I WAS The Rank–1 Hero - Chapter 128: Before the Journey [3]

After dying a pathetic death as an overworked office drone, I woke up reincarnated as Archer—the bastard prince of the Brutish Empire.My existence is a royal secret as My father, the King, would rather pretend I don't exist. My half siblings get royal treatment while I'm hidden away like a dirty secret.But I have a secret of my own. I was OP.By age two, I realized monsters flee from my stupidly OP mana. By age ten my mana could level cities—if I dare to unleash it.When my half-sister is kidnapped by the demon king, I finally decided to step out of hiding to become the strongest in this new world.

CONTENT WARNING:/This novel contains mature themes, explicit sexual content, strong language, and adult situations. Reader discretion is advised./---She ran from the devil who raised her…And married the one who wore a crown.After her parents’ tragic death, Lydia Andreyevna’s life became a nightmare. Stripped of her name, inheritance, and freedom by her uncle—Lord Alexander—she was treated like property and promised to a Count four times her age.Desperate to escape, she fled into the cold night… and straight into blood.A stranger. Wounded. Beautiful. Terrifying.She should’ve left him.But she didn’t.She touched him once—and fate branded her forever.Her uncle caught her the next morning. Her escape failed. But when she begged Queen Olga for protection, the Queen offered her a deadly bargain:Marry the masked Grand Duke of Zolotaria.The king’s hunting dog. The butcher of the East. The devil in a crown.The man feared by kings.The heir to the throne.The same man she once saved.Ivan Romanov.They say he bathes in blood. That he kills without blinking. That he conquered kingdoms with a smile behind a mask. That no one sees his face—and lives.Some call him the devil. Others call him Death’s favorite son.But behind the mask is the same man she found dying in the dark.The same voice that haunted her dreams.The same hands she once held.Now, he’s her husband.Her jailer.Her obsession.She doesn’t know if she’s his prisoner, or his weakness.Cold and untouchable, Ivan doesn’t share his bed. Doesn’t share his secrets. But she sees it—the hunger in his eyes. The pain in his silence. The way he looks at her like she’s the only thing keeping his demons at bay.She should fear him.She should hate him.But the moment she dares to take off his mask… it’s already too late.Because Ivan wants her—her fire, her body, her heart.And in his world, what he wants, he keeps.Even if it means burning down the kingdom.She thought she was running from hell.She ended up in his bed.And the most dangerous thing of all?She doesn’t want to leave.

# PRETENDTOBEAFOOL

In the empire, both men and women would awaken Beast Essence once they reach the age of eighteen. Beast Essence was hidden in human bones, and the bone is called Beast Bone.

The more important the position of the Beast Bone was in a human body, the better the Beast Essence, and stronger Beasts would hatch from the beast eggs in the future! Kong Rui was going to be eighteen soon. She wanted to awaken, and then escape from this colosseum.

She wanted to escape this deceitful place where she was only entertainment for others, and had to fear her fate in order to survive. However, she was caught.

She was tied up and her sister dug out her entire backbone, because Kong Rui had awakened a Phoenix that had not been seen in a thousand years! She was stripped of all hope and thrown into a ravine filled with demonic energy like a dead dog.

Everyone thought she wouldn’t survive, but they didn’t expect her to have two elements in her body. She found a master under the cliff and even became a pampered princess of the demons there. The demons: “We’ll cut off the head of whoever touches Little Rui!”

Walking out of the abyss, she used her power to defeat the heroes, and no one dared to say the word “genius” in front of her! The Beasts that no one could conquer were as good as babies in her hands!

Countless peerless bosses came out just to accept her as their disciple! The bigshot that everyone feared even hugged her waist and whispered, “Do you want the entire empire? Why don’t I give it to you?”