A Stepmother's Marchen - Chapter 9

A series about a hyper-realistic fantasy game!“Sergeant First Class Ha, you crazy bastard. You shot another full round of bullseye?”The sharpshooter Ha LeeHa simply wanted to be a part of the army forever. However, due to an unfortunate accident, he became paraplegic and was tossed back into society.The revolutionary VR game [Middle Earth] presented a new life to him. Money obtained in [Middle Earth] has real-world value! Yet, he ruined his chance by selecting the lowest-tier character!“I’m not like the others. This is all I have.”Black gunpowder, iron balls, and ramrods… I’ll show all of you what a real ‘musketeer’ is!

Akira Tsukihara was a romance author who despised love. Though she wrote best-selling novels filled with idealistic romance, she harbored nothing but contempt for the genre and the readers who adored it. Love, in her eyes, was a lie—an illusion that blinded people from the true forces of the world: power, betrayal, and ambition. One night, in a fit of frustration, she cursed love itself... and woke up trapped inside one of her own stories.Reborn as Aira, a nameless peasant girl in the Kingdom of Seraphis—a world she had meticulously crafted—Akira quickly realizes that reincarnation isn’t the fantasy dream she had written about. She isn’t a noble, a princess, or a heroine blessed with beauty and power. She is a nobody. A commoner, struggling to survive in the harsh realities of the medieval world she had once designed as a mere backdrop for her grand romances.As Aira, she faces starvation, endless labor, and the crushing weight of insignificance. But Akira was never one to accept fate. If she couldn’t escape this world, she would rewrite the story on her own terms. She would carve her name into history—not as the lovestruck heroine of a cliché romance, but as the mastermind who would bend the world to her will.In a land ruled by noble bloodlines and political schemes, where the romance tropes she once loathed play out before her eyes, Aira sets her sights on one goal: destroying the very ideals of love that had imprisoned her in this wretched world.Even if it means becoming the villain of her own story.

To pass as an imperial concubine, one must be professional.

Actually, the profession of an imperial concubine is pretty good. The emperor will accompany you in eating and drinking, and even pay you for it. What’s not good about that?

(Warning: Mature Content - R-18)The Ultimate Heartbreaker Reincarnates, Only to Find Himself a Pathetic Pushover?In his past life, he had gone out of his way to win their affection, humbling himself to the point of self - annihilation. But how did they repay him?His first love abandoned him for a wealthy heir, mocking him as delusional and naive.His childhood friend despised his devotion, pretending not to recognize him when they crossed paths.And the queen bee of the school? She sneered at him, refusing to even glance in his direction.But now, the man has been reborn—cold, detached, and effortlessly commanding both power and allure. Women fall under his spell without hesitation.Until one day—His first love appeared before him in a slinky strapless dress, her eyes shimmering with tears, her voice trembling: “Please… give me another chance, Master. I’ll do anything you ask…”His childhood friend was pinned against the door, her breath uneven, her gaze filled with desperate longing: “Master, even if it’s just as your secret lover—I’d be willing…”The once - arrogant queen bee shed her coat, leaning close to whisper in his ear, her breath warm and shaky: “Master… please, let me make it up to you…”He let out a low chuckle, his long fingers trailing over their heated cheeks, his eyes glinting with mockery and disdain. “You want me now?” he murmured, his tone icy. “Too bad. You’re too late.”