These Familiars Are Strange - Chapter 1: Familiar summoning

Seven billion humans living on the Earth time-traveled together after they had woken up one morning. They all heard a synthesized female voice.

Delia's life was a cruel reality: the neglected and abused illegitimate daughter of a noble family, the Ellington family, she yearned for the love of her stepmother, Baroness Augusta, and younger sister, Lady Anne, who relentlessly mistreated her.Her world crumbled when she discovered a double betrayal: her beloved husband, Lord George had secretly pined for Anne, marrying Delia only to be near her sister. Simultaneously, her step mother framed her for a crime Anne committed.Overwhelmed and heartbroken, Delia's attempt to escape a death sentence led to a fatal carriage accident.But death was not the end. Delia awoke one year in the past, finding herself still engaged to George. This was her second chance, and the naive girl was gone, replaced by a woman consumed by a burning desire for revenge. Her first target: Duke Eric Carson, the powerful and wealthy man her sister Anne desperately pursued.Delia boldly approached Eric with a proposition for a contract marriage. To her surprise, Eric agreed, but with a condition: their fake marriage would become real and they can go their separate way after a year, hiding his own secret agenda. Now, armed with Eric's unexpected devotion and his willingness to lay down his life for her, Delia meticulously begins to dismantle her family's world. With Eric's help, she exposes the secrets they hide, manipulates their desires, and turns them against each other, orchestrating George’s demotion, Anne's downfall and seizing everything her sister coveted, including Duke Eric love and obsession.Will Delia and Eric be able to conquer all odds to get what they want? What happens when Eric doesn’t want their contract marriage to end? What happens when the last petal of that indicates her second chance falls?———————EXCPRET“I can’t return your feelings, your grace,” Delia whispered, her back against the cool wall.“But I can,” Eric murmured, stepping closer.Delia’s voice trembled. “It’s not the same.” She choked out. “ No one can love me without hurting me.”“Then teach me,” he said, his breath warm on her cheek. “Teach me how to love you the way you deserve to be loved. I’m a quick study.”When she stayed silent, he sighed contentedly, a soft smile playing on his lips.“It’s alright. Just… use me. Anything you need. if you want money, ask the treasury, take as much money that’s needed. if you want power, use my name. if you want security and love, use my body.”His breath warmed her skin, his chest rose and fell with hers. “As long as it's from you, I'm happy.”

He was a school bully and she was a straight A student. One day, she received a message that he wanted to meet her after school. She was very scared of being bullied, so she sought help from her teacher, who was also his father. Therefore, his father came to meet him after school with a broom on hands and beat him up.“You little brat! How dare you bully the top student in our class! Just wait and see how I'll punish you!” said his father angrily.“No! Dad! This is a mistake! I just wanted to pursue her!”“You're clearly not good enough for her! Stay far away from her!”...Years later, in her wedding dress, she said to her best friend, “My husband used to be a school bully. He said that he was beaten up by his father on the first day he was planning to pursue me. Then, he was warned not to get in the way of my pursuit of Tsinghua University.”“Too bad! And what happened next?”“He also got into Tsinghua University.” She smiled.

One day, when I came to my senses, I found myself reincarnated in another world.After enduring a rough life post-reincarnation, I thought I could finally settle down, quietly tending to a flower garden in the mountains……But something feels off.”