El Amor Duele

In the slums of Naples, Santino Leandro learned one rule: power is survival. When his father is murdered in broad daylight, Santino is left with nothing but a name. Determined not to die forgotten, he builds himself from the ground up first as a street dealer, then as a quiet force within Europe’s criminal underworld. Years later, he’s called to France by his childhood friend Salvatore with an offer he can’t refuse: a chance to work under the infamous and elusive crime boss, El Amore. But nothing in this world comes without a price. As Santino rises, he finds himself surrounded by secrets. The woman he trusts may be a spy. His brother may be a traitor. And the empire he’s building may never have truly belonged to him. Power isolates. Loyalty breaks. And love, in this world, is a weapon. In the end, only one name will be remembered.

A change of epochs is coming, the nineteenth century from the Deposition of Kaphaeris is coming to an end, the twentieth century is already on the threshold. Starkrar, like the entire Meskian Empire, is preparing for the celebration of the bright holiday of Yule, to say goodbye to the old age and welcome the new one. But not only fog and frost walk along the snow-covered streets of the night capital. Something inhuman is hiding in the dirty alleys of the slums, waiting for its victims. Bloody massacres horrify the subjects of the empire, inflaming interspecies hatred, high-ranking officials die mysterious deaths in their own mansions, secret service agents disappear without a trace, and out of nowhere terrorists commit one horrific terrorist attack after another. Someone decided to shake the throne under the sacred person of the Emperor. Someone longs for the fall of Messiah. By the will of the monarch, Brian el'Moria - half-breed tencris, master of dark deeds and the first detective of the empire - takes up the investigation. From now on, he must either uncover the plot of a nameless enemy, or die.

Ethan‌ War‌d h‍ad nothing. A broken career, a betrayed life, and a world t‍h⁠at see‍med determined to crush him. When his‍ wife‍ abandon⁠ed hi‍m, his⁠ father-in-law r‍uine⁠d him,⁠ and the courts brand‌e⁠d‌ him a fraud, Ethan’s existence was reduced to shado⁠ws and sur‌vival. But the tr‌uth was‍ far strange‌r than anyone could imagine. A⁠ dragon-shaped mark o‌n his sho‍uld‌er was no⁠ ordinar‍y⁠ sca‍r—it‍ was the sign of a lost heir, a hidden powe‌r, and a leg‍acy that could shake th⁠e foundations of the worl‌d. ⁠ Identified by a mysterio‌us m‍entor, Ethan is thrust i‌nto a secret⁠ e‌mp‌ire—‍th‌e‍ Aurelian Order—wh⁠ere advanced technology, hidden energ‌y, an‌d unto⁠ld influence await. Here, he⁠ must endure⁠ b‌rutal training, unlock dorma‌nt p‌ow⁠e⁠r⁠s, and navi⁠gate a web of betra⁠yal, dec⁠eption,‍ a‍nd‍ dangerous allies. As he rises, one goal drives him: rec‌lai‌ming‍ what was stolen, ex‌posing the‍ corrupt, and rewriting the rules of a worl⁠d that o‌nce crushed him. But every step forward reveals new my‍steries, new⁠ enemi‍es, and a po‌wer fa‍r great⁠er than he ever imagined. Ethan Wa‌rd⁠ is‌ no longer just a ma‍n; he is Au⁠relius Ka⁠el, the dragon heir, and his rise has on‍ly just begun.