【What if Count Cangor Were a Monster?】
Irena didn’t even dare to think about it—this was her only hope now. The territory of Count Cangor was far from the royal capital, and she believed the other regions hadn’t yet been overrun by those skin-wearing monsters.
"I don’t know… I don’t know what to do anymore." Irena buried her head in her hands, her slender ears drooping slightly, as if her mood had suddenly plummeted.
Beside her, Ye Chuan stroked his chin. "Still, I’m quite curious about those skin-wearing monsters you mentioned. If there’s a chance, I’d like to catch one for study."
"Study?" Irena found Ye Chuan rather strange. This man seemed fearless, and for some reason, it made her feel an inexplicable urge to rely on him.
"Lord Ye Chuan, could you escort me to Count Cangor’s territory first before accepting my next request?" Irena asked.
"Assassinate the king?"
"No, just protect us for a while." Irena shook her head.
"That’s something I can consider." Ye Chuan tilted his head. "It’s late now. Don’t you want to get some sleep?"
At this, Irena curled her legs slightly, her voice tinged with loneliness and fear. "I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in so long… Every time I close my eyes, those monsters come back to haunt me."
"I can help you sleep well."
"…?"
The next moment, Ye Chuan extended his hand. "Hypnosis magic."
Irena’s body stiffened before going limp, collapsing into Ye Chuan’s arms.
"See? Simple and direct." Ye Chuan steadied her, then scooped her up in a princess carry.
Torres, who had been standing at a distance, rushed over upon seeing Ye Chuan holding Irena.
"What happened to Her Highness?"
"She’s asleep. No big deal." Ye Chuan replied. "Probably just exhausted. She’s out like a light."
"Oh, she’s just asleep…" Torres let out a relieved sigh. "Lord Ye Chuan, please take her back to the carriage to rest."
"Mm."
Ye Chuan leaped onto the carriage with Irena in his arms, then pushed aside the curtain and stepped inside.
Torres stood quietly outside, but after more than ten minutes passed with no sign of Ye Chuan emerging, he frowned. "Lord Ye Chuan, is there a problem?"
"The padding in here is pretty comfortable. I think I’ll sleep here tonight."
"B-but Her Highness…" Torres immediately protested, flustered. "This isn’t appropriate. She’s still inside."
Her Highness was still an innocent maiden—how could she share a room with a man?
"I saved your lives, and you won’t even let me borrow a cushion?" Ye Chuan drawled. "Tsk. Doesn’t seem very fair, does it?"
"N-no, that’s not it," Torres stammered.
"Would you rather have the princess sleep outside and get eaten by mosquitoes?" Ye Chuan’s voice floated out again.
"Of course not…"
"Then it’s settled. You keep watch. I’m going to sleep." With that, silence fell inside the carriage.
Torres stood outside, staring helplessly. Something felt off, but Ye Chuan had saved them.
"Alright." Torres finally relented, sitting down beside the carriage to stand guard.
……
The night passed without incident.
Irena woke groggily to find herself inside the carriage. Rubbing her eyes, her silver-white hair spilled messily around her.
She turned her head—
A face lay beside her, eyes closed, breathing steadily.
"……" Her brain short-circuited for several seconds before she mechanically turned away, instinctively checking her clothes.
"Why…"
Why was she sleeping next to him?!
Irena desperately tried to recall the events of the previous night, but her memory was blank. There were fragments, but no matter how hard she tried, nothing came back.
"Eek?!" Her involuntary noise alerted Torres outside, who barged in immediately.
"Your Highness?!"
As the curtain was yanked aside, he took in the sight of Irena sitting up in a flustered panic.
"Torres, wh-why was I sleeping with Lord Ye Chuan?" Irena demanded the moment she saw him.
"Oh, you fell asleep last night, and Lord Ye Chuan needed a place to rest too, so he shared the carriage." Torres relaxed upon seeing her unharmed.
"Th-that’s weird, isn’t it? Sleeping together?" Irena’s ears flushed red as she flailed her arms, trying to mask her embarrassment.
Just then, Ye Chuan, who had been lying still, stirred. He yawned and sat up, his gaze landing on Irena and Torres.
"What’s all the noise so early in the morning?" he asked.
"H-how did I suddenly fall asleep? And why were you in my carriage?" Irena pressed.
"You said you couldn’t sleep, so I gave you a little hypnosis boost." Ye Chuan stretched. "You slept like a log. Even drooled a bit."
Irena instinctively wiped her mouth, her cheeks burning. "No! G-get out!! Both of you!!!"
Soon, Ye Chuan and Torres were unceremoniously ejected.
"Lord Ye Chuan, wasn’t that a bit inappropriate? Her Highness is still a young lady, after all," Torres ventured once they were outside.
"When a girl says no, she means yes. Got it?" Ye Chuan side-eyed him.
Torres scratched his head. "Is that so?"
"You’re as dense as a log. When we get back to Yisu Town, I’ll treat you to a massage." Ye Chuan rapped Torres’s arm.
"Uh…"
A short while later, Irena emerged, her face still tinged pink. "Lord Ye Chuan, your actions were a bit excessive."
"Did you sleep poorly last night?"
At his question, Irena paused, recalling. "I slept well… N-no, that’s not the point!"
"Tch. I was injured and just wanted a comfortable place to rest," Ye Chuan sighed.
"O-oh… Is that what happened?" Irena froze for several seconds before guilt washed over her.
"Yes, Your Highness. Lord Ye Chuan didn’t want you sleeping outside and getting bitten by mosquitoes," Torres chimed in, backing him up.
Irena pressed a hand to her chest. "I… I didn’t realize."
"I’m sorry, Lord Ye Chuan. I overreacted." The princess hurriedly apologized. "Are your injuries better now? Please, rest inside a while longer."
"Meh." Ye Chuan crossed his arms.
"Never mind. Let’s just get moving. I forgive you."
"Alright." Irena hesitated, then added softly,
"Thank you…"
She even thanked him.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
