Contract Marriage: I Will Never Love You - Chapter 18: Means to an End

When the enigmatic and overpowered Kieran Drayke awakens in a foreign magical world after a sudden transmigration, he brings along a system unlike any this realm has ever known. The “Sovereign Architect System” doesn’t just make him invincible—it gives him the tools to build something far greater.But Kieran isn’t interested in world domination. At least, not in the usual way.Disillusioned by the world's surface-level glimmer and the rot beneath it, Kieran sets his sights on the forsaken—those discarded by society, lost in the shadows of nobility and corruption. From slums, war zones, and forgotten ruins, he gathers orphan girls of various races—elves, beastkin, humans, and more—each with untapped potential and pain behind their eyes.He trains them in secret. Guides them. Empowers them. Not as soldiers, but as a family. A hidden organization that operates behind the curtains, shaping the world while appearing as ordinary students at the prestigious Aetherion Magic Academy.Kieran himself? Just a carefree, slightly lazy transfer student with a penchant for sweets, sarcasm, and sneaking naps between classes—on the surface, at least.With a slow-burning plot that weaves magical worldbuilding, deep friendships, training arcs, casual comedy, and a cast of unforgettable girls who grow into queens of the unseen, Chronicles of the Hidden Crown explores what happens when an OP MC doesn’t conquer the world with brute force…But builds a legacy from its forgotten pieces.No betrayal. No forced drama. Just the steady rise of a secret kingdom in the shadows of a crumbling empire.

Liola—the best assassin in his world—has vowed to kill no more. He was being chased by an assassination organization when he accidentally dropped into a parallel universe: through a dimensional gate and into poor teenager Kaiser’s apartment. Instead of going to the government shelter for lost dimensional travelers, Liola and Kaiser wind up going to school together.

Liola has been trying his best to live the life of an ordinary person, but after certain things happen one after the other, he begins to realize that being an ordinary person could be harder than being an assassin.

“In a land far to the east, there exists a strange store that has rejected a three Michelin star rating multiple times.

The prices are expensive. A combo set of soup and egg fried rice costs 288 RMB. Oh, I forgot it also includes a side dish of pickles. Even so, very many people line up to wait.

That place does not accept reservations. It only lets in people who are waiting in line there. Countless people make special trips to line up there. Of course, there’s nowhere to park planes or cars.

Their service is so terrible, the customers have to serve their own dishes and grab their own bowls and chopsticks, and they even have to wipe down their own tables! God, the boss is simply crazy.”

—《 Michelin Gourmet Magazine》

- Description from Novelupdates

At 22 years of age, Shen Qian Ling won his first Best Male Lead award.

Afterwards just as he, holding the award, was moved to tears, a piece of the ceiling fell down loudly, and accurately hit his head without mistake.

And afterwards he just…..traveled through time!

Qin Shao Yu: If Ling-er is willing, Zhui Ying sect can have the wedding anytime.

Shen Qian Ling: To be honest, I am extremely reluctant about this.

- Description from Novelupdates