Novels by Nicole Marcina

A prince had a peaceful night all to himself.His fireplace burned brightly as it kept his quarters warm against the harsh, cold atmosphere outside the old castle he currently resided in. A direct view of the beautiful moon outside his window. And a scrumptious meal right in front of him.He happily dug into his meal, which was something that he hadn’t done in a long while. Not after all the sleepless nights that he had. As well as the days where he pretended in front of his family.‘Ah, finally,’ he thought to himself as he cut through the tender meat on his plate. ‘A night where I can finally enjoy my food.’Just as soon as he was going to take a bite, a knock came upon his door. He groaned as he put his fork down. “Who is it?” he answered, irritated.The door creaked open and a servant called out of the dark. “Prince Benjamin?”“I thought I made it clear that I wanted to be left alone for a few hours,” Benjamin replied as he scratched his forehead.“My apologies, Your Highness, but

“Grandpa Ben?” my brows knitted together as I called out.“What are you doing here? Where did you come from?” I asked as he approached us.Grandpa Ben stopped right before us. He immediately glared at Gonzalo. But Gonzalo didn’t back down. He stared right back at Grandpa Ben.Grandpa Ben then cleared his throat and returned to me. “Go ahead. Bring Laura back. However, I want for the both of you to return safely. If I don’t see you with her, I will never forgive you even in death.”“Have you no regards to his life?!” Gonzalo protested, making us turn to him. “For the sake of getting your daughter back, you’re willing to put the prince at risk?! Don’t you mortals ever think of anything but yourselves?!”“And what about you Immortals? Don’t you do the same?” Grandpa Ben snapped. “I may look like a weak, old man. But I’m well-versed with stories of your kind. I never imagined that the myths of gods and goddesses being selfish were actually true. But you,” he pointed a finger at Gonzalo, “

The moon shone high in the sky as I looked out my bedroom window.The whole room was pitch black, dark as the night sky above. And only the powerful moonlight was able to illuminate my room.Well, at least a portion of it.I was incredibly frustrated with everything that I never bothered to light my torches as night fell.After I returned from James’ study, I remained in my room and did absolutely nothing. I simply sat by the window and drank tea without any signs of stopping. I also requested for an early dinner, an attempt to avoid James during dinner time.I just wanted to be left alone.I just wanted some space.‘I just want progress. Was that too much to ask for?’ my mind shouted, helpless as no one could hear it. And no one bothered to listen or even ask me.Then, a knock on my door echoed throughout the room. But I didn’t answer. I already rejected persistent knockings as I remained in my quarters. Even though someone from the other end called for my name, I never made my prese

Bethilda’s mouth hung in disbelief.“Your Highness, my heart's already breaking for the sacrifice that I am to make. Against my own beliefs and wishes, I am giving you my men to aid your cause. Just because I want them to have some time to prepare, that doesn’t mean I am on the other side of this debacle,” Bethilda protested.She added, “Your impatience will put their lives at risk. And that’s a risk that I will never be willing to take.”I pressed my lips together as my nose flared after a deep sigh. Truth be told, I gave my full respect to Bethilda as she put her servants before anything. However, I couldn’t wait again for a longer time. We already wasted too much time here and we never made any sort of progress in terms of the rescue mission.I cared for Bethilda’s household the same as I did for my own. But we couldn’t afford to wait another week before we could proceed. We didn’t even have the slightest clue on what could be happening within Benjamin’s territory.The mere thought

Bethilda’s eyes widened whilst James immediately turned to my direction.This was the fastest solution that I could think of. James already exhausted all of his efforts for this debacle. I had to do something, even if he didn’t like it.Bethilda looked to James for a moment before she returned to me. “Whatever the reason is for this sudden request of aid, I am afraid that it will do you more harm than good,” she answered. She added, “My soldiers aren’t fully trained for combat. I only trained them to protect and to distract enemies. And besides, I don’t think that His Majesty is in favour of this decision of yours, Your Highness.”“James has already given his all for our cause. We don’t know who to turn to and we are running out of time,” I answered. James’ stare never left but I paid no mind. I had no time to argue with him.Bethilda asked, “Have you reached out to other kingdoms? I know that you are attempting to rescue a friend. If that is the case, shouldn’t it be advised to ask t

“I already sent some of the guards to gather more troops back home.“We don’t know how many men Benjamin has to protect him,” James replied. “As much as possible, I don’t want to spill too much blood, especially within their territory. I don’t want this debacle to cause a scandal. And I also don’t want to destroy our alliance with them. At the same time, we can’t waste the lives of more men, both on his side and ours.”For James to still honour our alliance with Eastern Sun, even after what Benjamin did, was frustrating.Benjamin betrayed me. Trust and loyalty were values that I held in high regard. But Benjamin disregarded that, all because he didn’t get what he wanted.For that action alone, the friendship between our kingdoms was also destroyed. How could we possibly trust a traitor? Even if that person was our ally, it already destroyed their credibility as someone we trusted deeply.However, I understood why James was still worried about the alliance. Eastern Sun wasn’t simply a

