

On our fifth wedding anniversary, I nestled in the arms of my vampire husband, Alaric, and offered my neck to his lingering kisses. My breath caught as my hand fumbled in my pocket for the pregnancy test crystal. It glowed faintly, showing a clear positive result. I planned to reveal my pregnancy as my final surprise for the night: we were going to have a half-vampire child of our own. Alaric's confidant, Roman, grinned suggestively and asked in the Old Tongue of the Kindred: ""Your Highness, and what of your childhood friend, the beautiful pureblood Elise? Does she satisfy you?"" Alaric's mocking laughter rumbled against my chest, sending a chill down my spine. He replied in the same Old Tongue: ""Like fire, wild and intensely hot. The harder you bite, the sweeter she yields."" His fingertip was still tracing the bite marks on my neck, but his gaze was far away. ""Just be sure to keep this quiet. I'd be ruined if my dear wife found out."" The clansmen chuckled, raising their blood-filled goblets to pledge their secrecy. The warmth in my blood ran to ice. They had forgotten. Born of a noble human line that had intermarried with the Kindred for generations, I was fluent in their Old Tongue. I forced myself to remain calm, keeping the perfect hostess's smile plastered on my face, but the hand gripping my glass began to tremble. Alaric probably thought that if I found out, I would cry and demand to know why he treated me this way, just as I had before. But what he didn't know was that this time, everything was different. The marriage contract was void. I sent a message to my father: ""Father, I've lost the bet. I am coming home to inherit the family estate.""

Maya Thornton, the Marquis Valen, is reborn six years after her death. Six years ago,moments after giving birth, she was murdered by her husband and his mistress while lying weak and vulnerable. Now, she wakes in the body of Talia York, a delicate and vain daughter of a military household. The original Talia has betrayed her fiancé, Tristan Wren, the Deputy Commander of the Regal Army, and become entangled with a frivolous young man. With her soul now in Talia's body, Maya secretly follows Tristan to the military camp while disguising herself as a man. There, on the very training grounds she once commanded in her past life, she throws herself into grueling training. She is determined to reclaim her martial prowess and returns to the capital to take her revenge and once again protect the realm.

Mike Bert, disciple of the Arcane Exorcist Order, was dispatched down the mountain by his master's order to search for the lost sect-suppressing artifact, the Exorcist's Seal. Penniless, he set up a street stall for fortune-telling, where he inadvertently saved Tess Baker, a female CEO possessing a pure dark physique, thus becoming entangled in urban conflicts. Facing Eden Pater, the wealthy young CEO coveting the Baker Group, and the Dark Warlock, an evil exorcist also seeking the Exorcist's Seal, Mike used Arcane Arts to break evil curses and Truth Spell to expose the truth. Joining forces with Renee Palmer of the Supernatural Investigations Agency and Lucy Pope, an exorcism-obsessed fangirl, he gradually pushed back against the evil forces. During his journey to protect the beauty and hunt for the treasure, he discovered that clues pointed toward the south, while the ultimate boss, Lester Watt, was secretly laying out his scheme. The true crisis had only just begun.

It was on our wedding night when my husband stole my heartblood to save his childhood sweetheart. His lips were on my forehead as his dagger carved my chest open. "Good girl. This is the last time, I promise," he breathed bewitchingly, his scalding tears dripping on my skin. "Once she's better, let's consummate our marriage." That was what he said, but I had heard it countless times before. In my despair, I used my last ounce of strength to tug on his sleeve. He urgently drained my blood to save another woman, not even looking my way as he did. What he didn't know was that it was my last drop of heartblood. And I was going to die.