the princess they called cursed

HookNovaStudio

14 hours ago

Transcript

00:00:01Elena, is this how beg?

00:00:09Two years ago, I was the arrogant saintess, and he was the dragon slave I whipped at my whim.

00:00:17Two years later, he awakens the imperial dragon blood and returns to the imperial capital.

00:00:23As the giant dragon dives to the earth, he transforms into a king of extraordinary elegance.

00:00:31His dark gold dragon pupils are locked firmly onto me.

00:00:35Once his equal, now a disgraced slave of the clan, fallen into the abyss beneath the altar.

00:00:42To save my father, I was forced to kneel at his feet and let him tear away my white robes,

00:00:48the very symbol of my sanctity.

00:00:51He laughed coldly, demanding I pleasure him to repay the debts of those two years.

00:00:57He already has a perfect match by his side, yet he insists on taking me by force,

00:01:03trapping me in an eternal cage.

00:01:05Oh, you are, but I will never let your children become your prisoners.

00:01:12Watching the madness of his possessive gaze, I press my hand against my stomach,

00:01:17where a faint draconic sigil flickered, the mark pulsing with the rhythmic cadence of a heartbeat.

00:01:24It was this very secret that had driven me to orchestrate my own death,

00:01:28a scandalous escape that had shocked the world.

00:01:31A month ago, the Holy Kingdom fell under a sudden monster assault.

00:01:35I found myself cornered in the black forest,

00:01:39trapped and suffocating under the weight of a dark malevolent curse.

00:01:42As my consciousness began to fracture, he appeared.

00:01:45He rode through the chaos.

00:01:48As he charged forward on horseback,

00:01:50I could have sworn I saw the spectral shimmer of dragon wings unfurl behind him,

00:01:54a broken sword in one hand and a spear in the other,

00:01:58cutting a path to my side.

00:02:00In my blurred vision, he looked breathtaking.

00:02:05That night, amidst a frantic soul resonance,

00:02:08I let myself cross the forbidden line with him.

00:02:10I think I might have actually fallen for him.

00:02:13I thought of him the moment I opened my eyes.

00:02:15I banished him once more to the most remote, crumbling tower of the estate.

00:02:19Before sending him to the tower was a triumph of my power.

00:02:22Now I found myself sneaking toward it just to catch a glimpse of him.

00:02:26He was right there in my temple.

00:02:28Yet I was dying of an incurable heartache.

00:02:31Today was his 22nd birthday.

00:02:33I had spent hours baking a lemon tart with my own hands,

00:02:37wanting to give him a surprise.

00:02:39I wanted to tell him that he was going to be a father.

00:02:43Two years ago in the arena, I bestowed upon him the name Shadow.

00:02:47He was but a flicker of darkness, easily erased.

00:02:51Now, that name has become my only longing.

00:02:54I reach the tower only to find my world collapsing.

00:02:57My shadow was gone.

00:03:00A massive dragon shadow reared its head.

00:03:02Its wings sweeping across the ceiling.

00:03:05A blinding burst of molten gold erupted before my eyes.

00:03:08Before shrinking and condensing into the form of a noble man.

00:03:12The slave had vanished.

00:03:14Replaced by a prince radiating golden light.

00:03:17The rumors followed quickly.

00:03:19He already had a fiancé.

00:03:22A childhood match.

00:03:23Lady Isabella.

00:03:24The most brilliant woman in the empire.

00:03:26As soon as he returned to the capital, their grand wedding would begin.

00:03:33My sanctuary had been transformed into a cage, surrounded by the cold steel of the paladins.

00:03:40The moment they spotted me, skulking in the shadows like a common theme, a royal guard lunged forward,

00:03:46pressing the frigid edge of a heavy greatsword against my throat.

00:03:49Neil, daughter of a traitor, how dare you stand in the presence of Prince Arthur?

00:03:53I looked past the blade of the man in the center of the crowd.

00:03:56The ragged, homespun clothes were gone.

00:03:59In their place was a magnificent robe of blackened gold.

00:04:04Risking execution, I reached out with trembling fingers, desperately trying to catch his hand.

00:04:10A low, rhythmic vibration hummed in the air, as glowing embers of dragonfire drifted from the gold embroidery of his

00:04:17robes.

00:04:20You... are you truly the crown prince?

00:04:22Tell me, Miss Vivian, how do you plan to torture me today?

00:04:25Will it be the jeweled whip, or shall I feel the weight of your dancing shoes again?

00:04:30Once I return to the capital, I will send the official documents to sever our contract.

00:04:34A woman from this wretched holy kingdom has no place beside my throne.

00:04:37My eyes burned with unshed tears.

00:04:40I hadn't come to hurt him.

00:04:42I had come to celebrate his birth.

00:04:44To tell him that I was carrying his children.

00:04:47But even my touch was a stain to him now.

00:04:50I finally understood the brutal reality.

00:04:53He loathed me.

00:04:54He would never want me.

00:04:55And he would certainly never want the bastards in my womb.

00:04:59Even if they carried his own dragon blood.

00:05:02I shielded the faint yet searing spark of dragon blood within me.

00:05:05Standing amidst the hallowed ruins in utter despair.

00:05:09I wanted to tell him that I would give up everything.

00:05:11I would follow him to the capital as a lowly handmaid.

00:05:14Anything just to stay by his side.

00:05:16But to him, my very touch was a defilement.

00:05:20The deposition decree, sealed with the dragon crest, had severed our contract forever.

00:05:25At eighteen, I had fallen from the adored saintess to a prisoner abandoned by the gods.

00:05:30I finally woke up from the dream.

00:05:32Arthur hated me.

00:05:34He would go on to marry the pure-blooded Lady Isabella and father noble dragon heirs.

00:05:39To him.

00:05:40Do you have any final prayers, Miss Vivian?

