The Sentinel Matched Against Their Will [Sentinel/Guide, Gender-Bender]

Blurb:

Qi Ruo first saw that Sentinel at a high-society banquet. His mother brought him there and forced the Duke to acknowledge him as his son.

The whole hall erupted in laughter. As yet another mistress and illegitimate child to show up at his door, the woman and boy were driven out into the snowy night in disgrace.

The Duke came over to her, leading a boy her age, and promised her that he had only one son: the boy who would become her official fiancé.

They met again ten years later, when she made her first visit to the outpost. The Sentinel was a member of her escort team and protected her the entire time.

Silent, calm, professional, and never speaking a word to her.

Because he was mute.

Qi Ruo never once let her gaze linger on him, either.

She performed mental grooming for the escort team, leaving him out.

They met a third time after her fiancé was killed. The person with the highest compatibility with her on the White Tower’s Holy Stone turned out to be that Sentinel.

The Duke had no choice but to acknowledge his illegitimate son and rush the two of them into a wedding.

Qi Ruo glanced coldly at the Sentinel. “I don’t want a counterfeit. The engagement is off.”

No one could resist the Holy Stone’s matching system. That very night, the Sentinel disappeared.

When they meet again, he is an arrested rebel leader, bound with ropes and chains threaded through the bony wings on his half-mad, transformed body. Thick blood trickles down as he is brought to Qi Ruo’s comfort room.

As a Dark Guide, one seen only once in a century, Qi Ruo is the only person who can approach a Sentinel.

He is strapped to an iron bed, not for purification, but for experiments.

The Sentinel who brought him in says to Qi Ruo, “He’s a rebel dog. It doesn’t matter if he dies. Just do whatever makes you happy.”

Qi Ruo turns around. It is the first time she has heard the Sentinel speak. His voice is rough, hoarse, and unpleasant, his eyes bloodshot.

“Kill me. Give me a quick death.”

*

When Shao Ke was captured and brought back to the Holy Tower, he never thought he would survive.

He knew he would die in agony, but he still never expected Qi Ruo to be the Guide assigned to him.

Her fiancé had died on the same mission as him.

She was the Guide in the White Tower who hated him most.

He would probably be better off dead.

And later, Shao Ke really was “better off dead” every day. Vines rose and fell, and the words he spoke most often with his healed vocal cords were:

“Please, spare me.”

*

At first, Qi Ruo felt nothing for the Sentinel and barely noticed him.

Later, she began to dislike him a little.

In the end, she planted her seed inside this powerful Sentinel and asked with a deliberate smile, “Do you think it’ll grow a little eagle?”

Shao Ke turned his face away, but she forced him to look back. All he could do was nod in shame.

“You can remake me however you want.”

He knew Qi Ruo had spared his life and stayed with him because his face looked five parts like her fiancé’s.

[Cold, Dark Guide x Powerful, Enduring Sentinel]

1. The male lead is mute at first and only starts speaking midway through.

2. Mutant sensitive plant x golden eagle raptor.

3. The male lead believes he is a substitute, but the female lead has no feelings for her fiancé.

4. As always, this is a bittersweet romance focused on emotions. If you like my style, please add it to your collection! (Lighting the stove) (Trying to warm things up) (Getting ready to stir-fry)

Title and blurb written on 2025.8.4, with screenshots saved as proof

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