and even schemed to marry her to her couin's lover. What's more, after escaping to the city, she was betrayed by her stepmother and stepsister, being stolen one of her kidneys! Without knowing the truth, she mistook them as benefactors, serving them just as a maid. She later found the truth and accidentally acquired a special space, enjoying good life for about two years before dying suddenly and inexplicably.After being reborn, she strived to avoid the pitfalls of her former life, yet was nearly overwhelmed by the truth when she discovered it.It turned out that the stepmother she hated most was actually her biological mother, and the person she most respected in her former life was actually her father.In her previous life, she had never been in love, and she was uninterested after her rebirth until she inadvertently stumbled upon love and extreme doting.In his previous life, he was also pitiable, but later became extremely wealthy. In this life, because of her, he became even more domineering.

When the enigmatic and overpowered Kieran Drayke awakens in a foreign magical world after a sudden transmigration, he brings along a system unlike any this realm has ever known. The “Sovereign Architect System” doesn’t just make him invincible—it gives him the tools to build something far greater.But Kieran isn’t interested in world domination. At least, not in the usual way.Disillusioned by the world's surface-level glimmer and the rot beneath it, Kieran sets his sights on the forsaken—those discarded by society, lost in the shadows of nobility and corruption. From slums, war zones, and forgotten ruins, he gathers orphan girls of various races—elves, beastkin, humans, and more—each with untapped potential and pain behind their eyes.He trains them in secret. Guides them. Empowers them. Not as soldiers, but as a family. A hidden organization that operates behind the curtains, shaping the world while appearing as ordinary students at the prestigious Aetherion Magic Academy.Kieran himself? Just a carefree, slightly lazy transfer student with a penchant for sweets, sarcasm, and sneaking naps between classes—on the surface, at least.With a slow-burning plot that weaves magical worldbuilding, deep friendships, training arcs, casual comedy, and a cast of unforgettable girls who grow into queens of the unseen, Chronicles of the Hidden Crown explores what happens when an OP MC doesn’t conquer the world with brute force…But builds a legacy from its forgotten pieces.No betrayal. No forced drama. Just the steady rise of a secret kingdom in the shadows of a crumbling empire.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”“Tell you what, Richard? What would you have done?”“I don’t know. Apologized sooner? Bought you a burger to make up for it?”Her eyes lit up with fire, “You think what you did to me… you think a burger can make up for it?” her eyes twinkled like she was fighting tears. Did I hurt her that badly? I was just a foolish teenager.“Nita, I am sorry. I was young, I was stupid. I wish I could take it all back and tell you how I feel instead of being a constant jerk to gain your attention.”“How did you feel that would justify what you did to me?”I paused for a minute, finding the words. “I had a huge crush on you at the time. And I didn’t know how to express myself. I was full of myself, I was the school’s ladies' man and the one girl I had eyes for didn’t even care if I existed,” “And that justified what you did to me? Richard, you broke me. I can forgive you for ‘accidentally’ spilling your ice cream on me, or throwing my due assignment in the toilet, or the gum in my hair, or the glue in my chair but tell me how can I forgive you for what you did that night? Tell me!”“What night? Nita, what are you talking about?”“Remember when you asked me if I knew who sexually assaulted me?”I nodded, but what does that have to do with anything? The more we spoke, the more confused I became.“You did and I cannot believe that you would stand there and pretend like it didn’t happen!”Nita has spent years trying to forget the torment she endured at the hands of Richard. When her family’s financial ruin forces her into an arranged marriage, she is horrified to find out the groom himself was her bully.Richard, a charming and successful businessman meets the first woman to be repulsed by him. Intrigued, he proposes a deal of a one year marriage of convenience.Navigating life as a couple, old wounds reopen, buried memories surface. As Richard learns more about his wife, he finds that he has enemies that followed him from his past to continuously cloud his wife’s judgement.Will Nita believe the truth and bury old wounds or will the pain of the past prove too strong to heal?