00:05:44He looked down at me, as if I were a speck of dust.

00:05:47I had wanted to beg him to taste the lemon tart I baked with my own hands.

00:05:51But seeing the frost in his eyes, I could only bite my lip and shake my head through a blur

00:05:56of tears.

00:05:57Golden scales erupted across his skin, as the air ignited with his draconic aura.

00:06:02With a mocking smear, his body shifted and expanded in a blinding flash of light, transforming into a massive dragon.

00:06:10The gale from his wings slamming me violently into the snow.

00:06:13He vanished into the clouds without a single backward glance.

00:06:17I sat frozen in the ice, until a sharp searing pain tore through my abdomen, nearly causing me to lose

00:06:24the child.

00:06:25Watching the fading silhouette in the sky, I clutched my stomach where a faint dragon mark pulsed, beating rhythmically like

00:06:31a second heart.

00:06:35Disaster struck, three days, after Arthur's departure.

00:06:39My father, the Holy Father, was branded, with the twin sins of treason and black magic.

00:06:44Then cast into the darkest depths of the abyss prison, I rushed to the capital, desperate and breathless, only to

00:06:50be met with the death sentence.

00:06:51He was to face the trial of Holy Fire on the night of the next full moon.

00:06:56Inside the stench-ridden dungeon, my mother's withered hand gripped mine with terrifying strength.

00:07:02Elena, you must go to Prince Arthur.

00:07:05You must go to your shadow.

00:07:09You swore vows before the dragon god.

00:07:12You are high on only contract holder.

00:07:15He cannot simply watch us die.

00:07:18Her words cut through me like acerated blood, but he couldn't find the voice to answer.

00:07:23How could I admit that during those two years of shadow, I had forced him into the freezing depths of

00:07:29the Holy Lake just to retrieve a lost jewel for my amusement?

00:07:33How could I confess that, in fits of rage, I had left scars upon his back that would never heal?

00:07:39He likely wanted to see my family reduced to ash more than anyone else in the world.

00:07:43But looking at the last flickering spark of hope in my mother's eyes, I forced myself to move.

00:07:49I picked up the ruby-encrusted whip, the very symbol of my former tyranny, and dragged my trembling body to

00:07:55the crown prince's palace.

00:07:57There, before the towering obsidian iron gates, I fell to my knees and waited.

00:08:05Back in the Holy Kingdom, a single command from my lips was enough to make shadow crawl to my feet.

00:08:11If I wanted him to bow, he never dared to meet my eyes.

00:08:15But now, the tables had turned with a cruel irony.

00:08:18To see him for even a moment I had to kneel in the teeth of a blizzard, begging a shred

00:08:23of mercy.

00:08:24I knelt until I lost all feeling in my legs, the ruby whip in my hands, buried under a thick

00:08:30shroud of snow.

00:08:31Just as dawn threatened to break, a dragon's roar shattered the cloud.

00:08:34The black wings eclipsed the dawn as he dived, only to contract and transform the instant they struck the earth.

00:08:40From the heart of the erupting snow, Arthur emerged in human form, breaking through the mist.

00:08:46The crunch of his boots against the frozen ground echoed the frantic beating of my heart.

00:08:50His cold, indifferent gaze lingered for a moment on the whip I held.

00:08:54Tell me, Miss Vivian, which hand was it?

00:08:58Which hand did you use to leave those scars on my body?

00:09:01His voice held no warmth, only the crushing weight of a judge passing sentence.

00:09:06I was so frozen I could barely breathe.

00:09:09Before I could find my voice, my strength failed me.

00:09:12My knees buckled and I collapsed forward, falling directly into his arms.

00:09:16His chest was burning hot, a searing contrast to the ice.

00:09:19The heat instantly triggered the memory of our night of soul resonance.

00:09:22The way he had pinned me against the altar of his predatory hunger.

00:09:26My eyes welled with bitter tears.

00:09:30Your Highness, please, save my father.

00:09:34I'm begging you.

00:09:35His pupils narrowed into golden vertical slits, and a faint rhythmic glow of molten fire pulsed beneath the skin of

00:09:41his throat.

00:09:43Elena, is this how I beg?

00:09:52Two years ago, I was the arrogant saintess, and he was the dragon slave I whipped at my whim.

00:10:00Two years later, he awakens the imperial dragon blood and returns to the imperial capital.

00:10:07As the giant dragon dives to the earth, he transforms into a king of extraordinary elegance.

00:10:14His dark gold dragon pupils are locked firmly onto me, once his equal, now a disgraced slave of the clan,

00:10:22fallen into the abyss beneath the altar.

00:10:25To save my father, I was forced to kneel at his feet and let him tear away my white robes,

00:10:31the very symbol of my sanctity.

00:10:34He laughed coldly, demanding I pleasure him to repay the debts of those two years.

00:10:40He already has a perfect match by his side, yet he insists on taking me by force, trapping me in

00:10:47an eternal cage.

00:10:48Oh, you are.

00:10:51But I will never let your children become your prisoners.

00:10:55Watching the madness of his possessive gaze, I press my hand against my stomach, where a faint draconic sigil flickered.

00:11:03The mark pulsing at the rhythmic cadence of a heartbeat.

00:11:07It was this very secret that had driven me to orchestrate my own death, a scandalous escape that had shocked

00:11:13the world.

00:11:13A month ago, the Holy Kingdom fell under a sudden monster assault.

00:11:18I found myself cornered in the black forest, trapped and suffocating under the weight of a dark malevolent curse.

00:11:25As my consciousness began to fracture, he appeared.

00:11:28He rode the chaos.

00:11:30As he charged forward on horseback, I could have sworn I saw the spectral shimmer of dragon wings unfurl behind

00:11:37him.

00:11:37A broken sword in one hand, and a spear in the other, cutting a path to my side.

