Who Took My Scabbard?

[To all my lovely readers, here's a peek at my upcoming novel, Don't Step on the Demon King's Tail Tip. If you like it, please add it to your favorites!]

Here's the blurb:

The seemingly stiff, taciturn, and mature-for-his-age but actually adorably innocent, passionate, and pure-hearted Divine Sword gong vs. the seemingly gentle, easygoing, upright gentleman but actually scheming, cunning, and obsessive scabbard shou.

As a sword, losing your scabbard is like having no door at home, no bed to sleep in, or going out without pants. You get the idea.

A hundred years after being separated from his scabbard, the ancient Divine Sword Qiao Qingyang finally packed his bags and set out on the road of no return to find it.

But the human world was full of dangers, and the road to finding a scabbard was long.

Qiao Qingyang found himself in peril time and again, but fortunately, he met Gu Li, the kind (?) and gentle (?) master of the Sword Pavilion.

The Pavilion Master was warm and passionate, thoughtful and sexy, and offered room, board, and sword care services.

Moved by the depth of their brotherly bond and the knowledge that there were still plenty of good people in the world, Qiao Qingyang had no choice but to accept.

Only after everything was finally settled did that man slowly close in, pinning the flustered, blushing Divine Sword against a wall.

He tilted his head, as if puzzled. "Didn't Qingyang need a scabbard?"

He did need a scabbard, but not that kind of scabbard!

[Blurb for the upcoming novel Don't Step on the Demon King's Tail Tip:]

[Beautiful, haughty demon king gong who gets prickly when his tail is stepped on and loves shiny jewels vs. gentle, scheming archangel shou who is passionate in bed and out of it, and loves nothing more than touching the demon king's tail]

In his tenth year undercover in the human world, the Demon King Ares had not only failed to destroy the world, but had also managed to build a happy family.

He had a handsome, gentle, kind, and passionate human partner, a somewhat elusive but still adorable and clingy cat, a respectable job by human standards, and friendly, harmonious neighbors.

Everything was so simple and wonderful.

That is, if Ares hadn't lost the concealment potion sent from the demon realm, causing his magic to go haywire.

For a demon king, magic going haywire was a minor inconvenience. All he needed was to take a quick trip back to the demon realm and breathe some fresh air, and he'd be back to normal, refreshed and cheerful.

But for "ordinary human Ares," magic going haywire meant the sky was falling.

Until a new batch of concealment potions could be made and delivered, he could no longer hide his demonic traits with ease: his tail, horns, demonic markings, and pointy ears. His partner would faint at the sudden sight of his little wings. The cat would chase his uncontrollably swishing tail and crash into the flower vases at home. His neighbors would shriek and throw the muffins and cakes they'd baked at him.

He'd even be unable to do his job, because he couldn't control his magic. Every day, he was either beating up his boss or on his way to beat up his boss. Without a paycheck, he could no longer order shiny, beautiful gemstones from the kind owner of the jewelry store next door, or bring a bouquet of flowers home to his partner after a busy day.

Just thinking about it was enough to make him miserable!

So Ares made up his mind: he absolutely could not let anyone discover who he was before the new potion arrived.

He had to keep everything hidden, from his horns and tail to the bat wings fluttering on his back, desperate to bask in the moonlight. Even if someone accidentally stepped on his tail, he'd have to grit his teeth and bear it.

As the Archangel of Heaven, soon to retire, Yadesimo's final assignment before retirement was to hunt down the terrifying Demon King from the demon realm, who had gone undercover in the human world as soon as he took office, with evil designs and a plan to destroy the world.

But he hadn't counted on the human world having so many temptations. A beautiful, haughty human boy who stumbled through life had become an irresistible temptation for the Archangel.

Ten years passed with no progress on the mission. The angels were frantic every day, and the human world remained in constant danger.

But so what? At least Yadesimo had successfully won over his beautiful boy, Ares, and secured his place as his one and only partner.

Everything should have continued peacefully and happily, as long as he could hide the angel feathers of his colleagues, who were disguised as neighbors and kept coming around to bother them.

Lately, however, Yadesimo had been feeling that something was off with his boy.

Not only did he often get angry and embarrassed while talking to himself in the mirror, he also seemed reluctant to mate with him. Whenever Yadesimo asked, he stammered that he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself.

In truth, Yadesimo was dying for him to lose control. An angel's endurance was far beyond what his human boy could imagine.

On top of that, Ares often got up in the middle of the night and sneaked out to the balcony, wearing his pajamas and opening the window. He'd be gone for half an hour every time.

Sometimes strange marks suddenly appeared on his body, like some tacky tattoos. Yadesimo had no idea who had led him astray.

Oh, and there was a strange, thin, long, and very flexible object that sometimes appeared on the bed. Perhaps it was some sort of fun little toy. The Archangel was happy to indulge his young partner's interests. Sometimes he even deliberately reached under the covers to press and step on it, hinting to Ares that he liked it very much.

But Ares had never used the little toy on him. Sometimes he even slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom to wipe away his tears.

This was very wrong, extremely wrong. It had all the signs of the seven-year itch.

Yadesimo made up his mind: he had to find out what was wrong with his partner and save their marriage!

Core theme: Persevere, and keep moving forward.