BETROTHED TO THE DEMON KING
~ Ducan: Demon King ~
My kingdom teeters on the edge of ruin, my race standing at the brink of extinction. The throne of Hell itself trembles beneath me, its power slipping from my grasp.
Only one salvation remains-
A maiden blessed by the gods, born once in a century. Pure. Untouched. Marked by fate to bear the seed of a king.
To reclaim my strength and bind the realms of Hell to my will, I must claim her. She will become mine-whether she surrenders in devotion or resists with every breath.
Her body will cradle my power. Her womb will secure my throne.
And once my eyes have chosen her... there is no escape.
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Chapter 1
Ducan's P.o.v
I sat on my huge silver throne reluctantly with my legs crossed listening to my generals' suggestions with interest.
Everything was going smoothly and beautifully in my kingdom that I would say. Despite the humans still fearing us and other lame losers trying to have passage to my kingdom all in the name of becoming heroes, we were still in control.
For three thousand years, I governed my kind with alter most discipline and restriction.
My mother was a humble Human being while my father was a cruel demon lord.
Due to past calamity in the human world, the human elders called upon the help of my father. In exchange for his help, they offered my mother to him, who by then was a blessed maiden.
A blessed maiden was a favoured virgin girl whom the gods granted power and gifts. They were not only unheard of, they were usually born once every thousand years. whoever they gave their body to, he or she acquired significant power no matter what being they were.
When my father saw how this offer was too good to let it slide, he agreed and took my mother for himself in exchange for granting help to the humans.
A few years went by and I was conceived through a loving bond and union.
Despite being a weak and fragile human, my mother was kind and good to both me and my father. She was also the cause of his sudden change of heart.
We were all he had and he made sure to let us know. But then one day we received news that human territory was once again in need of help. My father was reluctant to go, but my mother pleaded with him since they were still her people. Him being in love, he easily agreed.
We later went to human territory expecting a warm welcome not knowing it was all a trap.
At a young age, I witnessed my parents and our generals being brutally attacked by the human warriors. One elder was watching happily while yelling at my mother and calling her evil for letting a disgusting monster of the dark touch her.
My father was trying to protect me and my mother at the same time that he couldn't see the hero who carried the holy sword sneaking behind him.
As if it was all a nightmare, I watched as the hero brutally drove it through his heart while the warriors ganged up on my mother and our demon generals.
My father was bleeding badly while my mother's corpse lay lifeless on the ground.
With the little strength he was left with, he sent us all back to the demon kingdom using his magic.
That day was the worst day of my life but also my rebirth as the demon lord.
I couldn't mourn them because crying was a sign of weakness. I locked up my human emotions and lived with anger and hatred for a thousand years.
Emotions such as love, sadness and happiness were strictly prohibited in my territory, those that showed them were killed or taken away for severe punishment.
I was never going to let any human in our territory or ever come across one. That's what I thought, but now I wasn't sure if I was going to hold on to my own words because I was slowly losing my power.
According to the ancient witch who saved the Royal bloodline of the Demon lord, every one thousand years a demon lord was required to take to his bed a blessed maiden in order to increase or maintain his power. Failure to that, the demon lord grew weak and his magic and power began to fade away.
After five thousand years, the demon king either perished or became stone.
The ancient witch's words weren't to be taken lightly, that's why I had to call for the advisers and generals to find a quick solution to my problem.
"Great Maou" ( meaning Demon Emperor ). Why not allow us to go into human territory and slaughter as many humans as we can, maybe their blood would serve as sacrifice and grant you power." One adviser suggested.
I raised a brow and gazed at my only childhood friend who was the son of the late lead general.
He hesitated before stepping forward and giving a bow.
"If I may Great Maou, I suggest you find a blessed maiden. Please call the ancient witch and let her open the gate of winds and sound to hear if the humans are still praying to you for help like in the past. You can offer them your help and in return they can give you the maiden." He said as everyone gasped loudly.
The room instantly went quiet.
I Stood up slowly and looked at him with a cold expression on my face.
My heartbeat picked up as my heart ached badly. I closed my eyes and folded my hands into fists, then took in a deep breath and released it.
When I opened my eyes and looked at him, he quickly fell to his knees with his head to the ground.
"Spare my life Great Maou, I was wrong to suggest such a horrid thing." He said in a cracked voice. His body was slightly trembling and I could smell the scent of sweat coming from him.
No matter what, I couldn't harm or hurt him. I hated that about myself because he was the only exception.
"I guess taking your suggestion into consideration isn't a bad thing." I answered, shocking everyone. He too quickly raised his head to look at me.
"Great Maou, you seriously can't be...."
I raised my hand, stopping the eldest general from finishing his sentence.
"Call the ancient witch here. She will open the gate of wind and sound to hear if the humans are crying out for my help or not." I ordered strongly.
"Hail the Great Maou." They all said together with a bow, then went out leaving Ose still on his knees.
"Ducan...."
"You can be the lead general of the Demon kingdom and territory but know how to present yourself when you are in the presence of a demon lord." I said seriously, cutting him off.
"I wasn't wrong to suggest that Ducan. I can't sit by and watch you perish no matter what. Because of your human side you are quickly losing your power and soon you will..." He trailed off then got to his feet.
"Perish." He whispered softly.
I sighed then shifted my gaze from him.
"It wouldn't be the end of the demon kingdom even if I was to perish Ose." I answered in a low tone.
"It would, because you have no heir or female to warm your bed." He pointed out.
I groaned loudly then raised my hand.
"Hail the Great Maou." He whispered under his breath then took a few steps back before turning and walking away.
I moved and sat on the throne with a sigh.
My heart was still badly hurting over his words and I hated feeling that way.