00:11:43In my blurred vision, he looked breathtaking.

00:11:47That night, amidst a frantic soul resonance, I let myself cross the forbidden line with him.

00:11:53I think I might have actually fallen for him.

00:11:56I thought of him the moment I opened my eyes.

00:11:58I banished him once more to the most remote, crumbling tower of the estate.

00:12:02Before sending him to the tower was a triumph of my power.

00:12:05Now I found myself sneaking toward it just to catch a glimpse of him.

00:12:08He was right there in my temple, yet I was dying of an incurable heartache.

00:12:14Today was his 22nd birthday.

00:12:16I had spent hours baking a lemon tart with my own hands, wanting to give him a surprise.

00:12:22I wanted to tell him that he was going to be a father.

00:12:26Two years ago in the arena, I bestowed upon him the name Shadow.

00:12:30He was but a flicker of darkness, easily erased.

00:12:34Now, that name has become my only longing.

00:12:37I reached the tower only to find my world collapsing.

00:12:40My shadow was gone.

00:12:43A massive dragon shadow reared its head, its wings sweeping across the ceiling.

00:12:48A blinding burst of molten gold erupted before my eyes,

00:12:51before shrinking and condensing into the form of a noble man.

00:12:55The slave had vanished, replaced by a prince radiating golden light.

00:13:00The rumors followed quickly.

00:13:02He already had a fiancé, a childhood match.

00:13:06Lady Isabella, the most brilliant woman in the empire.

00:13:10As soon as he returned to the capital, their grand wedding would begin.

00:13:16My sanctuary had been transformed into a cage,

00:13:20surrounded by the cold steel of the paladins.

00:13:22The moment they spotted me, skulking in the shadows like a common theme,

00:13:26a royal guard lunged forward,

00:13:29pressing the frigid edge of a heavy greatsword against my throat.

00:13:32Neil, daughter of a traitor,

00:13:34how dare you stand in the presence of Prince Arthur?

00:13:36I looked past the blade at the man in the center of the crowd.

00:13:39The ragged, homespun clothes were gone.

00:13:42In their place was a magnificent robe of blackened gold.

00:13:47Risking execution,

00:13:48I reached out with trembling fingers,

00:13:51desperately trying to catch his hand.

00:13:53A low, rhythmic vibration hummed in the air

00:13:56as glowing embers of dragon fire drifted from the gold embroidery of his robes.

00:14:03You, are you truly the crown prince?

00:14:05Tell me, Miss Vivian,

00:14:07how do you plan to torture me today?

00:14:08Will it be the jeweled whip,

00:14:09or shall I feel the weight of your dancing shoes again?

00:14:12Once I return to the capital,

00:14:14I will send the official documents to sever our contract.

00:14:17A woman from this wretched holy kingdom has no place beside my throne.

00:14:20My eyes burned with unshed tears.

00:14:23I hadn't come to hurt him.

00:14:25I had come to celebrate his birth,

00:14:27to tell him that I was carrying his children.

00:14:30But even my touch was a stain to him now.

00:14:33I finally understood the brutal reality.

00:14:36He loathed me.

00:14:37He would never want me.

00:14:38And he would certainly never want the bastards in my womb,

00:14:41even if they carried his own dragon blood.

00:14:45I shielded the faint yet searing spark of dragon blood within me,

00:14:49standing amidst the hallowed ruins in utter despair.

00:14:52I wanted to tell him that I would give up everything.

00:14:54I would follow him to the capital as a lowly handmaid,

00:14:57anything just to stay by his side.

00:14:59But to him,

00:15:00my very touch was a defilement.

00:15:03The deposition decree,

00:15:04sealed with the dragon crest,

00:15:06had severed our contract forever.

00:15:08At eighteen,

00:15:09I had fallen from the adored saintess

00:15:11to a prisoner abandoned by the gods.

00:15:13I finally woke up from the dream.

00:15:15Arthur hated me.

00:15:17He would go on to marry the pure-blooded Lady Isabella

00:15:20and father noble dragon heirs.

00:15:22To him!

00:15:23Do you have any final prayers, Miss Vivian?

00:15:26He looked down at me as if I were a speck of dust.

00:15:30I had wanted to beg him to taste the lemon tart I baked with my own hands.

00:15:34But seeing the frost in his eyes,

00:15:36I could only bite my lip and shake my head through a blur of tears.

00:15:40Golden scales erupted across his skin

00:15:42as the air ignited with his draconic aura.

00:15:45With a mocking smear,

00:15:47his body shifted and expanded

00:15:48in a blinding flash of light,

00:15:50transforming into a massive dragon.

00:15:52The gale from his wings slamming me violently into the snow.

00:15:56He vanished into the clouds without a single backward glance.

00:16:00I sat frozen in the ice

00:16:02until a sharp searing pain tore through my abdomen,

00:16:05nearly causing me to lose the child.

00:16:07Watching the fading silhouette in the sky,

00:16:09I clutched my stomach where a faint dragon mark pulsed,

00:16:13beating rhythmically like a second heart.

00:16:18Disaster struck.

00:16:19Three days.

00:16:20After Arthur's departure,

00:16:21my father the Holy Father was branded

00:16:24with the twin sins of treason and black magic.

00:16:27Then cast into the darkest depths of the abyss prison,

00:16:29I rushed to the capital, desperate and breathless,

00:16:32only to be met with the death sentence.

00:16:34He was to face the trial of holy fire

00:16:37on the night of the next full moon.

00:16:39Inside the stench-ridden dungeon,

00:16:41my mother's withered hand gripped mine with terrifying strength.

00:16:45Elena, you must go to Prince Arthur.

00:16:48You must go to your shadow.

00:16:51You swore vows before the dragon god.

00:16:55You are high on only contract holder.

00:16:58He cannot simply watch us die.

