Castle of Black Iron - Chapter 1957 - The Sudden Arrival of Dark Clouds

"In this world, morality is but a thin line away from depravity, and the most captivating tales are often shrouded behind the veil of insanity."
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I was just an ordinary guy, living a dull and unremarkable life as an editor.

But when a maniac author killed me for rejecting his novel in a writing competition, I reopened my eyes in a modern fantasy world.

"Hmm? Wait, this world…."

But fate, being a prude little bitch, played a twisted joke on me.

I reincarnated into the very same novel that I rejected for the competition award, written by the very same author who killed me for it.

Not only that, but I transmigrated into the body of a disowned noble named Lucas Morningstar.

Lucas was a minor antagonist in a novel who served as a stepping stone for the protagonist and their allies.

Arghh….

Of all the people, I just had to be reborn as someone who was despised by the main characters the most at this point in the story?

B-But hey, with my knowledge of the future and understanding of the main characters, I can at least live an easy life!

Right...?

"Yeah, I can work with this!"

Or so I thought until I remembered the ending arcs of the book.

This world is destined for doom!

And not so long after, I started to realize that the novel and the world I transmigrated into might not be as similar as I had originally thought….

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[Disclaimer: Caution while reading is advised. Tighten your seatbelts and brace yourself for a bumpy rollercoaster-like journey. Don't blame the Author if you fall from your seat while reading a plot twist. Thank you.]
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AN: MC is NOT a villain, so don't expect one.

*The MC will seem a little bit (ok let's be honest, more than a little bit) foolish in the first 30-35 chaps but don't be fooled. I ask you to read till first 50 chaps before deciding to trash-talk the MC because that's where his borderline psychopathic strategist personality starts to surface.

[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.

She was transmigrated into a novel where she became the cannon fodder who abused the male lead and ultimately suffered her demise under said male lead. And to return back home, she had to obtain the city boundary map first.

Ye Mu doesn’t want to play a game! Now that she’s inside the book with such a plot, the only way around her death is to kill the male lead first and let this world collapse!

However, upon seeing a scraggly, skinny little boy whose brows were full of perseverance, her hand won’t move…

Well then, she would subdue the male lead’s tyrannical tendencies! How to do it? Raise the male lead and have him help her find the city boundary map? That’s a good idea!

Despite raising him properly, the male lead seems to have grown into a devious man who won’t listen to her. Moreover, he lures her over with the city boundary map.

“Do you want this or not? Then come to my bed.”

Her face was full of tears. Where was the promised honest and upstanding monarch? Does she have to raise him all over again?

The man smiles and pats her on the head, “Come on, stop crying. Wash and go to bed.”