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7.8
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8.9
Three years ago, Corinna had been an orphan, taken in by an influential family to marry their comatose heir.
Then the groom woke up, and the vows curdled; he treated her like worthless, disposable trash.
After her car wreck, she lay bleeding on the asphalt while he cheated with the woman he truly wanted. Something in her snapped, and she asked for a divorce with numb, shattered calm.
After walking away from the marriage, her secrets unraveled-a top-tier heiress, a hacker beyond reach, and a once-in-a-generation healer.
Her ex came crawling back, begging, unraveling, and losing control. But it was all too late.
9.5
As a highborn succubus, I somehow managed to starve myself to death-thanks to my obsessive cleanliness and ridiculously picky appetite.
When I opened my eyes again, I had transmigrated into Vivian Hartwell-the long-lost "real" daughter with a tragically cursed fate.
I had barely been taken back into the Hartwell family before they forced me to attend a so-called "death matchmaking" event in Kingsford-on behalf of Natalie Hartwell, the fake heiress-to meet Damian Blackwood, the infamous "living reaper."
Rumor had it Damian was brutal and bloodthirsty-every woman who'd ever been involved with him either ended up dead or driven insane.
At the event, over a hundred socialites were trembling on their knees, silently praying they wouldn't be the one chosen.
Just as Damian let out a cold smirk and reached to pick his unlucky victim, I took a deep breath from the back of the crowd.
The scent emanating from him was a rare, potent masculine essence-something encountered perhaps once in ten millennia.
For a painfully picky succubus like me, this was nothing short of salvation.
I kicked aside the girl blocking my way, my eyes practically glowing as I threw both hands up. "Pick me! Hurry, pick me!"
8.0
After divorcing my cheating husband, I thought I had found my savior in his powerful business partner, Cole.
For three years, he pampered me like a queen, building a perfect, golden cage of devotion.
But on the day I happily discovered I was pregnant, I overheard him talking to my ex-husband's mistress.
"Elinor is just a convenient tool. If she gets pregnant, I'll fake a paternity test and annul the marriage so she leaves with nothing."
My entire marriage was a meticulously crafted lie to secure his position and protect the woman he truly cared about.
Before I could quietly escape, Cole orchestrated a brutal attack.
I was dragged into a dark alley, beaten until my ribs fractured, and my unborn child was violently ripped away from me.
As I lay bleeding out in the freezing rain, my heart shattered into dust.
I didn't understand how the man who kissed me every morning could coldly order his thugs to beat me to death just to appease his real lover.
They left me there to rot, thinking they had finally erased the naive fool who got in their way.
Three years later, the world still believes Elinor Marsh died in a tragic car accident.
But when Cole and his elite circle attend a high-profile Interpol reception, they don't expect the new Chief Liaison Officer to step onto the stage.
I am Helena Fu now, and I have returned to burn their empire to the ground.
7.1
I lay paralyzed on stiff white sheets, a prisoner in my own skin, listening to the rain lash against the window like nails on a coffin. My father, Elmore Franco, didn't even look at my face as he checked his clipboard. He just listened to the steady, monotonous beep of the heart monitor-the only thing proving I was still alive.
Without a hint of remorse, he pulled a pen from his pocket and signed the Do Not Resuscitate order. My stepmother, Ophelia, stepped out from behind him, wearing my favorite pearl necklace and smelling of cloying perfume. She leaned close to my ear to whisper the truth that turned my blood to ice.
"It was the tea, darling. Just like your mother. A slow, tasteless poison."
She chuckled as she revealed that my fiancé, Bryce, had a two-year-old son with my sister, Daniela. My inheritance had been funding their secret life for years, and now that the money was secure, I was an inconvenience they were finally scrubbing away. As my father yanked the power cord from the wall, the beeping died, and the darkness swallowed me whole.
I was being murdered by my own flesh and blood, used as a bank account until I was no longer needed. I died in that sterile room, drowning in the realization that every person I ever loved was a monster who had been waiting for me to take my last breath.
Then, I gasped. I woke up in a luxury hotel suite surrounded by silk sheets, five years in the past-the very morning of my wedding. Next to me lay Basile Delgado, the "Wolf of Wall Street" and my family's most dangerous enemy. In my first life, I ran from this room in a panic and lost everything. This time, I looked at the man who would eventually destroy my father's empire and decided to join him.
"I'm not leaving, Basile. Marry me. Right now. Today."
7.4
Standing on the edge of a limestone quarry in the pouring rain, I thought we were just having another family argument.
Then my mother, Ardell, screamed that I’d let the life insurance lapse, and my brother, Hakeem, stepped out of the shadows with a cold, calculating look in his eyes.
I told them I knew the truth—that Hakeem had cut the brake lines on my father’s car—but they didn't flinch. Instead, Hakeem shoved me hard, sending me tumbling into the abyss.
I hit a jagged ledge thirty feet down, the sound of my spine snapping like a dry branch echoing through the rain. As I lay paralyzed and broken, my mother watched from above, asking if I was dead yet, before Hakeem whistled for the starving wild dogs that lived in the quarry floor.
"Nature will clean up the mess,"
Hakeem said, walking away while the first set of teeth sank into my throat.
The agony was a tidal wave, but the rage was hotter, a nuclear hatred for the family that stole my future and the daughter I’d never see grow up. I died in that dirt, consumed by fire and teeth, wondering how a mother could choose a car payment over her own child's life.
But then, I gasped for air, sitting bolt upright in my old trailer bedroom. I looked at the calendar: May 12, 2014.
I was seventeen again, but I wasn't the same girl. Inside this malnourished body was the mind of a world-class trauma surgeon and the elite hacker known as 'Phantom.'
This time, I wasn't going to the quarry; I was going for their throats.