00:17:01Her words cut through me like acerated blood,

00:17:03but he couldn't find the voice to answer.

00:17:05How could I admit that during those two years of shadow,

00:17:09I had forced him into the freezing depths of the holy lake

00:17:12just to retrieve a lost jewel for my amusement.

00:17:16How could I confess that,

00:17:17in fits of rage,

00:17:19I had left scars upon his back that would never heal.

00:17:21He likely wanted to see my family reduced to ash

00:17:24more than anyone else in the world.

00:17:26But looking at the last flickering spark of hope in my mother's eyes,

00:17:30I forced myself to move.

00:17:31I picked up the ruby-encrusted whip,

00:17:34the very symbol of my former tyranny,

00:17:36and dragged my trembling body to the crown prince's palace.

00:17:40There, before the towering obsidian iron gates,

00:17:43I fell to my knees and waited.

00:17:48Back in the holy kingdom,

00:17:50a single command from my lips was enough to make shadow

00:17:53crawl to my feet.

00:17:54If I wanted him to bow,

00:17:56he never dared to meet my eyes.

00:17:58But now,

00:17:58the tables had turned with a cruel irony.

00:18:01To see him for even a moment,

00:18:03I had to kneel in the teeth of a blizzard,

00:18:06begging a shred of mercy.

00:18:07I knelt until I lost all feeling in my legs,

00:18:10the ruby whip in my hands,

00:18:12buried under a thick shroud of snow.

00:18:14Just as dawn threatened to break,

00:18:15a dragon's roar shattered the cloud.

00:18:17The black wings eclipsed the dawn as he dived,

00:18:20only to contract and transform

00:18:21the instant they struck the earth.

00:18:23From the heart of the erupting snow,

00:18:26Arthur emerged in human form,

00:18:28breaking through the mist.

00:18:29The crunch of his boots against the frozen ground

00:18:31echoed the frantic beating of my heart.

00:18:33His cold, indifferent gaze lingered for a moment

00:18:36on the whip I held.

00:18:37Tell me, Miss Vivian,

00:18:39which hand was it?

00:18:41Which hand did you use

00:18:42to leave those scars on my body?

00:18:44His voice held no warmth,

00:18:46only the crushing weight

00:18:47of a judge passing sentence.

00:18:49I was so frozen,

00:18:50I could barely breathe.

00:18:52Before I could find my voice,

00:18:53my strength failed me.

00:18:55My knees buckled and I collapsed forward,

00:18:57falling directly into his arms.

00:18:58His chest was burning hot,

00:19:00a searing contrast to the ice.

00:19:02The heat instantly triggered

00:19:04the memory of our night of soul resonance,

00:19:06the way he had pinned me

00:19:07against the altar of predatory hunger.

00:19:08My eyes welled with bitter tears.

00:19:12Your Highness, please,

00:19:15save my father.

00:19:16I'm begging you.

00:19:18His pupils narrowed into golden vertical slits,

00:19:21and a faint rhythmic glow of molten fire

00:19:23pulsed beneath the skin of his throat.

00:19:26Elena,

00:19:28is this how beg?

00:19:35Two years ago,

00:19:37I was the arrogant saintess,

00:19:40and he was the dragon slave

00:19:41I whipped at my whim.

00:19:43Two years later,

00:19:44he awakens the imperial dragon blood

00:19:47and returns to the imperial capital.

00:19:49As the giant dragon dives to the earth,

00:19:53he transforms into a king

00:19:55of extraordinary elegance.

00:19:57His dark gold dragon pupils

00:19:59are locked firmly onto me.

00:20:01Once his equal,

00:20:03now a disgraced slave of the clan,

00:20:05fallen into the abyss beneath the altar.

00:20:08To save my father,

00:20:10I was forced to kneel at his feet

00:20:12and let him tear away my white robes,

00:20:14the very symbol of my sanctity.

00:20:17He laughed coldly,

00:20:19demanding I pleasure him

00:20:20to repay the debts of those two years.

00:20:23He already has a perfect match by his side,

00:20:25yet he insists on taking me by force,

00:20:29trapping me in an eternal cage.

00:20:31Oh, you are.

00:20:34But I will never let your children

00:20:36become your prisoners.

00:20:38Watching the madness of his possessive gaze,

00:20:41I press my hand against my stomach,

00:20:43where a faint draconic sigil flickered,

00:20:46the mark pulsing

00:20:47with the rhythmic cadence of a heartbeat.

00:20:50It was this very secret

00:20:51that had driven me

00:20:52to orchestrate my own death,

00:20:54a scandalous escape

00:20:55that had shocked the world.

00:20:56A month ago,

00:20:58the Holy Kingdom fell

00:20:59under a sudden monster assault.

00:21:01I found myself cornered

00:21:03in the black forest,

00:21:04trapped and suffocating

00:21:06under the weight

00:21:06of a dark malevolent curse.

00:21:08As my consciousness began to fracture,

00:21:10he appeared.

00:21:11He rode the chaos.

00:21:13As he charged forward on horseback,

00:21:16I could have sworn I saw

00:21:17the spectral shimmer of dragon wings

00:21:19unfurl behind him,

00:21:20a broken sword in one hand

00:21:22and a spear in the other,

00:21:24cutting a path to my side.

00:21:26In my blurred vision,

00:21:29he looked breathtaking.

00:21:30That night,

00:21:32amidst a frantic soul resonance,

00:21:34I let myself cross

00:21:35the forbidden line with him.

00:21:36I think I might have

00:21:37actually fallen for him.

00:21:39I thought of him

00:21:39the moment I opened my eyes.

00:21:41I banished him once more

00:21:42to the most remote,

00:21:43crumbling tower of the estate,

00:21:45before sending him

00:21:46to the tower

00:21:46was a triumph of my power.

