Tainted will - Chapter 31 Danger Lurking In The Shadows

Elara’s first life crashed hard. Cruel tricks ruined her name, broke her dreams, and turned the whole entertainment world against her. Friends betrayed her. Lovers sold her out. Everyone she trusted stabbed her in the back. The pain piled up until she felt trapped with no way out. One night, she couldn’t take it anymore. She walked to the river and ended it all in the cold, quiet water.Later, proof came out. Messages. Recordings. Everything showed she had been framed. People posted apologies online. But it was too late. She was already gone.The universe, though, clearly has a twisted sense of humor.Because somehow, Elara came back. She woke up in her own past, every awful memory still sharp in her head. Right then she made a promise she would never break: protect her gentle grandfather no matter what, and never let anyone push her to that dark place again.This time she steps into the entertainment world with her head high. She trains harder, sings better, fights smarter. The same people who once crushed her? Now they get to feel the pressure.Love? Not happening. Her heart is locked tight. But why is it that as she rises and shines brighter, handsome, powerful men start circling her—guys who never even glanced at her in her previous life were now hovering around her.The actor smiled at her during a press interview, leaned closer, and said softly, “We should have dinner sometime.”The footballer sent flowers so big they blocked her room door.The surgeon she met at a charity event checked her pulse and then forgot to let go of her wrist.The singer she collaborated with kept calling her name during rehearsals, as if the mic could not hear him well enough.Elara stared at the ceiling that night and sighed.She only wanted to sing. Why did everyone look like they wanted to adopt her, date her, or both?But the worst one came after the concert.The lights had just gone off. Her ears were still ringing. Sweat clung to her neck. She had barely stepped backstage when a shadow blocked her path.She looked up.The CEO of the greatest company in Aurelia stood there. The same man who once said her voice was “not worth investing in.” The same man who did not even know her name before rebirth.Now he held her wrist lightly, but firmly.“Let’s talk,” he said.Elara blinked. “About… sponsorship?”“No,” he replied calmly. “About marriage.”Her brain froze.“…What?”“I will give you everything,” he continued, as if asking for a glass of water. “Resources. Protection. Freedom to sing. Become my wife.”Elara stared at him, her mouth open, her thoughts running in circles.This was not how it was supposed to be.Why was the world now skipping steps?NB:This story takes place in a fictional world. Aurelia is a country. Solmere, Veston, and Starfall City are the three capital cities of Aurelia. Other cities, such as Lorien and Crelou, are smaller cities.

The genius pharmacist transmigrated into a pitiful farm girl’s body. Ignored by her own father, abused by her stepmother, and bullied by her stepbrothers. Her “twin” brother was given to distant relative and she went as the “extra” to live under someone else’s roof.

Luckily she possessed mad apothecary skills. Collecting herbs, plowing herb fields, formulating medicines and treating the ills, she refused to live an ordinary life as she slowly uncovered the truth of her real identify.

Inadvertently, she saved a dashing man who was in reality a big, bad wolf hiding under the skin of an innocent little puppy. He pulled out all his tricks: I have no other means to return your favor of saving my life. What say I repay you by marrying you?

- Description from Novelupdates

“The stronger the weapon you awaken, the greater your chance of survival.”That’s the law on Mars, humanity’s last refuge after Earth fell.After the mysterious death of the Red Space Dragon, the most powerful of its kind, the surviving dragons tore through Earth in a brutal war, each hunting the lost source of its power. Half the planet was scorched in their wake… and in the chaos, Gavin died. Crushed under rubble. His girlfriend was slaughtered. His dog too.Both gone.But death wasn’t the end.He awakens on mars - into the future, years later, in a new body. Stronger. Sharper. Not entirely human and with the new name; Tatehan.Mars, now colonized by desperate human survivors, is a harsh, dystopian, dangerous world ravaged by wild Martian beasts and alien threats. And here, power is everything.Survival depends on awakening ancient weapons — divine swords, elemental guns...But Tatehan awakens something else entirely, the lost spaceship of the Red Space Dragon.A sentient vessel. Alien. Unimaginably powerful.The ship grants him access to a mysterious system that unlocks alien powers, not all at once, but only through extraordinary feats.[You have awakened your first ability: Gravity Manipulation — Level One]Armed with this force, Tatehan will battle monsters, rival factions, and godlike threats.He will journey to Venus, Pluto, and Saturn’s moons.And from the ashes of Gavin’s past, he will rise, now as Tatehan, not just to survive, but to become a legend feared across the galaxy.

“Ah, Young Master, Cassius?...I'm afraid you'll be dissapointed to hear that he's not available at the moment as he's 'attending' to his adopted mother in her room.”Cassius's lovely maid, Isabelle said in a fluster while she heard lewd sounds escape from her Mistress's room.“No, I'm sorry to say that you can't meet Young Master today, since he's 'helping out' his sister-in-law with some 'favours' in her garden.” The innocent Isabelle excused herself as she witnessed her lady's flower being picked, instead of the rest of the flowers in the garden.“I hate to say this sir but Young Master, Cassius is currently guiding Miss Knight in the 'ways of the sword', so you can probably only meet him tomorrow.” Isabelle once again blocked the guests from entering, knowing that the sword her Young Master was handling could penetrate a body, but could never wound one.“I apologise once again as Young Master is at the Capital right now teaching a class to the female students in the Academy.” Isabelle said with her cheeks flushed, already knowing that her master was taking a very 'practical' lesson about human reproduction with the girls in his class.“Oh my! The King wants to meet the Young Master?...Well I guess he'll have to wait since Young Master, Cassius has gone clothes shopping with the Queen.” Isabelle lied to the King himself, knowing that her Young Master wasn't shopping for clothes and was actually removing the royal clothes off the Mother of the Country.Excuses...Excuses...The loyal maid, Isabelle had no choice but to make excuses for her Young Master, who was the most talked about and hated noble on the Continent because of his depraved escapades with all sorts of woman ranging from his own Family to Royalty itself and his Tyranical rule over his estate.And to think that not too long ago he was considered a wastrel noble, who was going to drink himself to death one day....When did it all begin she wondered as she excitedly walked into his room to get the reward she deserved for being such a loyal made, while someone else made excuses for her this time.•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•[No NTR - No Yuri - No sharing - No system that assists the protagonist - No mind control - No drugs or potions that influence the girls - No unnecessary Drama - Incest - Harem - Hardcore Netori - Slice of Life Romance - Demigirls - Elves - Vampires - Beast Girls - Slaves - Royalty - Finally a very competent protagonist]