Captive Mate BL - Chapter 43: + - +

“Just once, I want to make it through the first stage of screening…”

Despite being betrayed by her boyfriend, the neglected heiress Lariette Elsher is still forced to marry him – all because her family wants to appease the fake daughter. The one she was switched at birth with.Screw this! She's done playing nice!Devasted and enraged, Lariette seeks her friend's help – to pick the best man at her butler cafe to be her contracted husband.Enter Ruediger Alvord, infamously known as the poor outcast of the Alvord family, the Elsher's family nemesis. He proposes to be Lariette's partner-in-crime, to wreak havoc in both families.While Lariette is busy getting her revenge, she fails to notice her contracted husband's strange behavior. She also fails to recognize him from a distant past.Before>Ruediger: I have nothing much on my name but, I can be a good househusband.Lariette: It's okay. I can feed you.After>Ruediger: Do you want that house? It's nothing much. Only one billion.Lariette: Aren't you just... a househusband?Since when is her husband a billionaire?!

Noel likes his world quiet, clean, and perfectly organized. He’s the kind of guy who alphabetizes his books, avoids eye contact, and considers a wild night one where he reads past midnight. Drama? Not his thing. Parties? Pass. Sharing a dorm with a chaotic stranger? Just another obstacle to endure—hopefully, temporarily.Enter Luca: flirtatious, chaotic, and chronically shirtless. A walking disaster with too many admirers and not enough awareness, he leaves messes—and broken hearts—wherever he goes. Loud, reckless, and charming, he’s everything Noel can’t stand… and somehow, everything he can’t stop noticing.What starts as a clash of lifestyles soon turns into late-night conversations, innocent pranks, and lingering stares. Somewhere between eye rolls and shared ramen, their rivalry begins to blur—until even Noel can’t deny his quiet little world feels empty without Luca.Noel wonders why his heart skips a beat whenever Luca’s near. And Luca? He’s realizing the one person who doesn’t fall for his charm might be the only one who truly sees him.Falling in love was never part of the roommate agreement—but hearts don’t follow house rules.---Vibes & Tropes:Grumpy x SunshineForced ProximityMutual Pining & Slow BurnSass, Snark, and Secret SoftnessMovie nights, pranks, cuddles, and the accidental love story

“You really want me to save people?”

Looking at the shivering victim in front of him,

Look at the [Owl’s Head Wire], [The Murderer’s Gift], [Universal Anesthetic], [Invisible Potion] in the item column…

Shiraishi touched the hideous mask on his face and fell into deep thought.

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“The Salary Thief in the Distillery”

“What does the vest do to me have anything to do with it?”

“There are limits to being a human being, I choose to be a cat…”

The magic version of Conan

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