Rise of the Crusader - Chapter 197 - 197 Forbidden Love

5 years after the world changed, the final boss appeared.

Heaven favors the strong and wealthy.Hex realized that the day he was thrown out of the cloister and into the slums. He vowed to become the baron and show what being strong meant.To forge his own destiny, Hex scavenged the mountains, braving the cold solitude with a smile. At last, one day, he gained his chance on the verge of life and death. Even then, society and Fate tried to interfere. Faced with death, his Will didn’t waver and he gritted through, forcing his Heart to awaken. The Stone Heart in his chest defied his destiny and helped him write his own.Emboldened by his Heart of Stone, he walked the path to his dreams. His dreams, however, threatened to put him in the middle of the crossfire between Powers that could destroy Earth and Sky. Hex couldn’t allow his dreams to shatter. So, he sought to destroy all those who threatened his dreams.Follow a young man on his quest to fulfill his dreams, even if it meant to destroy Heaven and Earth.

[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.]

******

“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 the year 2220, a radiation source in the Pacific Ocean, tens of thousands of times stronger than a nuclear bomb has begun mutating exposed creatures into horrific monsters thousands of meters long. Mankind’s only hope was nuclear weapons, which only made matters worse. The combination of the natural radiation and nuclear radiation released an incurable and highly infectious virus, turning the 90% of the world’s population into violent zombies in mere weeks.