Lantern Against the Wind

Description

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Gareth is a mercenary who carries the scent of blood wherever he goes. There was no need for family; he lived a life where death awaits him at any moment, but yet he took Elena to his estate.

Elena is the eldest daughter of the Townsend family. Nevermind her desolate estate, her family was on the brink of poverty, so she decides to be Gareth’s wife.

To Gareth, Elena was like a lantern that shone silently in the dark, and he was the turbulent wind trying to light out her lantern.

Associated Names
One entry per line
LATW
바람 앞의 등불
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
How to Extend a Marriage Contract (3)
Light and Shadow (1)
A Demotion Isn’t That Bad (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Smutt~~
  2. Korean R18 Completed
  3. Cry your heart out
  4. 5 - WANT TO READ
  5. NOT SAFE FOR YOU -- COMPLETED -- (R18)

Latest Release

Date Group Release
02/27/22 wordexcerpt c20
02/27/22 wordexcerpt c19
02/27/22 wordexcerpt c18
02/27/22 wordexcerpt c17
02/27/22 wordexcerpt c16
02/27/22 wordexcerpt c15
02/27/22 wordexcerpt c14
02/27/22 wordexcerpt c13
02/27/22 wordexcerpt c12
02/27/22 wordexcerpt c11
02/27/22 wordexcerpt c10
02/26/22 wordexcerpt c9
02/26/22 wordexcerpt c8
02/26/22 wordexcerpt c7
02/26/22 wordexcerpt c6
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17 Reviews sorted by


ahvii
ahvii rated it
April 26, 2022
Status: c42
Beautifully written/translated, and love the storytelling. The FL's a bad b*tch. Would recommend for people to read if they're really into historical, tragic, medieval novels. Hard for me to call it smut bc there's no such thing as consent (as of yet)... smh.... Honestly, I had no idea what I was getting into - I didn't look it up before reading and once I started I couldn't stop!

... more>>
Spoiler

tldr; im ranting bc the ml's a butthole >: (

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I'm just really really really really hoping for some bomb character development because the guy's an ass. like really - he gets so emotional that he can't help but be an abusive dick. or idk he has some kind of f*cked up trauma but its honestly not an excuse. he r*pes the poor girl and thinks nothing of it. he can be so f*cking hypocritical sometimes and it's so dang f*cked up. I feel so sorry for the girl and the fact that she has to live with that. I really hope this doesnt turn into some novel where the FL has to "fix" while being treated like tr*sh. the ML bc he doesnt deserve it from her (imo) - he doesnt even respect her. my blood pressure tho.......

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Springequinox
Springequinox
November 28, 2022
Status: --
I don't know why this recieved even 3.8 rating.

There's RAPE.

I can't continue reading this. The male MC has no respect for the Female MC or women in general. I personally hate such personality where men in such novels use women for nothing but satisfying their needs.

I feel traumatized reading this. It doesn't deserve any rating unless people like to read toxic and traumatic romance.

I wouldn't even say anything was romantic in this.
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Lounatic_Zoldyck
Lounatic_Zoldyck rated it
March 8, 2022
Status: c145
REVIEW AT CHAP 145

wow just wow😍😍

This is officially my favorite novel! It had a promising start and I assure you it does not disappoint at all!! If you like a mature romance novel in a historical setting do not hesitate to start!!!!!! It's a story about Elena, a count'e daughter, who decides to marry a mercenary called Gareth in order to protect her family and territory. You will get to read about their relationship, the hardships that Elena faces in her new harsh environment, and how she pushes through... more>> it to her max. You will witness the love growing between the couple which leads to a healthier relationship.
And the best of all is that the ending is satisfying!!
SO STARTTT READINGGG!!

However, I repeat that this is not a fluffy romance story, in some parts you'll get angry, depressed, and frustrated, and the smut scenes at the beginning are quite disturbing because the ML was a compete brute. So just keep in mind that this story is set in a historical era. As for the character development, it's completely satisfying
Our FL Elena is amazing from the start!!! She's strong smart independent woman, she's the hero of the story!! I love her so much!! This story hits you in the feels majorly because you share her feelings in her dark times☹️ You get to see her growing by learning to open up and lean on the persons she trusts. You see Gareth growing from a brute into a person who tries to improve for his loved one. I think it's an actual realistic development because the male lead does not become a perfect human being or a perfect husband to Elena but he grows considerably. Taking into consideration the traumas that he had and the scars that didn't heal, I think that the author did a good job in trying to improve Gareth's character without making it seem like beast turning into beauty development😆. I got used to reading a chapter a day so I'm kind of sad that it ended🥹

All in all I highly recommended reading this novel!

REVIEW AT chap 45

Nice story!

