The Illegitimate Flame: Bride of Ashes - Chapter 2 - 0- Janet

[If you enter the deep forest, you will be eaten by the shadows.

The shadows of the forest move when a person is not looking.

There is a shadow that mimics people in the deep forest.

The shadow of the forest speaks.]

Rosaline, of the Knights of the White Night, had gone missing after being attacked by enemy forces during a hunting contest.

However, she was found unconscious, badly injured, and lying beneath the cliff.

Rosaline, who woke up a few days later, seemed to have severe memory loss. It was difficult for her to speak even simple words.

She was found walking barefoot, in her pajamas, talking informally here and there. She would even pick up food off the floor!

She’s a strange girl no matter how you look at her. Is that really Rosaline?

In a world where Lycans and werewolves are sworn enemies, Eve Valmont is a werewolf cursed by a prophecy and framed. Betrayed by her own pack and imprisoned for years, her fate takes a darker twist when she is offered to the Lycan King, Hades Stavros—a ruler feared for his ruthless conquests and deadly prowess. Bound by an ancient prophecy and haunted by the ghosts of her past, Eve is now at the mercy of the one being she should hate and fear the most—The Hand of Death himself.Hades, a king carved from blood and his own soul's decay, determined to avenge his family's slaughter and rid his people of the werewolves. He believes Eve is the key to his victory. To him, she is nothing but weapon foretold by prophecy, a tool he will wield to destroy the opposing forces threatening his pack. Yet, he finds himself craving this powerful yet broken woman. Leaving him questioning if she is truly his weapon or the one destined to unravel his carefully laid plans.***He stalked toward me, a predator closing in on its prey, his eyes dark and unreadable. “So, you laugh?” His voice was low, dangerously soft, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.I swallowed hard, suddenly aware of how difficult it had become to breathe. “Hades, I—”“But you only laugh at other men's jokes,” he interrupted, his gaze piercing, devoid of any humor. “Not your husband's.” The accusation in his tone was sharp, slicing through the air between us.A nervous chuckle escaped me. “You can't be serious... He’s your beta, for Goddess’ sake.”In an instant, he closed the distance between us, so fast it left me breathless. His hands gripped my waist, pulling me flush against his body, the heat of him making my skin tingle. I gasped, but before I could say a word, his lips crashed onto mine, claiming my mouth with a force that sent shockwaves through me. The kiss was punishing, hungry—I couldn't breathe, couldn't think.When he finally pulled back, I was trembling, my chest heaving as I struggled to regain my breath. His eyes, dark and stormy, searched mine with a possessive intensity. “You can’t laugh at my jokes...” he whispered, his voice a dangerous rasp as his fingers trailed lower, sending a shiver down my spine, “but you’ll come with my fingers.”I shivered, heat pooling low in my belly at his words, his touch. The world around us blurred, fading into nothing as his hand slipped lower, drawing a ragged gasp from my lips. The look in his eyes told me he knew exactly what he was doing to me, and there was no denying the primal connection between us in that moment.“I don’t need your laughter,” he murmured against my skin, his breath hot on my neck. “I’ll have every other part of you instead.”

With his engagement at hand, the most terrifying and legendary person of the legal world, Fu Huai’an, returns with a son.

Before the engagement…

He asks, “Since you love Wen Moshen, why are you in my bed?”
She says, “Because I cannot watch idly as Wen Moshen’s woman enters an engagement with you.”

With a cigarette in Fu Huai’an’s mouth, he crosses his legs. Across the light cloud of smoke, he squints his eyes—watching as Lin Nuan’s slim arms wrap around his neck; he feels stirred.

So a person can love another so passionately.

“You call what you did a kiss?”
“…”
“What a pure lady!”

Fu Huai’an spews out a cloud of smoke and snuffs out the cigarette. With a mellow voice, he says, “Let me teach you what kissing is!”

But, what he teaches Lin Nuan doesn’t seem to be only a kiss…

- Description from Novelupdates

In a peaceful, utopian Earth, a young man is born cursed by the will of the heavens. One day, he awakens… and uncovers the hidden world of the High Humans—the most powerful beings on the planet. His superpower? A rare support ability with healing powers… or is it? From that moment on, a healer who devours lives to grow stronger, just like the worst demons, is born. *** This is a story about superpowers in a distant future, where Earth hides unimaginable secrets. It’s also a journey across universes, filled with battles and discoveries. The protagonist isn’t a genius or a trained warrior. He’s just an ordinary man who faced dark times and watched his life be consumed by the abyss. But now, he has a chance to change everything. Step by step, he will learn why to fight—and how to survive.