Please Be Patient, Grand Duke - Chapter 76.2

“No one looks at you. No one touches you. You’re a Whitehall now... And you’re mine.” Roman’s voice was a low, dangerous growl against her neck.She tilted her chin, meeting the predator in his eyes with her own cold fire. “I belong to no one, Roman, certainly not a beast in a jersey. If you want to claim me, you’ll have to do better than your father’s signature on a contract.”She spun her wheelchair to leave, but he was faster. His hand locked around her waist, dragging her back as his palm slammed against the wall beside her head.“Don’t you fucking dare me, Estelle.”—Estelle Rutledge was the Ice Queen of the Rutledge sports dynasty: national treasure, global brand, and the financial backbone of her family’s empire.Until one catastrophic crack on the ice shattered her career… and left her in a wheelchair.In the elite world of the one percent, a broken asset becomes a liability.With the Rutledge legacy collapsing under a mountain of debt, Estelle’s own mother did the unthinkable. She sold her daughter to the highest bidder, trading Estelle’s freedom for a check from Magnus Whitehall, the ruthless billionaire owner of a professional hockey empire.But Magnus didn’t buy Estelle for himself. He bought her to be his son’s leash.Roman Whitehall is the NHL’s most dangerous beast. A volatile heir with a scandal-soaked reputation and a temper that threatens the family’s billions. To the league’s board, he’s a loose cannon. To his father, he’s a problem that needs a wife to clean up his image.The command was simple: “Be the one thing he can’t avoid… or lose your legs.”Now Estelle is legally bound to a man who sees their marriage as a cage, and her as the bars holding him in. Roman believes she’s a fragile burden. Estelle thinks he’s a monster fueled by rage and secrets.But inside the Whitehall mansion, built on power, money, and lies, Estelle discovers a terrifying truth: she is not the first “Ice Queen” Magnus Whitehall has broken.Trapped in dynasty politics and a contract signed in blood, Estelle faces an impossible choice. Will she let the Whitehalls destroy what’s left of her… or join forces with the beast she hates most and burn their empire to the ground?Because even though she hates it, Roman Whitehall may be the only man who can help her stand again.Even if he has to break her first.

Content Advisory: Some scenes may be intense or disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.Three hundred years ago, in the Empire of Elarion, the Goddess of Resentment, Khaeren, cursed humanity for their greed of power and lust while the Goddess of Healing, Mirath, blessed certain souls with the power to heal.Duke Alaric Davenmore, a famed swordsman, is tasked with leading a unit to fight the monsters born from this ancient curse along with his twin brothers Lyric and Sylas, and the youngest prince Cael. In search of a healer, they find Soren, a quiet commoner persuaded by a friend to apply. But they only see him not as a true healer—only a substitute.Even as an exceptional healer, not only did the nobles ignore but even the temple doesn't want a commoner inside their sacred ground.Soren cannot feel physical pain, but his heart carries a lifetime of emotional wounds. As they fight monsters and face the dangers of the empire, will their differences keep them apart, or will they finally acknowledge the feelings they've been trying to ignore?And for Soren, who has never truly felt before—will he finally discover what it means to be healed, or sink deeper into the abyss within his heart?

35000+ Words Before Lock.THE SLAYER ASCENSION.....In a world where saints are worshipped and demons are hunted, power decides who is holy… and who is damned.I am both.A contradiction.A human blessed by divinity…yet bound to a demon that never sleeps and craves blood.Hunted by demons.Feared by the saints.Watched by beings far older than gods.There is only one way forward…Ascension through slaughter.Every demon I kill drags me further from humanity.Every miracle I wield pushes me closer to damnation.The devil believes he doesn’t feel fear.I will make him prove himself wrong.This is no hero’s story.No one survives untouched.Because this is…THE SLAYER ASCENSIONCheck out the author note in the auxillary chapter before reading, it will clarify few things.

Arriving in a fantasy Otherworld, Gauss obtains an Adventurer's Handbook that grows stronger the more monsters he slays and collects. Gauss originally thought he was embarking on a classic adventure to defeat the Giant Dragon, kill the Devil, and save the kingdom. Yet, seeing goblins breeding like pests and multiplying endlessly, along with the fast-growing kill count and rewards in the Monster Atlas, his face grows increasingly helpless...“You have slain 1000 goblins! Intelligence +1, Strength +1, Constitution +1.”“The title 'Goblin Slayer' has upgraded to 'Goblin Expert'. You are an expert on goblins; few know better than you how to kill them.”“...”“The title 'Goblin Expert' has upgraded to 'Goblin Star Destruction'.”