Mature

※ This work includes elements and scenes that can be triggering, such as gaslighting, which may be polarizing. Please consider this when using.

In the city of Moonjeong, shrouded in mist during the humid summer season, Chae-on moves into a creepy and secretive mansion called Songbaekwon with her mother.

Her attention keeps drifting to the mansion’s eldest son, Jang Tae-ha, who is arrogant and cold…

“Behave according to your status, Chae-on. Don’t get too ambitious.”

Though he seems to despise her,

“If you want to play the piano, come and play.”
“…What?”
“You know when I come and go.”

The man who stirred and controlled Chae-on’s heart suddenly leaves.

And three years later,
he returns as the epitome of the mature man she has always envisioned.
To become another woman’s man.

“You have a fiancée, don’t you?”
“Why? Is that legally not allowed?”

Jang Tae-ha keeps provoking the hidden desires deep within her,
and feelings she shouldn’t have start to grow.

“Try to be more honest. You’ve become bolder, haven’t you?”

Without knowing what intentions he harbors as he approaches her.

On the day of the king’s wedding, blessed by all, the late king’s illegitimate son started a rebellion.

The king, who was to be her husband, fled, leaving Ines behind in the castle, and that once-great family fell into ruin. As she sensed the end was near, she was merely waiting for death.

“Here you are. I thought you might have run away.”

A deep voice, reminiscent of a deep cave, resonated in the room. It was a familiar voice, one that had once whispered kind words to her.

“Oh, was it difficult because of your leg?”

Carlos Ivan. Though he was the king’s son, he was ignored and scorned by everyone due to his lowly mother. But now he had ascended to a position that no one could disregard.

“Please, end it quickly. For the sake of the old affection we once shared….”
“Oh, how unfortunate. I have no intention of ending it quickly.”

Carlos gently wiped the tears from her cheek.

“You will become my wife.”

The blood on his hand stained Ines’s skin.

“Everything my brother had is now mine. Naturally, my sister-in-law should be mine too.”

It was a vulgar proposal.

Due to her mother’s illness, Cha Minjoo is facing a difficult life when she encounters Park Gi-hyun, her ex-boyfriend. Gi-hyun proposes an outrageous contract to Minjoo upon their reunion. What is it that Park Gi-hyun truly desires?
“Could you have a child for me?”
Minjoo’s eyes widened at the unexpected request. Gi-hyun’s expression, however, remained unchanged. He rubbed the coffee cup on the table and spoke.
“I have more money than I need, and I don’t want to just give it away. I want to leave it to my own blood.”
Minjoo searched her memory. Gi-hyun used to despise children. He would frown whenever he saw kids crying or clinging to their parents on the street.
Minjoo closed her mouth, stopping herself from asking.
“That’s something you should do with a good person after getting married….”
Gi-hyun seemed to give a faint, bitter smile. The smile lasted only a brief moment.
“I don’t need someone good.”
He took his hand off the cup and slightly lifted his eyelids. His half-raised gaze languidly fixed on Minjoo, who was sitting across from him.
“What I need is.”
With those words, he stared intently at Minjoo.

“…a child.”

Annelie Heich, or Nelie, was the daughter of the only printing house in a rural village, who dreamed of inheriting the family business since childhood with her interest in illustrations.

‘If only things could stay just like this.’

However, Nelie’s modest wish faded when her father collapsed, and she headed to Tevant, the city of arts, to study and revive the fallen family business.

“My wallet!”
“Haha! Thanks for the easy money, Miss!”

But life in the city, where people would take advantage of any weakness, wasn’t easy. After losing her tuition money, Nelie ends up working at a gossip newspaper that publishes sensational articles.

Then, while living such a harsh life, she accidentally crosses paths with the beautiful Duke of Tevant.
A drawing of the Duke that Nelie sketched out of curiosity unknowingly transforms into an obscene caricature and appears in the gossip paper.

“Shall we start with spreading false information?”
“What?”
“If you drew someone in such an absurd way, you must take responsibility.”

Nelie faces the crisis of being charged with defamation overnight, and the Duke visits her. Things couldn’t get any worse. Nelie makes an impulsive gamble.

“Well, Your Grace has a beautiful face, so… so your body must be good too.”
“And?”
“Na-naturally, that part must be, too.”
“Then let’s check.”
“…Pardon?”
“Let’s check and if it’s not true…”
“……”
“You already know what comes next.”

Will Annelie Heich, who only wanted to avoid defamation, be able to escape from this beautiful but prickly Duke?

“Falling in love with you wasn’t through any effort or will. It was like an accident that suddenly struck.”

Chloe confessed with a sigh.

“But ending this love is entirely my decision.”

Andert, the pride of House Dietrich and considered one of the most eligible bachelors.
It was 8 years ago when Chloe first met him and fell in love.
But now she had made up her mind to end this lifeless marriage.

“I don’t want anything from you. Just one thing — divorce.”

A bride thrust upon him by the palace, wary of House Dietrich’s influence.
A lucky young lady who secured the position of Dietrich’s mistress without bringing any substantial dowry.
That was the extent of public opinion about her.