00:21:48Now I found myself

00:21:49sneaking toward it

00:21:50just to catch a glimpse of him.

00:21:52He was right there in my temple.

00:21:54Yet I was dying

00:21:55of an incurable heartache.

00:21:57Today was his 22nd birthday.

00:21:59I had spent hours

00:22:01baking a lemon tart

00:22:02with my own hands,

00:22:03wanting to give him a surprise.

00:22:04I wanted to tell him

00:22:06that he was going

00:22:07to be a father.

00:22:08Two years ago in the arena,

00:22:11I bestowed upon him

00:22:12the name Shadow.

00:22:13He was but a flicker of darkness,

00:22:15easily erased.

00:22:17Now,

00:22:18that name has become

00:22:19my only longing.

00:22:20I reach the tower

00:22:21only to find my world collapsing.

00:22:23My shadow

00:22:24was gone.

00:22:26A massive dragon shadow

00:22:27reared its head,

00:22:28its wings sweeping

00:22:30across the ceiling.

00:22:30A blinding burst

00:22:31of molten gold

00:22:32erupted before my eyes,

00:22:34before shrinking

00:22:35and condensing

00:22:36into the form

00:22:37of a noble man.

00:22:38The slave had vanished,

00:22:40replaced by a prince

00:22:41radiating golden light.

00:22:43The rumors followed quickly.

00:22:45He already had a fiancé,

00:22:48a childhood match,

00:22:49Lady Isabella,

00:22:50the most brilliant woman

00:22:51in the empire.

00:22:52As soon as he returned

00:22:54to the capital,

00:22:55their grand wedding

00:22:56would begin.

00:22:59My sanctuary

00:23:00had been transformed

00:23:01into a cage,

00:23:02surrounded by the cold steel

00:23:04of the paladins.

00:23:05The moment they spotted me,

00:23:07skulking in the shadows

00:23:08like a common theme,

00:23:10a royal guard

00:23:11lunged forward,

00:23:12pressing the frigid edge

00:23:13of a heavy greatsword

00:23:14against my throat.

00:23:15Kneel,

00:23:16daughter of a traitor,

00:23:16how dare you stand

00:23:18in the presence

00:23:18of Prince Arthur?

00:23:19I looked past the blade

00:23:20of the man

00:23:21in the center of the crowd.

00:23:22The ragged,

00:23:23homespun clothes

00:23:24were gone,

00:23:25in their place.

00:23:26was a magnificent robe

00:23:28of blackened gold.

00:23:29Risking execution,

00:23:31I reached out

00:23:32with trembling fingers,

00:23:34desperately trying

00:23:35to catch his hand.

00:23:36A low,

00:23:37rhythmic vibration

00:23:38hummed in the air

00:23:39as glowing embers

00:23:40of dragon fire

00:23:41drifted from the gold

00:23:42embroidery of his robes.

00:23:45You...

00:23:46Are you truly

00:23:47the crown prince?

00:23:48Tell me,

00:23:49Miss Vivlin,

00:23:49how do you plan

00:23:50to torture me today?

00:23:51Will it be the jeweled whip

00:23:52or shall I feel

00:23:53the weight

00:23:53of your dancing shoes again?

00:23:55Once I return

00:23:56to the capital,

00:23:57I will send

00:23:57the official documents

00:23:58to sever our contract.

00:24:00A woman from this

00:24:00wretched holy kingdom

00:24:01has no place

00:24:02beside my throne.

00:24:03My eyes burned

00:24:04with unshed tears.

00:24:06I hadn't come

00:24:07to hurt him.

00:24:08I had come

00:24:09to celebrate his birth,

00:24:10to tell him

00:24:11that I was carrying

00:24:11his children.

00:24:13But even my touch

00:24:14was a stain

00:24:15to him now.

00:24:16I finally understood

00:24:17the brutal reality.

00:24:18He loathed me.

00:24:20He would never want me,

00:24:21and he would certainly

00:24:22never want the bastards

00:24:23in my womb,

00:24:24even if they've

00:24:25carried his own

00:24:26dragon blood.

00:24:28I shielded the faint

00:24:29yet searing spark

00:24:30of dragon blood

00:24:31within me,

00:24:32standing amidst

00:24:32the hallowed ruins

00:24:33in utter despair.

00:24:35I wanted to tell him

00:24:36that I would give up

00:24:36everything.

00:24:37I would follow him

00:24:38to the capital

00:24:39as a lowly handmaid,

00:24:40anything just to

00:24:41stay by his side.

00:24:42But to him,

00:24:43my very touch

00:24:44was a defilement.

00:24:46The deposition decree,

00:24:47sealed with the dragon crest,

00:24:49had severed our contract

00:24:50forever.

00:24:51At eighteen,

00:24:52I had fallen

00:24:53from the adored

00:24:53saintess to a prisoner

00:24:55abandoned by the gods.

00:24:56I finally woke up

00:24:57from the dream.

00:24:58Arthur hated me.

00:25:00He would go on

00:25:01to marry the pure-blooded

00:25:02Lady Isabella

00:25:02and father noble

00:25:03dragon heirs.

00:25:04To him!

00:25:06Do you have any

00:25:07final prayers,

00:25:08Miss Vivian?

00:25:09He looked down at me

00:25:10as if I were

00:25:11a speck of dust.

00:25:13I had wanted to

00:25:14beg him to taste

00:25:15the lemon tart

00:25:15I baked with my own hands.

00:25:17But seeing the frost

00:25:18in his eyes,

00:25:19I could only bite my lip

00:25:20and shake my head

00:25:21through a blur of tears.

00:25:23Golden scales erupted

00:25:24across his skin

00:25:25as the air ignited

00:25:27with his draconic aura.

00:25:28With a mocking sneer,

00:25:30his body shifted

00:25:31and expanded

00:25:31in a blinding flash of light,

00:25:33transforming into

00:25:34a massive dragon.

