MTL - Tomb Raider: Storytelling and Writing, The Mystic Nine is Confused - Chapter 196

It’s been 11 years since I’ve lived for others and not for me.

The moment I cried out wanting to get away from my exhausting life, I opened my eyes in the body of some Count’s 20-year-old daughter.

Since this happened, I decided to live my life freely as a single woman.

But…

“I need a lady to act as my fake wife for a certain period of time.”

“A contract marriage?”

“The term is one year. When the time is up, I’ll give you divorce with no strings attached.”

The Duke of the Empire whom I had happened to meet at a ball was hitting on me.

Turns out he’s no other than the Emperor’s beloved brother, Duke Scade!

Hold on, it’s just going to end in a clean divorce with no strings attached?

“You should also give me alimony. Give me one of the best lands of the Ducal household with 10 years’ worth of profit.”

“…..What?”

“If you don’t want to do that, then we cannot get married.”

This time I’m going to live a life taking care of the things I need first!

***

“I’ll escort you since it’s late.”

Where to? My bedroom is just around the corner.

“Tonight, I’ll do my best.”

No, I don’t need you to do that.

“Did you just look at that man?”

Excuse me, Duke, you said it’s for a limited time only, so why do you keep obsessing over me?

《Live Action Murder Mystery》Case File:

Global mutation, the game descends into reality, and humanity enters an era of universal job change!Qin Xian starts as a classic villain, born into an ambitious villainous family, willing to use any means necessary to achieve his goals, even at the cost of overthrowing the entire empire!From the outset, he aims to hunt down the Son of Luck, destroy his future, take his goddess, and kill his parents, forming a deep-seated blood feud.The Son of Luck vows revenge! But Qin Xian doesn’t care at all.Who says the villain will inevitably be defeated by justice? Who says the villain must be a stepping stone for the Son of Luck?In this life, Qin Xian will rise as a villain, stepping over the bones of the Son of Luck, ascending to the pinnacle, achieving the ultimate supremacy, and use the gods as his chess pieces.He intends to write the perfect villainous life.

It's simple. A vengeful wildfire of a woman. A tyrant who begs to be burned.When Aria crashes into Kael’s empire, hellbent on making him pay for taking her job away, she’s met not with defiance—but a dare. “You want revenge?” he taunts, voice dripping with dark invitation.“Then ruin me. Take your pound of flesh exactly where it hurts.” His proposition is a trap laced with sin: As expected he calls the shots in his bed, her contempt is his twisted aphrodisiac.“Hate me until your hands shake,” he growls. “But do it on top of me, where I can watch you savor every cut.”Their arrangement is a collision of dominance and delirium. Aria wields her fury like a blade, determined to break him. Kael? He thrives under her wrath, goading her darker, deeper, hungrier.But vengeance turns slippery when every command she hisses ignites his obedience, and every cold glare melts into bruising kisses. Soon, the bed becomes a battleground—her nails carving victory into his skin, his whispers a serpent’s promise: “Chain me with your rage, darling. I’ll still come back for more.”The rules are simple: No mercy. No surrender. But as their games spiral into something ravenous, who’s destroying whom? And when hatred burns this hot, what’s left when the ashes cool?