The characters are really well done, the FL is strong and smart and you look foward to the character development of the ml.
it doesn't start with love and roses which makes it even more interesting!

can't wait for more updates 😊 <<less
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natanickii
natanickii rated it
March 1, 2022
Status: c46
This novel is very interesting. The ML is a c*nt and the FL is very strong spirited. The characters are both very well written and do feel real.

The plot is stirring, but I can't imagine that it gets any thicker. Nevertheless, it is a romance so that's to be expected.

I am really excited for the development of the relationship. Story has a lot of potential.

... more>>

Edit: ok ML is just some mental man. This story is suited for people who LIKE DERANGED, MORALLY BANKRUPT MLs. It's suited for me so my rating is still 4 stars but proceed with caution! <<less
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midori_13
midori_13 rated it
October 26, 2023
Status: Completed
🤬 I’m more venting than writing a review... but I had to release all the anger that filled my heart while reading this novel! If I could, I would give zero stars for this novel...

This is the first time I had palpitations due to my anger while reading a novel, and look that I had my share of scumbag male leads and doormat female leads... but this novel was too much! 😡

But if you want to feel the thrill of anger palpitations I really recommend this novel 😑...

Warning... more>> ⛔️ Spoilers... and I’m sorry for all the cursing! 😠

Spoiler

Plot

Spoiler

So basically the story is about a virg*n Mary and doormat female lead, Elena, that is trying to save and help the people of the land of her s*upid and too proud County father... Since the land was being threatened and female lead was being harassed by Logan, the scum cousin of the scum Emperor.

Short story long, female lead by chance ended up meeting the powerful mercenary shitty male lead, Gareth, that had a grudge against the scum cousin of the Emperor, Logan.

So, since both had a grudge against Logan, female lead tried to hire the mercenary’s guild of male lead to get rid of Logan.

Yada, yada, yada, after a bunch of drama, tr*sh male lead makes an agreement with s*upid female lead that if she agrees to marry him, he will protect her father’s land from the douchebag cousin of Emperor.

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In the journey...

Spoiler

... to the male lead’s castle, the tr*sh male lead doesn’t talk with female lead and their only interaction is to painfully r*pe her.

This is the first time that I read about a male lead that isn’t only a scumbag, but literally an animal... and in the end he deceived the female lead, Elena, because he didn’t have any intention of marrying her nor having a family, he would only keep her by his side... he didn’t care anyway, because he thought that after releasing his lust for a while, he would lost interest on her, since he never had the slightest interest in liking or be respectful to women...

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What was the surprise of female lead Elena...

Spoiler

... when she got to male lead’s castle and found another woman there, saying that she was his lover and was pregnant... what a surprise, since the alpha male lead he was, he couldn’t keep his d*ck inside his pants so he wasn’t sure if the baby was really his... that woman was Lydia, the bit*h and schemy sister of scum Emperor.

Of course, female lead got crushed after being r*ped, discovered that he wouldn’t marry her or intended to have a family and in the end had to face his pregnant lover.

Hah, the idiot got the audacity to get mad with female lead, thinking that she was throwing a tantrum over the situation...

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I kinda started liking the female lead at this point...

Spoiler

... since she stated that she wasn’t his wife, she was his possession and that she would behave accordingly to the agreement as long as he keep protecting her father’s land... she would work as a servant and would warm up his bed and in case she got pregnant the baby would only be hers.

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But of course, the s*upid female lead...

Spoiler

... started falling in love with him... despite the various violent r*pes episodes.

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How she could...

Spoiler

... fall in love with an idiot that didn’t even want to recognize his allegedly baby? He only started accepting the idea of the pregnancy after the bit*h lover emotionally manipulated him that her baby would be a red haired daughter that would look like his red haired deceased sister.

(Detail, the baby had a high probability of being red haired, since the mother had red hair! The scum was blonde by the way... and what an idiot! If the baby had red hair, how that would prove that it was his child? Just because the child would have the same red hair color as his younger deceased sister and what that has to do with him that was blonde?

Meanwhile, he keeps acting rudely and cold towards female lead, (because he’s an animal that would attack sexually female lead in the middle of the kitchen in front of all the servants) but he didn’t only abused her sexually but also emotionally, since he didn’t know how to deal with emotions because even he admitted that he was a brutal beast that only knew how to kill...

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Yada, yada, yada...

Spoiler

... I know that maybe he was suffering from PTSD, because he had a tragic past which his family was assassinated in front of him when he was a kid and because of all the mercenary killing... the PTSD looks really plausible because he would have burst of blindly violence, making him r*pe and kill and then he would feel guilty and try to be gentle, so he could explode again in the next second... but that doesn’t excuse him at all! That scumbag sh*t 💩!

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Oh but the best is yet to come...

