The Archduke's Songbird - Chapter 252: Bernard’s Secret

For the ten years she was the adopted daughter of the Lockwood Family, Isla Prescott had always been well-behaved.The only time she stepped out of line was to have a secret relationship with Silas Lockwood, whom she'd had a crush on for years.Because of their vast difference in status, the relationship came to a messy end.After Isla Prescott and Silas Lockwood broke up, she was pursued by Silas Lockwood's good friend, Shane Sterling.“He doesn't know how to cherish you. Why not consider me instead?”In Isla Prescott's eyes, Shane Sterlingwas mischievous, cunning, and full of nonsense, yet he was an even more unattainable figure than Silas Lockwood.Isla Prescott was sure she had never provoked him, but he cornered her by the bedside when he was drunk,caressing her red lips again and again, pleading with her over and over, “Isla Prescott, won't you give me a kiss?”What she didn't know was that, in places she couldn't see, he had been waiting with deep affection for a very, very long time.

I found myself reincarnated into a game where you raise pretty girls to prevent the world’s destruction.But wait, what are the guys doing while the girls are busy saving the world?As it turns out, it’s a world where women are strong and men are weak.In a world that disregards men, I have to survive as a ‘man who wields a sword.’But… I’m incredibly strong, you know?

Ash Burn was just an ordinary gamer—an orphan scraping by in the real world—until he accomplished the impossible: beating the hardest VR game ever created, Apocalypse Online. But instead of the promised riches, he’s thrown into another world—one eerily familiar.It doesn’t take long for Ash to realize where he is: the chaotic, doomed universe of Heaven’s Favorite: Wrath of Gods, a novel he once read. Worse, he’s not the protagonist or even a supporting character.He’s just an extra.Armed with fragmented knowledge of the future, an unyielding will to survive, and the secrets of the Runes—mysterious power coveted by gods and demons alike—Ash must outmaneuver a reckless hero, power-hungry angels, and an inevitable war that threatens to consume everything.But as he treads the fine line between altering fate and unleashing chaos, he begins to realize something chilling: the endgame may not be as simple as he thought.In a world where survival hinges on power and cunning, can an ordinary extra change the fate of an entire world, or will he become just another casualty of destiny?Was he ever just an extra to begin with?Note: The image on the cover is not mine.

A thousand years ago, the world shattered.Mana surged into existence, rewriting reality itself. Dungeons tore through the land, birthing monstrous horrors, while beasts mutated under the influence of Primordial Ki, evolving into unstoppable apex predators. Humanity was on the brink of annihilation—until the Awakened emerged, wielding supernatural power to defy extinction.Yet, in this brutal new world, strength reigns supreme, and weakness is a death sentence.Amidst it all, Azvoid Larkson—a nameless figure among the countless struggling to survive—awakens a power beyond reason. A power tied to ancient, forgotten dragons—beasts feared even by the strongest Awakened.With each battle, he ascends. With every dragon he tames, his legend grows.In a world where only the strong thrive, how far can one man rise?