00:25:36The gale from his wings

00:25:37slamming me violently

00:25:38into the snow.

00:25:39He vanished into the clouds

00:25:41without a single

00:25:42backward glance.

00:25:43I sat frozen in the ice

00:25:45until a sharp,

00:25:46searing pain

00:25:47tore through my abdomen.

00:25:48Nearly causing me

00:25:49to lose the child,

00:25:50watching the fading silhouette

00:25:51in the sky,

00:25:52I clutched my stomach

00:25:53where a faint dragon mark

00:25:55pulsed,

00:25:56beating rhythmically

00:25:56like a second heart.

00:26:01Disaster struck.

00:26:02Three days.

00:26:03After Arthur's departure,

00:26:04my father,

00:26:05the Holy Father,

00:26:06was branded

00:26:07with the twin sins

00:26:08of treason

00:26:09and black magic.

00:26:10Then cast into

00:26:10the darkest depths

00:26:11of the abyss prison,

00:26:12I rushed to the capital,

00:26:14desperate and breathless,

00:26:15only to be met

00:26:16with a death sentence.

00:26:17He was to face

00:26:18the trial of holy fire

00:26:20on the night

00:26:21of the next full moon.

00:26:22Inside the stench-ridden dungeon,

00:26:24my mother's withered hand

00:26:25gripped mine

00:26:26with terrifying strength.

00:26:28Elena,

00:26:29you must go to

00:26:30Prince Arthur.

00:26:31You must go

00:26:33to your shadow.

00:26:34You swore vows

00:26:36before the dragon god.

00:26:38You are

00:26:38Hyuan only contract holder.

00:26:41He cannot simply

00:26:42watch us die.

00:26:44Her words

00:26:45cut through

00:26:45my leg

00:26:45acerated blood,

00:26:46but he couldn't

00:26:47find the voice

00:26:48to answer.

00:26:49How could I admit

00:26:50that during those

00:26:51two years of shadow,

00:26:52I had forced him

00:26:53into the freezing depths

00:26:54of the holy lake

00:26:55just to retrieve

00:26:56a lost jewel

00:26:57for my amusement?

00:26:59How could I confess

00:27:00that,

00:27:00in fits of rage,

00:27:01I had left scars

00:27:02upon his back

00:27:03that would never heal?

00:27:04He likely wanted

00:27:05to see my family

00:27:06reduced to ash

00:27:07more than anyone

00:27:08else in the world.

00:27:10But looking at

00:27:10the last flickering

00:27:11spark of hope

00:27:12in my mother's eyes,

00:27:13I forced myself

00:27:14to move.

00:27:14I picked up

00:27:15the ruby-encrusted whip,

00:27:17the very symbol

00:27:18of my former tyranny,

00:27:19and dragged

00:27:20my trembling body

00:27:21to the crown prince's palace.

00:27:23There,

00:27:24before the towering

00:27:25obsidian iron gates,

00:27:26I fell to my knees

00:27:28and waited.

00:27:31Back in the holy kingdom,

00:27:33a single command

00:27:34from my lips

00:27:34was enough

00:27:35to make shadow

00:27:35crawl to my feet.

00:27:37If I wanted him

00:27:38to bow,

00:27:39he never dared

00:27:39to meet my eyes.

00:27:40But now,

00:27:41the tables had turned

00:27:43with a cruel irony.

00:27:44To see him

00:27:45for even a moment,

00:27:46I had to kneel

00:27:47in the teeth

00:27:48of a blizzard,

00:27:49begging a shred

00:27:49of mercy.

00:27:50I knelt until

00:27:51I lost all feeling

00:27:52in my legs,

00:27:53the ruby whip

00:27:54in my hands

00:27:54buried under

00:27:55a thick shroud of snow.

00:27:57Just as dawn

00:27:57threatened to break,

00:27:58a dragon's roar

00:27:59shattered the cloud.

00:28:00The black wings

00:28:01eclipsed the dawn

00:28:02as he dived,

00:28:03only to contract

00:28:03and transform

00:28:04the instant

00:28:05they struck the earth.

00:28:06From the heart

00:28:07of the erupting snow,

00:28:08Arthur emerged

00:28:09in human form,

00:28:10breaking through

00:28:11the mist.

00:28:12The crunch

00:28:12of his boots

00:28:13against the frozen ground

00:28:14echoed the frantic

00:28:15beating of my heart.

00:28:16His cold,

00:28:17indifferent gaze

00:28:18lingered for a moment

00:28:18on the whip I held.

00:28:20Tell me,

00:28:21Miss Vivian,

00:28:22which hand was it?

00:28:24Which hand did you use

00:28:25to leave those scars

00:28:26on my body?

00:28:27His voice held no warmth,

00:28:29only the crushing weight

00:28:30of a judge passing sentence.

00:28:32I was so frozen

00:28:33I could barely breathe.

00:28:34Before I could find my voice,

00:28:36my strength failed me.

00:28:37My knees buckled

00:28:38and I collapsed forward,

00:28:40falling directly

00:28:40into his arms.

00:28:41His chest was burning hot,

00:28:43a searing contrast

00:28:44to the ice.

00:28:45The heat instantly

00:28:46triggered the memory

00:28:47of our night of soul resonance,

00:28:48the way he had pinned me

00:28:50against the altar

00:28:50of predatory hunger.

00:28:52My eyes welled

00:28:53with bitter tears.

00:28:55Your Highness, please.

00:28:57Save my father.

00:28:59I'm begging you.

00:29:01His pupils narrowed

00:29:02into golden vertical slits

00:29:03and a faint rhythmic glow

00:29:05of molten fire

00:29:06pulsed beneath

00:29:07the skin of his throat.

00:29:09Elena,

00:29:11is this how beg?