But from the moment she chose that this love was no longer necessary,
Chloe’s monotonous world began to shake.

[Preview]

Though they had lived as husband and wife for several years and should have grown accustomed by now,
Chloe never quite felt natural with the tension of these moments.

Despite their distant relationship as husband and wife, the reason he occasionally visited this bedroom
must have been due to the undeniable responsibility of producing an heir for the duchy.
Chloe could only guess at the inscrutable man’s inner thoughts.

“Chloe?”

At his low call, Chloe loosened her tightened throat.
The divorce papers hidden in the drawer were already signed.
But even after a fortnight, she hadn’t been able to hand them to Andert.
…This was truly a stubborn first love to an extreme degree.

Chloe’s vision turned upside down as she fell onto the bed, pulled by Andert.
His short blonde hair smoothly burrowed into her nape.
Chloe wrapped her arms around his firm shoulders, her hands having found their destination after wandering aimlessly.

“Damn it… This is maddening. Are you trying to strangle me to death?”
The man’s voice echoes as the red moon fills the view. This is a prophetic dream. The man in the dream was the one who saved her from the hell created by her stepmother in her past life.
‘For his sake, it’s better not to get involved in this life.’
But after her regression…
“Why did you come only now, hmm?”
Once again, she found herself swayed by the man’s plaintive plea.
***
‘…Are you in pain?’
The gentle and attentive hand brushing his bangs was unmistakably reminiscent of ‘her’ demeanor.
Of course, he knows. If Evelyn were truly ‘her’, she wouldn’t fail to recognize him.
Then…
‘Who exactly are you?’

“If you’ve tamed me, you must take responsibility till the end.”
She possessed Merrien, the saint from a novel she had only read three chapters of.
The problem was, that Merrien was an extra who gets kidnapped and killed by the Archmage.

In this situation, she had no choice but to fill up the healing gauge as the damn system window commanded and return to reality!
As she was firmly determined and quickly filled up the healing gauge.

“Arf!”
“……How cute!”

A white ball of fluff appeared and wiggled in front of Merrien.
So she just healed that little white thing with her holy power, but…

“Hello, Merri. It’s our first time meeting in this form.”

For some reason, the white fluff transformed into a sickly handsome man.
And not just any man, but ‘Duke Ariel Hartez’, the Archmage’s younger brother.
***
“Merri, I told you before. I’d make the Archmage kneel before you.”

Ariel certainly did say that. After all, it was the condition of the ‘contract’ from the beginning.
However…

‘You never said that you were the Archmage!’

She firmly believed he was the Archmage’s younger brother, but what kind of situation was this?
While Merrien was busy racking her brains, Ariel grasped Merrien’s hand and brought it to his neck like a dog collar.

“If you’ve tamed me, you must take responsibility till the end.”
“……”
“Woof woof.”

[▶Error◀ Healing gauge has been reset to zero.]
[Healing Gauge 0/10000]

It seemed something had gone terribly wrong.

#Misunderstanding #Misconception #Healing the sly, sickly Archmage for the sunshine protagonist #There’s no way my little white fluff could be the Archmage

※Please note that this work includes one black and white illustration for reference.

The world of toys begins when night falls.
Larien, a ballerina doll, had long been secretly in love with Jayden, a nutcracker doll.

Heartbroken by his aloofness towards everyone, she eagerly counted the days
until she could confess her feelings as the ‘Queen of the Festival’.

A week before the festival, she hears unexpected news.

“Hey, have you heard the rumor?”
“What rumor?”
“They say a toy repairman is coming on the day of the festival.
If that’s true, Jayden might be able to live with normal feet.”

As the dolls’ interest in Jayden soars,
and Larien witnesses attempts to seduce him, she grows increasingly anxious.

“You know, physical intimacy leads to emotional intimacy. Jayden won’t be any different.”

As she tried to hide her impatience, her friend’s words struck her.

Physical intimacy leads to emotional intimacy?
Since she didn’t have any better ideas, couldn’t this be a possible approach?

Larien comes up with an embarrassing yet alluring plan to seduce him.

Rose, the lady of Clematis, is notorious for her debauchery within the Empire.
Married two years ago, she and her husband Maverick maintain only a formal relationship as a couple.
However, when a sudden crisis struck, it was only her husband who moved to save her.

And now, having returned to the past, she is determined to become a true couple with her husband this time,
but Maverick continues to remain cold…

* * *

“…What are you doing, coming at such a late hour?”
Even his displeased voice sounded welcome. No, her heart was about to burst with excitement. Normally, she would have admitted she was crazy. But Rose was different now.
Chest.
Rose had been held against that chest.
“Wife, what are you…”
Thud, Rose’s hand touched his chest. Maverick flinched. Even his flinch was welcome — was it because he was alive? No, it didn’t matter.
‘What… is this.’
Maverick had died a miserable death at the end. She didn’t want to count or remember how many swords had been stuck in the body that had held her tightly. She just wanted to see if the chest where the swords had been was intact.
‘The feeling… it’s killing me…!’