Spoiler

... of course the pregnancy was all a scheme to manipulate male lead and use his power against the Emperor and the baby wasn’t his, so the bit*h lover Lydia had planned all along that she would have a miscarriage, so no one would discover the truth... she made look like the female lead, Elena, pushed her down from the stairs, and when she had a miscarriage the baby was really a girl with red hair and when the male lead saw that, he started remembering of his younger sister... the female lead started asking him: “Do you trust me, right? That I didn’t push her and caused the miscarriage... ” and the male lead coldly said something like: “What difference would make if I believe or not? The baby is already dead... ”but the female lead keeps asking him over and over if he believed her and he yelled at her saying for her to get out of the room... oh, but female lead was such a doormat that she decided to go clean the blood of the miscarriage that was on the floor, while begging again for the male lead to believe her, but all he did was turn his back on her...

🤮 He makes me gag of disgust! What is even worse, after the bit*h lover had the miscarriage, without even having sure if the baby was his or not, he just kicked out the lover out of his castle...

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So, in the end...

Spoiler

... he decided to ignore female lead and give some space for her because of all that happened and since she always forgave him he thought it wasn’t a big deal... so he only noticed after a couple of days that she had run away! LOL 😂 Omg, he becomes more and more disgusting 🤮 Long story short, he found female lead almost death in a pile of snow, he regretted deeply, cried for the first time in his life, started acting like a human being, and after a while is forgiven by female lead, because she loves him. So what if he started acting like a human being? Should he be praised because of that? First of all, it was his obligation to behave like a human being and also treat her like a human being... he shouldn’t be praised or rewarded just because he stopped being an animal, scumbag, rapist 🤬!

The best possible end would be if the female lead died in that snow pile and he regretted for the rest of his life or if he got castrated in the war and couldn’t r*pe anyone anymore and felt sexually frustrated for the rest of his life like the h**ny animal that he was...

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Sure, sure...

Spoiler

... if we think deeply, the characters are kinda realistic?

Like female lead was a doormat because women in medieval times didn’t have any rights and should accept their horrible fate and oblige to their fathers and husbands.

The male lead was a sh*t animal, because that’s how medieval mercenaries were supposed to be, violent, not so much rationals and rapists that could only act by instinct by killing, eating and having s*x...

Even the villain Logan, was realistic, since as a medieval noble lord, he would covet others people’s land and harass young and pretty ladies...

But if I really wanted to read realism literature I wouldn’t look for romance novels to start of. So, nope, I’m sorry, I can’t accept this shitty animal of male lead and doormat and s*upid female lead. Because this novel really infuriated me... 😡

By the way, if the author was really trying to portray realistic characters, he wouldn’t had create the character Giggs. He was the right hand mercenary of shitty male lead. Giggs was a brute but very gentle and the only one that always sided with female lead. So, if the story was really realistic, gentle Giggs wasn’t supposed to exist... which medieval mercenary would be nice like that? If female lead was smart, she would have kicked the shitty male lead and stays with Giggs... he wasn’t so smart, but at least he was decent...

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LuxyPurr
LuxyPurr rated it
July 11, 2022
Status: c98
I came for the smut but stayed for the story. If physical, verbal and emotional abuse are triggers for you then I wouldn't recommend this novel.

The FL, while she has flaws, strives to be strong and independent at a time when women were regarded as inferior to men.

ML has been through traumatic experiences and has his own demons. He's borderline narcissistic IMO but I'm excited for his character development.

Echoing the others in saying this story is realistic. I love fluffy stories and loveable MLs but I also love stories where... more>> the characters learn through the hardships and lessons life throws at them and come out stronger than ever. <<less
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Temp950
Temp950
November 25, 2022
Status: c85
Do you like being depressed? R*pe? More r*pe? Some domestic violence and then some more r*pe? Then this is the novel for you.

Not the kind where the girl is so drowned by pleasure that she secretly enjoys it but says no, but the sort where the person is treated like utter garbage and threatened, beaten and mistreated throughout the novel. Oh and the person doing it is the Male lead. Its probably one of the most bleak novels I have read here, and I was getting the feeling that

the author... more>> was trying to humanize an utterly repellent piece of garbage, but it just doesn't work for me. Unless this ends with the male lead getting castrated and spending his life in misery, it could never be a satisfying ending. Either way, I gave up after two thirds of the way because it just left a bad taste reading it. <<less
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Jhessky
Jhessky rated it
March 21, 2022
Status: c33
A story that has so much potential. It's too realistic and as expected from the characters. They all felt alive and has real personality as if it is really happening and not because of the author's plot. But anyways, the romance is really subtle right now. The ML is currently confused and is numb to emotions. FL is really pitiful tho. I would like for their love to bloom soon, I hate seeing her always crying and ML being cruel to her.
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earlgreyt
earlgreyt rated it
September 6, 2022
Status: Completed
It's pretty good if you know what you're getting into.

