Steel and Mana - Chapter 315 – Biplanes

A conversation with a handsome stranger leaves Ariane chained in a cellar with a strange affliction. She soon discovers that the darkness of the nineteenth century’s Deep South hides many dangers. Mages, wolf shifters and the humans who hunt them play a risky game where to stumble is to die, all under the amused gaze of the apex predators of the supernatural world: vampires.

It is never healthy to attract the gaze of the aristocracy of the night. It takes much to survive in this merciless world, but Ariane will not let that deter her. The southern belle has a bite, and she is willing to learn and to grow in this hostile new world. She will use whatever means necessary to reclaim her freedom, be it guile, charm, or those intriguing new instincts that make blood so delectable.

This is a story of vampires as I believe they should be, with their strengths and weaknesses, with their remnants of humanity and the beast inside. Updates every Friday. Mind the tags.

Cover by Antti Hakosaari: https://www.artstation.com/haco

Special thanks to Svensonsen for getting me started, as well as Omi Nya, Hesketh, Rhaegar, Yaksher, Selkie and Raven for proofreading my stuff. Thanks to my patrons and you dear readers, for the support. I could not do it without you.

Journey is on Amazon, both in ebooks and audio. here is a link to the first one:

https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08DK6G8Y8

The story probably exists in your local marketplace as well of I can tempt you.

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?!

People are inevitably troubled all their life by the things they couldn’t have when they were young, but if you were driving a Bentley in your youth, life would be like playing a game... ... ... In this era of information explosion, the struggles of ordinary people are like being placed under the spotlight, turning into monkey shows for entertainment displayed before everyone... However, while some people are watching for fun, even more are looking in a mirror... Gu Heng, who was pulled out of the mire by the system, began to experience the thrill of indulgence.

Trying to drown her sorrow with alcohol after her boyfriend hooked up with her sister, Ning Qing ran into the rich and powerful Lu Shaoming in a bar. “I need a wife,” Lu said, and the two got their marriage license.

Soon, she who became a pop star won many pretty boys’ hearts. Singlehandedly, he got rid of all her potential flings and acted innocent. Ning Qing bristled, “Lu Shaoming, what happened to staying out of each other’s private life which we talked about?” Turning the light out, he came over her and whispered, “Now our priority is to make a baby.”