Karina Crawford, the immature younger sister of his close friend.
Dominic Winchester, the strait-laced friend of her older brother.
These two, who seemed as unmixable as oil and water, end up in an argument over a trivial incident.

“Hey, Mr. Second Son of the esteemed Winchester family. Did you just say I lack refinement?”

Dominic, caught having failed at his first kiss with his long-time crush, lashes out at her.
Angered by his excessive criticism, Karina, instead of apologizing, yanks his cravat.

“Let me tell you something. You said you couldn’t kiss because your noses bumped, right? In that case, you tilt your head slightly like this.”

Her lips met Dominic’s, which were slightly parted in shock.
A first kiss with the woman he considered the worst.
After that, Dominic’s world was completely dyed in Karina’s colors.

*

“Even if I was a pup you were raising with the intention of giving away to others, this is not right.”

A low voice, almost like a growl, pressed upon her.
In contrast to his rough gaze, the touch of his thumb tracing her lips was gentle.

“If you decided to train properly, you should take responsibility until the end. Breeder.
Wasn’t that our contract?”

May, who worked as a maid in a duke’s mansion, one day hears from a visiting lawyer that her grandfather, whom she didn’t even know existed, has passed away. Through his will, she inherits a vast fortune along with a picturesque, beautiful mansion.

Despite its beautiful appearance, the place has a reputation as the ‘Ghost Mansion.’ There, she discovers an old compass and subsequently finds herself in an ‘abnormal state’….

To resolve this, she needs to have relations with a man?

“Sometimes you need to take your master for a walk to make them appreciate you.”
Aiden, her former master who constantly bullied her but now follows her around like a leech, and

“Well, if you want, you can experience the thrill of sinning with a priest.”
Johan, a suspicious but kind pseudo-priest who always makes aggressive advances,

“I was contemplating. Wondering how much help I should offer to an inexperienced client.”
And Dominic, the aloof lawyer who actively offers ‘help’ to May…

She wanted to get rid of the abnormal state, not gain three men!

[spoiler title="Romance Guide"]
*Female protagonist: May Louise
Innocent girl / Timid girl / Wounded girl / Kind girl / Quirky girl
She was a maid in the Duke of Hale’s mansion but became nouveau riche overnight. What she inherited from a grandfather she didn’t even know existed was vast wealth and a mansion known as the ‘Ghost Mansion’.
After discovering a strange compass there, her body starts to change.

*Male protagonist 1: Johan Diaz
Servant / Kind man / Devoted man / Sly man / Large dog-like man / Obedient man / Scheming man
A priest of a different religion and a capable medium.
After accidentally witnessing the strange compass May possesses, he disguises himself as a servant and gets hired at her mansion to get rid of it. However, at some point, he becomes more interested in the owner than the compass itself. Although he thinks it doesn’t suit him, he quickly becomes devoted to his mistress as if being a servant is in his nature.

*Male protagonist 2: Aiden Hale
Former master / Obsessive man / Prickly man / Regretful man / Sensitive man / Arrogant man / Jealous man / Sympathetic man / Younger man / Man in unrequited love
The third son of the Duke Hale.
Born as an ordinary youngest child among talented siblings. An arrogant young master who transforms his inferiority complex into sensitivity. He says he couldn’t possibly like a commoner maid, but the emotions he desperately denies reveal themselves ridiculously easily time and time again.

*Male protagonist 3: Dominic Vicenti
Lawyer / Mature / Prickly man / Cold man / Indifferent man / Kind man
A lawyer from a commoner orphan background.
Born and raised as an orphan, he is drafted into the military academy. In the process, he accidentally catches the eye of Navy Lieutenant General Viscount Herman Vicenti and changes his career path with his support. Later, he becomes his adopted son and inevitably becomes entangled with May. He feels a strange sense of responsibility towards her from their brief encounter in childhood.

*When to read this: When you want to see a high-level reverse harem romance with various male leads.
*Relatable quote: “If you were very lonely, isn’t it okay to have a few men by your side?”
[/spoiler]

Livia Horn was a humble shepherd from a small village.

She lost her family and home to the villagers’ selfishness and fell off a cliff. As she lay dying, she was saved by Echidna, the black witch in the form of a manta ray.

‘It’s an exchange for revenge. If you plunge the golden dagger into Triton’s heart, not only will I save your life, but I’ll also give you all my remaining power.’

Livia, a penniless girl, a pitiful human with nothing left, a woman who had lost everything she loved, blinded by revenge, rashly made a pact with the black witch.

***

The great god of water.
The legitimate son of Poseidon and a child of the gods.
The guardian and ruler of the sea, Triton.

He watched over the human woman wielding the black witch Echidna’s dagger.

A fearless girl challenging a god.
A woman who resurrected in a miserable state every time.
No matter how many times he killed her, Livia Horn kept coming back to him.

Her audacious gaze intrigued him, and her desperate struggles stirred him.

‘Remember, it’s always humans who kill mermaids.’

The forbidden words scratched at his ears, but he didn’t care.
Isn’t it the nature of gods to be indulgent, unruly, and capricious?

The arrogant sea god decided to willingly devour this sweet and fiery human woman, even if it meant swallowing the dagger himself.