The Runesmith - Chapter 528: Riding Dirty.

Theodora is the Queen of Polis, a city-state that lost the war against the most powerful empire in the continent.

She is sure that they'll execute her immediately but, somehow, she survives the meeting with the Emperor, and she finds herself... Married?

Tossed in a new world without connections and allies, she has to either accept her fate or lose the chance to help her people once again.

She soon finds out that her new husband knows more about her than she does herself, and that his purposes are often far from what she expects.

A fallen queen that doesn't know how to be anything else. A handsome Duke who's the cause of her ruin. And their efforts to find some happiness in a marriage that's been forced on them.

WARNING: there are contents not suitable for a sensitive audience.

The smut scenes are half-censored at the beginning, but the amount and details will increase after a few dozen chapters (according to the Queen's mood .-. )

***

«I'm sorry for lying to you, your grace...»

«You're a Duchess. No one will dare to consider your words a lie: if you say that you were painting souls, then it's the truth.»

«I will remember it.»

«No, you have to understand it, Theodora. You're not a prisoner, but my wife. I'll protect you when you need it, and I'll help you with any issue you have. You're not just a Duchess in the name. You're my Duchess.»

«It's hard to believe in such a short amount of time.»

«For now, stop shaking like a chicken. I won't hurt you.»

***

Qin Yu had lost both her parents when she was young and was all alone. Since then, she lived with her father’s comrade-in-arms.

Due to the huge inheritance that her father had left behind, her foster mother had attempted to murder her repeatedly. In order to survive, she could only pretend to be a mentally disabled child.

It wasn’t easy for her to reach adulthood, yet her foster mom wanted to marry her off to a powerful and influential family.

She heard that her fiancé was blind and had a violent personality.

However, no matter how ruthless he was, was he as ruthless as her foster mom?

In order to escape from this terrifying family, she decisively agreed to marry that person in her sister’s place.

Soon, news of a fool marrying a blind man spread like wildfire.

Their marriage had become the hottest laughing stock locally.

However, after she married him, she realized that everything was not what the rumors said.

Her husband was not blind at all, and he was not cruel. He was gentle and refined, and he treated her like a treasure.

And she wasn’t mentally deranged. She’d only pretended to be a fool to flee from her foster mom’s attempted murders.

What surprised her, even more, was that she had known her husband for a long time. A long time ago, they had been best friends online.

It was no wonder that her husband was as cold as ice to all women, lying that he was blind and unapproachable. But in front of her, he was as gentle as a lamb and did not hide anything.

“There is no god, only the echo of our fears, bound together in a symphony of false hope, woven to make this endless cycle of pain bearable... But I refuse to be just another note in their song. I will not be silenced to protect the gate you so desperately uphold. I don’t care for the blind masses; they are but shadows, moving without purpose. If I cannot run, I will walk. If I cannot walk, I will crawl. If I cannot crawl, I will roll. And if all that remains of me is a severed head, then I will still glare at you with the scorn of the relentless.”...In a world where Hunters fight to keep humanity safe from monstrous invasions, Timothy Walter is nothing more than an E-rank weakling, expendable, powerless, and barely surviving.That changes when a forgotten dungeon forces him into a deadly trial, awakening ancient rulers from across races.Bound to the weakest among them, he inherits a power unlike any other: “King Player.”Now, with a system that defies all logic, Timothy must carve his path, facing enemies both human and monstrous, as he ascends from the lowest depths to claim a throne none believed he could reach.

She was originally a puppet of her family. Pursued by the police for being a business spy and hitman, she was betrayed and fell into the sea.

When she opened her eyes again, she had turned into an ordinary high school student. Because of a disgraceful birth, she had been crowded out by her relatives. Because of inferiority complex and antisocial behavior, she was bullied by her classmates.

But now she is no longer someone who acts timid. Cheat her, and she will break your bones.

She possesses formidable Jade pupils capable of seeing through walls. Other people have difficulty breaking through jade, their sight for antiques is based on gambles, but she only needs a look.

An undertaking begins as she creates legends in the world of business.

Once upon a time, they laughed at her poor and destitute state. Now looking at her net worth of 10 billion, it can’t be explained.

To the relatives that come to hug her thighs, she must apologize: “We broke off relations long ago, so get lost!”