An Empress's Return to the Present: The Real Young Lady's Strong Comeback - Chapter 428: Not Exposed

Following her attempted assassination, Fatima found herself amidst a meticulously staged slave auction orchestrated by her mysterious rescuers in the capital city of a prospective ally empire. Now a slave of the Kartier Duchy, her life as a princess seems far behind her as she spends her days toiling the farms under the scorching sun. Just when all hopes seem to be lost, Fatima’s painful days eased upon meeting the strikingly handsome heir of the Kartier duchy along with his cold and seemingly gruff knight. Will she ever overcome the shackles of slavery and return home to reclaim her title or will spend the rest of her life enduring the cruel treatments of the duchess? Torn between a charming heir and a dubious knight as her potential escape routes, which hand will she grasp?

The more ruthless the Palace is, the more miserable the loser will end up—this he understands. But what he does not understand is, why the brother whom he lived together with peacefully in the past, would so heartlessly humiliate him today. Asking him to beg for mercy, asking him to succumb to his knees, and even… asking him to tactfully entertain him. “Yong Shan, ah, Yong Shan, as of today you are the one who qualifies to succeed as a Crown Prince, what exactly is it that you want?”

For the past 16 years, Yong Qi’s gaze was never set on him. Despite being twins with his younger brother, Yong Lin, Yong Qi has always been directing his smile and laughter towards Yong Lin, and to him, Yong Qi deliberately alienates him. He does not understand, they have the same features and looks, and he obviously is his brother too, but why won’t he be intimate with him… as if he is humiliating him. “Yong Qi, ah, Yong Qi, why won’t you understand, what I want is very simple…”

- Description from Novelupdates

Power runs in blood - and blood always demands payment.Aya rules the North Kingdom with an ancient power that could end her bloodline forever. When Killan, the Southern King, seeks alliance through marriage, politics turn dangerous and desire becomes a liability.What begins as political maneuvering soon becomes something far more volatile. Drawn together by necessity, respect, and a growing attraction neither expected, Aya and Killan must navigate court intrigue, ancient rivalries, and the heavy cost of duty. As old wounds resurface and war looms on every border, the choices they make will determine not only the fate of their kingdoms—but the price of their hearts.Echoes of Ice and Iron is a story of power and inheritance, of love tested by obligation, and of sacrifices demanded by crowns forged in blood and history.

Yeho is a distant relative to a king in a small kingdom. Even though he is a distant relative, his house was very poor, and his mother was addicted to gambling. One day North Empire asked for Princess Sooyoung to be a concubine of an old Emperor because she was known for her beauty. But the king really loved his daughter so instead he ordered Yeho’s older sister to disguise as Princess Sooyoung and marry the old Emperor.

Yeho told his sister to run away with her lover, and his sister had to leave her younger brother alone with his mother. After she ran away, Yeho asked his mother to give the things back to the king that she got for trying to sell her daughter, but his mother already used the gifts to pay off her gambling debt. He was trying to give the gifts back to the king to take away his order, but now he can’t do that anymore. He tells his mother to run away, and he disguises as his sister to go to North Empire.

After he got there, he was trying to tell the Emperor the truth and take away his life, but the Emperor went out for few days to look around his empire. When the emperor came back, he wasn’t as old as he thought.