These kinds of stories follow a classic angst/drama where the MC has to go through a lot of misunderstandings and suffering before getting their happy ending.

... more>>
Spoiler

It's pretty standard MC-whump/torture where there's a misunderstood ML who intentionally or unintentionally (thinking that "it's better in the long run" because of XYZ reasons) hurts the MC deeply, and the MC is shown super strong in the beginning before breaking and running away (separation/amnesia/whatever have you) and ML grovels to get MC back.

And yes, the ML does grovel (enough for me at least) so the ending is pretty fluffy?

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Furthermore, the author acknowledges the problematic background of the story and doesn't seek to romanticize it (which is already a step up from most WN).

So what we have is a medieval-style angst/drama novel in a highly oppressive and patriarchal society. The MC is really interesting in that she doesn't topple the social systems in the novel, but does do what she can with her own strength (but ultimately falls victim to those systems).

So yeah, if you expect a lot of sweet sweet angst, you will enjoy this novel.

To be honest I'm not sure about the smut tag because

Spoiler

I don't think the s*x was very sexy and 90% of it was forced/r*pe. Give the author kudos for making the r*pe parts pretty awful and not eroticized like other novels?

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It's very clear early on that the relationship has additional complexity because it will never be between equals.

Spoiler

It's definitely a mature read where the world itself is unfair and there is no way the MC can even conceive the possibilities of standing on her own compared to the ML or truly obtain anything belonging to herself (sadly, this isn't Game of Thrones) because she is a product of the same world.

So what we've got is a relationship that is the best MC can make of in that setting.

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Anyway I probably didn't describe it very well.

TL;DR the relationship is more complex than you think, the author has a mature viewpoint, and the story has problematic elements but unlike other WN, those elements not excused by the author. <<less
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OctopusOnTheRun
OctopusOnTheRun rated it
July 18, 2022
Status: --
I like darker romance, but this is too much for me. The logic of the characters and how everything unfolds just doesn't feel cohesive. Like why they do the things they do just doesn't make sense. Gareth comes off as just ridiculously s*upid, and we constantly hear how the FL is so strong and not like other girls but she's turning into a doormat pretty fast. This reminds me of light and shadow, another novel that seems to romanticize r*pe and abusive relationships without really exploring the true effects of... more>> it on the FL. The writing is ok though I guess. <<less
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noba_19
noba_19
August 1, 2022
Status: --
Wow, the story line is great and the FL, I liked her character, she's understanding and she knows how to use her kindness to control the Domineering ML.

Such an amazing Plot, I missed great plots.
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Mariria33
Mariria33 rated it
February 24, 2024
Status: Completed
Interesting story, I liked it. Was a bit rough in between and I had to skip some chapters but was good with happy ending 😊
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Sallyluv
Sallyluv
August 20, 2023
Status: c1
It’s beautiful story it’s very different from the others, it’s like real you won’t feel that you reading just a story, I’m glad that I read it, and thanks to those who shared their experiences with this beautiful story which’s encourage me to read it💕💕
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xelixette
xelixette rated it
August 8, 2023
Status: Completed
This story had potential, but it was all thrown away.

Reasons for two stars:

  • Nicely written and translated, the characters' emotions can be felt.
  • The worldbuilding is pretty good, it's a highly-oppressive patriarchal society.
  • It is a psychological dark adult romance, I've read more than a few and I know what to expect, but the male lead just never gets better in my opinion.
  • Is there a solo ending option?
  • The smut parts just leaves a lump in my throat, and whatever sweetness just seems bitter.
Maybe I've read too many similar stories to go through the... more>> same old song and dance again, or maybe this is too heavy for the current me. <<less
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Vividimole
Vividimole rated it
October 31, 2022
Status: Completed
Wow, I cried so much while reading this. The end was really rewarding, but omg what an emotional roller-coaster
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Hareku-chan
Hareku-chan rated it
October 16, 2022
Status: c145
When you finished a novel it feels so short...

Character development of ML is so damn good.

This is the first Korean novel with more than 100 chapters completed that I read continuesly. Drama was fine, it's so irritating but not that annoying. The smut was good too.

... more>> I kinda like the villainess here since this is multiple povs so I know what's running in her b*tchy mind.

How worth it? I spent my weekend's off just to read and finish this that I should be preparing for my documents that should be submitted on Monday. <<less
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kohaichi
kohaichi rated it
July 8, 2022
Status: c94
The emotions this novel evokes in me makes me can't help but be immersed in the story thus increasing my curiosity as to what will happen next!

I like angst and not at the same time. But in this novel, it provides just the right amount of angst and compensates those with sweetness, right after!

I feel satisfied reading this novel...
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