The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 8

Sixty Years ago, one middle aged man brought a Qilin that looked like a pug and a mandarin duck that looked exactly like a duck, walking into the Imperial City of the Central Plains for the first time.

Billions have perished, leaving only a few million survivors.After his death, Eric is summoned to another world that has been nearly destroyed by corruption.The gods’ influence has all but vanished, and it is up to him to rally the remaining survivors, reclaim the land they lost, and restore the gods’ cathedrals.In doing so, he grows stronger, inching closer to awakening the gods from their eternal slumber.Time is running out.Not only are unimaginable abominations preparing to strike, but Eric faces a deadly challenge from within.His system, a mysterious force aiding him, comes with a dire warning:[WARNING][Each time the system responds, it consumes host essence. When essence runs out, the host’s soul will perish along with the system.][Recommendation: Communicate only when absolutely necessary.][Current essence: 940][1 essence = 1 word generated by the system.][Choose your next words wisely.]

After being torn from the only life she knew, 16-year-old Margo is forced into a new home with strangers who call themselves her parents. Haunted by memories of her past and consumed by feelings of isolation, she struggles to adapt to her unfamiliar surroundings. School offers little relief—until she meets Lucien, a mysterious boy who appears just when she needs a friend the most.Gabriel is everything Margo needs: kind, attentive, and always ready to whisk her away from her troubles. Each night, he invites her to secret places—an abandoned playground, a fog-choked garden, a crumbling train station at the edge of town—each more unsettling than the last. Yet with every chilling rendezvous, Margo feels more alive... more seen.But something isn’t right. Gabriel never comes to school during the day. Her adoptive parents never see him. And when they catch her talking to thin air, their concern deepens into fear. They say Gabriel isn't real—that he’s a figment of her imagination. Margo wants to believe them, but Gabriel feels real. More real than anything else in her life.As the nights grow colder and more twisted, Gabriel’s true nature begins to surface. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Time warps in his presence. And the places they visit seem to echo with whispers from another world. Margo is forced to ask herself: Who—or what—is Gabriel? Why does he only want her? And what will happen on the final night he asks her to come with him?As the line between reality and delusion begins to crumble, Margo must make an impossible choice: stay in a world where she feels loved, or return to one that barely feels real.But one thing is certain—some friendships never let go.

"I hope my wife liked the arrangements... for the wedding night."