"Ugh, ugh, do you like that, huh? Do you like it when I pound you?""Oh, I love it. I love it, I love it. Fuck me harder. Fuck till I come.""With pleasure. I'll hump your brains out!"Moans and curses filled Taeyoung's room as he did his usual rendezvous with his receptionist. It was the normal scene in his office once lunch time has arrived. His secretary, bent over on his table with her skirt down whilst he pounded her from behind. And for the longest time, no one has ever caught them.Until today.The door suddenly opened as Taeyoung's assistant entered. "Mr. Nam, you need to-- Oh!"Taeyoung and the receptionist immediately turned their heads in his direction.His assistant cleared his throat and turned around. He kept his composure as hard as he could but that was extremely difficult. You wouldn't want to see your girlfriend under some other guy, right?He held his breath for a moment before he continued, "Mr. Nam, I have something to tell you."Taeyoung chuckled as he pulled out

He was thrown onto the table, breaking it with his body.I looked up and it was Mr. Nam and Hyeorae. Mr. Nam had death in his glare as he looked at the board member.Hyeorae quickly helped me up whilst Mr. Nam headed to the weakened man. And when he stood before him, he punched him without mercy. And there was no sign that he was going to stop."Sir, sir, that's enough," Hyeorae rushed over to Mr. Nam and pulled him back towards us. Mr. Nam resisted against Hyeorae but Hyeorae maintained his composure and held him back. He continued, "Mr. Nam, that's enough. People are watching."We looked around and the rest of the VIP section were staring at the commotion we started. Mr. Nam shook off Hyeorae's hand and fixed himself. "Take Miss Ryuk out of here and start the car," he gritted."Yes, sir." Without a moment to lose, Hyeorae gently led me out of the VIP section. He held me by the arm, his hand on my waist as we rushed our way out of this place.My heart pounded continuously as I became

Whilst we waited for the board director, I stood in between Mr. Nam and Hyeorae. Mr. Nam stood before me whilst Hyeorae stayed behind me. This position was supposed to make me feel secure. However, I was still wary of my surroundings. Random men had been eyeing me since we got here and the presence of Mr. Nam and Hyeorae wasn’t doing anything to scare them away.I stepped back and Hyeorae was quick to step closer to me. He moved closer to my ear and asked, “Is there something wrong, Miss Ryuk?”I shook my head and replied, trying my best to push through the loud music, “I’m very uncomfortable. Some guys here have been staring at me and I hate that.”Suddenly, someone held my hand and I immediately pulled away. Thankfully, it was only Mr. Nam. I was quickly relieved and he stepped closer to us. “Did something happen?” he asked.“Miss Ryuk said that some dudes were staring down at her because of her dress,” Hyeorae answered. “She’s a bit uncomfortable, sir.”Mr. Nam looked at me and ge

“As you can see, we still have more areas to expand our business. For now, we want to focus on what we have right now and make sure that we cater to everybody that we have,” Mr. Ho explained as he stood before us. On the whiteboard, the projector showed a map of the whole area of their vicinity.Today was the final day for us to meet with Mr. Ho and his board of directors. And he saved the best for last. He actually had a conference room behind the lobby and it was professional beyond professional.I knew I made the right decision in bringing my business suit.I looked to Mr. Nam anticipated for his response.Quietly, he tapped his fingers on the table as he looked down to his notes.The room was dead silent. The atmosphere grew thicker and thicker as we waited for Mr. Nam to say something. I shared brief glances with the directors and with Mr. Ho. And everybody had the same expression.Anxious. Nervous. It could be seen in their eyes. Their formal smiles couldn’t hide it from me.Fin

“Alright, you two. You’re up,” the staff said to us as he opened the gate.“Come on, Jinho,” I said, stepping onto the platform. Immediately, I took a seat in our designated cart. As I got settled in, I was shocked to find Mr. Nam, frozen in line. Irritated, I asked, “Jinho, what are you doing?”The staff entered the conversation, “You need to move, sir. There’s a long line behind you.”Mr. Nam looked at him with frightened eyes. His hands gripped tightly onto his leather jacket.After a long sigh and a groan, I stomped towards him and grabbed him by the hand.“Wait, wait, Mingyu,” he stuttered, fighting against my pull. He continued, “Stop for a second, give me a moment to breathe–”Immediately, I sat him on his spot in the cart, not allowing him to finish. I replied, “There’s no time. People are waiting to get on the ride. You can’t just stand there, make a fool of yourself and shake to death.” I sat beside him and allowed to lock our seatbelts.The seatbelts weren’t that tight but

“So, how’s everything there?” Soyoung asked on the other line.“Mr. Nam and I are currently waiting for the clients to arrive. We’re supposed to be in the middle of a meeting right now. But for some reason, they’re still not here,” I explained.“Oh, how manners dissolve when you become rich,” she remarked after a sigh. She asked another, “How was your first night in Jeju? Were you able to enjoy yourself?”I replied, “It was a chill start for the weekend. I shared dinner with Mr. Nam. The resto bar here has such a delicious shrimp cocktail. And—““Hold on. You did not just say that and simply brush it off like it’s nothing,” she said.I stopped for a second before I asked, “What do you mean?”“Replay just what you said.”“About the shrimp cocktail.”“No, not that.”I took a moment and retraced my words. “Oh, okay,” I replied, realizing what she meant. “What about that?”“Did you just go on a date with Mr. Nam?” she whispered over the phone.“No, Soyoung, it wasn’t a date. We somehow bu