00:29:18Two years ago,

00:29:20I was the arrogant saintess

00:29:22and he was the dragon slave

00:29:24I whipped at my whim.

00:29:26Two years later,

00:29:27he awakens

00:29:28the imperial dragon blood

00:29:29and returns

00:29:31to the imperial capital.

00:29:32As the giant dragon

00:29:34dives to the earth,

00:29:36he transforms

00:29:37into a king

00:29:38of extraordinary elegance.

00:29:40His dark gold dragon pupils

00:29:42are locked firmly onto me.

00:29:44Once his equal,

00:29:46now a disgraced slave

00:29:47of the clan,

00:29:48fallen into the abyss

00:29:50beneath the altar.

00:29:51To save my father,

00:29:52I was forced

00:29:54to kneel at his feet

00:29:55and let him tear away

00:29:56my white robes,

00:29:57the very symbol

00:29:59of my sanctity.

00:30:00He laughed coldly,

00:30:02demanding I pleasure him

00:30:03to repay the debts

00:30:04of those two years.

00:30:06He already has

00:30:07a perfect match

00:30:07by his side,

00:30:08yet he insists

00:30:10on taking me

00:30:10by force,

00:30:12trapping me

00:30:12in an eternal cage.

00:30:20watching the madness

00:30:22of his possessive gaze,

00:30:24I pressed my hand

00:30:25against my stomach

00:30:26where a faint

00:30:27draconic sigil flickered,

00:30:29the mark pulsing

00:30:30with the rhythmic cadence

00:30:31of a heartbeat.

00:30:32It was this very secret

00:30:34that had driven me

00:30:35to orchestrate

00:30:36my own death,

00:30:37a scandalous escape

00:30:38that had shocked

00:30:39the world.

00:30:39A month ago,

00:30:41the Holy Kingdom fell

00:30:42under a sudden

00:30:43monster assault.

00:30:44I found myself

00:30:45cornered in the black forest,

00:30:47trapped,

00:30:48and suffocating

00:30:49under the weight

00:30:49of a dark,

00:30:50malevolent curse.

00:30:51As my consciousness

00:30:52began to fracture,

00:30:53he appeared.

00:30:54He rode the chaos.

00:30:56As he charged forward

00:30:58on horseback,

00:30:59I could have sworn

00:31:00I saw the spectral shimmer

00:31:01of dragon wings

00:31:02unfurl behind him,

00:31:03a broken sword

00:31:04in one hand

00:31:05and a spear

00:31:06in the other,

00:31:07cutting a path

00:31:07to my side.

00:31:09In my blurred vision,

00:31:11he looked breathtaking.

00:31:13That night,

00:31:14amidst a frantic

00:31:15soul resonance,

00:31:16I let myself cross

00:31:18the forbidden line

00:31:19with him.

00:31:19I think I might have

00:31:20actually fallen for him.

00:31:22I thought of him

00:31:22the moment I opened my eyes.

00:31:24I banished him once more

00:31:25to the most remote,

00:31:26crumbling tower

00:31:27of the estate.

00:31:28Before sending him

00:31:29to the tower

00:31:29was a triumph of my power.

00:31:31Now I found myself

00:31:32sneaking toward it

00:31:33just to catch a glimpse of him.

00:31:35He was right there

00:31:36in my temple,

00:31:37yet I was dying

00:31:38of an incurable heartache.

00:31:40Today was his 22nd birthday.

00:31:42I had spent hours

00:31:43baking a lemon tart

00:31:44with my own hands,

00:31:46wanting to give him

00:31:47a surprise.

00:31:48I wanted to tell him

00:31:49that he was going

00:31:50to be a father.

00:31:52Two years ago

00:31:53in the arena,

00:31:53I bestowed upon him

00:31:55the name Shadow.

00:31:56He was but a flicker

00:31:57of darkness,

00:31:58easily erased.

00:32:00Now,

00:32:00that name has become

00:32:02my only longing.

00:32:03I reach the tower

00:32:04only to find my world

00:32:05collapsing.

00:32:06My shadow

00:32:07was gone.

00:32:08A massive dragon shadow

00:32:10reared its head,

00:32:11its wings sweeping

00:32:12across the ceiling.

00:32:13A blinding burst

00:32:14of molten gold

00:32:15erupted before my eyes,

00:32:17before shrinking

00:32:18and condensing

00:32:19into the form

00:32:20of a noble man.

00:32:21The slave

00:32:22had vanished,

00:32:23replaced by a prince

00:32:24radiating golden light.

00:32:26The rumors

00:32:27followed quickly.

00:32:28He already had

00:32:29a fiancé,

00:32:30a childhood match,

00:32:32Lady Isabella,

00:32:33the most brilliant woman

00:32:34in the empire.

00:32:35As soon as he returned

00:32:37to the capital,

00:32:38their grand wedding

00:32:39would begin.

00:32:42My sanctuary

00:32:43had been transformed

00:32:44into a cage

00:32:45surrounded by the cold steel

00:32:47of the paladins.

00:32:48The moment they spotted me,

00:32:50skulking in the shadows

00:32:51like a common theme,

00:32:52a royal guard

00:32:53lunged forward,

00:32:55pressing the frigid edge

00:32:56of a heavy greatsword

00:32:57against my throat.

00:32:58Neil,

00:32:58daughter of a traitor,

00:32:59how dare you stand

00:33:00in the presence

00:33:01of Prince Arthur?

00:33:02I looked past the blade

00:33:03of the man

00:33:04in the center of the crowd.

00:33:05The ragged,

00:33:06homespun clothes

00:33:07were gone.

00:33:08In their place

00:33:09was a magnificent robe

00:33:11of black and gold.

00:33:12Risking execution,

00:33:14I reached out

00:33:15with trembling fingers,

00:33:17desperately trying

00:33:17to catch his hand.

