Nova Roma - Chapter 36 - Adapting to life in the city

WARNING!-DARK ROMANCE-“Why do you have scars?” All of sudden, Iris changed the topic, as she looked at Cane in the eyes. She was still clutching to his sleeves.“Your father gave me,” Cane replied. He thought, Iris wouldn’t remember this conversation when she woke up.“That must be so painful.”“They are.”“Will the scars heal?”“I don’t think so.”The night indeed made you vulnerable and let you said something that you would never admit when it was bright. The obscurity softened your heart.“Too bad. You have a warm soul.” Iris frowned slightly.“I no longer have a soul.” He had sold his soul for the freedom of his people. There was nothing left of him right now.“Yes, you have, but you are in so much pain.” Iris blinked her eyes. “Your beast is in pain. You have so many scars.”“The only scars that I have is on my face.”Iris shook her head meekly. “I am not talking about your face. I am talking about your soul. Too bad, you are in so much pain… what my father and brother had done to you must be painful…”And after that, Iris closed her eyes and fell asleep.======================She is the daughter of an alpha who has killed his family, razed his pack and has also made his people slaves.Now, he has achieved revenge after ten years of being treated as a slave and was living a life that no one would ever imagine. Life akin to hell.And ten years later, Alpha Cane manages to take over and kill the alpha who has made the lives of his people worse than death.It was time for him to make the children of the alpha pay for what their father had done.Only…Iris was a runt and she was very different from her father.

Tang Qiu was a substitute bride–forced to take her half-sister’s place and marry the young master of the Jiang family, a deformed cripple with less than 6 months left to live.

“Who would have thought that even a sickly whelp like Jiang Shaocheng would find himself a bride?”

“I hear that he’s practically on his deathbed and he’s only marrying the Fengs’ daughter to improve his lifespan.”

Tang Qiu ignored the whispers around her and focused on her husband-to-be, who coughed violently in his wheelchair. At the altar, after they had said their vows, she lifted her veil and knelt in front of Jiang Shaocheng, pressing a hesitant kiss to his lips.

The marriage contract was signed. No matter his physical deformities, he was now her husband.

She wasn’t afraid of the scars that marked his face, nor was she repulsed by him being confined to a wheelchair. Every morning, she made him breakfast, attended to his needs, and thought of little else beyond her duties as a wife.

“Young Master Jiang is a cripple who can’t get it up,” her best friend argued. “When he dies, you’ll still be untouched. You should set your sights higher.”

“A sickly invalid like Jiang Shaocheng can’t give you happiness,” her ex-boyfriend insisted. “I’ll wait for you.”

But Young Master Jiang only scoffed. “I have plenty of time left to be with her.”

Later in their marriage, Jiang Shaocheng wanted to enjoy his little wife in all ways–the press of her lips against his, the brush of skin on skin; the way a husband and wife were supposed to. But Tang Qiu refused him, blushing. “No, we can’t. The doctor says you can’t exert yourself.”

Jiang Shaocheng’s desire was surging through him, a heat in his core that demanded to be satiated. He cursed, I should have gotten rid of that doctor and the wheelchair long ago.

But he yearned to make love to his little wife, and so he revealed his true identity. In the blink of an eye, the deformed cripple transformed into a powerful businessman–tall, dark, and handsome. He quieted Tang Qiu’s protests, his body positioned over hers, his arms caging her as she lay on the bed. His voice was low when he asked, “What about now?”

Tangtang's greatest dream is to live a simple life with the people he loves the most, but even at an early age, he soon learned that life was never meant to be easy.His parents abandoned him to marry their new love.His boyfriend, whom he loved for five years, cheated and left him for his half-brother.Friends whom he genuinely treated like family mock and gossip behind his back.And the one person who had ever genuinely loved him, his grandmother, passed away because he was unable to provide her with the necessary medication.At the end, all the people he loved had left and abandoned him.What is he working for? Why does he need to study hard? Why does he need to suffer?Everything turned dull and became a regular routine for him to continue living.Until he learned to play around, the only excitement in his mundane life was having sex with different strangers that he met at a bar once a week.Unacceptable? Disgusting?Yes!But he started to get addicted to the warmth and sweetness that he could feel once in a while from people he didn't even know the names of.Is this the life he dreamed of?No.He knew that this was not the life he was supposed to have.He tried to oppose this so-called fate, but the more he did, the worse his life got.As the days and years passed, he started to accept this cycle.Until one day, he woke up in a new world.Is this a second chance bestowed upon him to achieve his dream?________________________.English is not my first language.Kindly comment if there is a wrong grammar or spelling.Thank you.Update Schedule: Tuesday & Friday

Renji Kurozawa was just another nobody—until he died and was reincarnated in a world of swords and magic. Summoned alongside other “Chosen Heroes,” he hoped for a second chance at life.But his gift was different. “Death Claim”—the power to steal abilities from those he kills.Betrayed by his allies and left for dead, Renji embraces his dark power. With every enemy he slays, he grows stronger, turning from a forgotten outcast into the most feared force in the kingdom.Now, hunted as a villain and pursued by gods, Renji must carve his own path—one kill at a time.If fate wants a monster, he’ll give them one.