00:33:19A low,

00:33:20rhythmic vibration

00:33:21hummed in the air

00:33:22as glowing embers

00:33:23of dragon fire

00:33:24drifted from the gold

00:33:25embroidery of his robes.

00:33:28You...

00:33:29Are you truly

00:33:30the crown prince?

00:33:31Tell me,

00:33:32Miss Vivlin,

00:33:32how do you plan

00:33:33to torture me today?

00:33:34Will it be the jeweled whip

00:33:35or shall I feel the weight

00:33:36of your dancing shoes again?

00:33:38Once I return

00:33:39to the capital,

00:33:40I will send

00:33:40the official documents

00:33:41to sever our contract.

00:33:43A woman from this

00:33:43wretched holy kingdom

00:33:44has no place

00:33:45beside my throne.

00:33:46My eyes burned

00:33:47with unshed tears.

00:33:49I hadn't come

00:33:50to hurt him.

00:33:51I had come

00:33:52to celebrate his birth,

00:33:53to tell him

00:33:54that I was carrying

00:33:54his children.

00:33:56But even my touch

00:33:57was a stain to him now.

00:33:59I finally understood

00:34:00the brutal reality.

00:34:01He loathed me.

00:34:02He would never want me,

00:34:04and he would certainly

00:34:05never want the bastards

00:34:06in my womb,

00:34:07even if they carried

00:34:08his own dragon blood.

00:34:11I shielded the faint

00:34:12yet searing spark

00:34:13of dragon blood

00:34:14within me,

00:34:14standing amidst

00:34:15the hallowed ruins

00:34:16in utter despair.

00:34:17I wanted to tell him

00:34:19that I would give up

00:34:19everything.

00:34:20I would follow him

00:34:21to the capital

00:34:22as a lowly handmaid,

00:34:23anything just to

00:34:24stay by his side.

00:34:25But to him,

00:34:26my very touch

00:34:27was a defilement.

00:34:29The deposition decree,

00:34:30sealed with the dragon crest,

00:34:32had severed our contract

00:34:33forever.

00:34:34At eighteen,

00:34:35I had fallen

00:34:36from the adored saintess

00:34:37to a prisoner

00:34:38abandoned by the gods.

00:34:39I finally woke up

00:34:40from the dream.

00:34:41Arthur hated me.

00:34:43He would go on

00:34:43to marry the pure-blooded

00:34:44Lady Isabella

00:34:45and father

00:34:46noble dragon heirs

00:34:47to him.

00:34:49Do you have any

00:34:50final prayers,

00:34:51Miss Vivian?

00:34:52He looked down at me

00:34:53as if I were

00:34:54a speck of dust.

00:34:56I had wanted to beg him

00:34:57to taste the lemon tart

00:34:58I baked with my own hands.

00:35:00But seeing the frost

00:35:01in his eyes,

00:35:02I could only bite my lip

00:35:03and shake my head

00:35:04through a blur of tears.

00:35:06Golden scales erupted

00:35:07across his skin

00:35:08as the air ignited

00:35:10with his draconic aura.

00:35:11With a mocking smear,

00:35:13his body shifted

00:35:14and expanded

00:35:14in a blinding flash of light,

00:35:16transforming into

00:35:17a massive dragon.

00:35:18The gale from his wings

00:35:20slamming me violently

00:35:21into the snow.

00:35:22He vanished into the clouds

00:35:24without a single

00:35:24backward glance.

00:35:25I sat frozen in the ice

00:35:27until a sharp searing pain

00:35:30tore through my abdomen,

00:35:31nearly causing me

00:35:32to lose the child.

00:35:33Watching the fading silhouette

00:35:34in the sky,

00:35:35I clutched my stomach

00:35:36where a faint dragon mark

00:35:38pulsed,

00:35:38beating rhythmically

00:35:39like a second heart.

00:35:43Disaster struck

00:35:44three days

00:35:45after Arthur's departure.

00:35:47My father,

00:35:48the Holy Father,

00:35:49was branded

00:35:50with the twin sins

00:35:51of treason

00:35:51and black magic.

00:35:52Then cast into

00:35:53the darkest depths

00:35:54of the abyss prison,

00:35:55I rushed to the capital,

00:35:56desperate and breathless,

00:35:58only to be met

00:35:59with the death sentence.

00:36:00He was to face

00:36:01the trial of holy fire

00:36:03on the night

00:36:04of the next full moon.

00:36:05Inside the stench-ridden dungeon,

00:36:07my mother's withered hand

00:36:08gripped mine

00:36:09with terrifying strength.

00:36:11Elena,

00:36:12you must go

00:36:12to Prince Arthur.

00:36:14You must go

00:36:15to your shadow.

00:36:17You swore vows

00:36:19before the dragon god.

00:36:20You are high

00:36:21on only contract holder.

00:36:23He cannot simply

00:36:25watch us die!

00:36:27Her words

00:36:27cut through

00:36:28my like-acerated blood,

00:36:29but he couldn't

00:36:30find the voice

00:36:31to answer.

00:36:32How could I admit

00:36:33that during those

00:36:33two years of shadow,

00:36:35I had forced him

00:36:36into the freezing depths

00:36:37of the holy lake

00:36:38just to retrieve

00:36:39a lost jewel

00:36:40for my amusement?

00:36:42How could I confess

00:36:43that,

00:36:43in fits of rage,

00:36:44I had left scars

00:36:45upon his back

00:36:46that would never heal?

00:36:47He likely wanted

00:36:48to see my family

00:36:49reduced to ash

00:36:50more than anyone else

00:36:52in the world.

00:36:52But looking at

00:36:53the last flickering

00:36:54spark of hope

00:36:55in my mother's eyes,

00:36:56I forced myself

00:36:57to move.

00:36:57I picked up

00:36:58the ruby-encrusted whip,

00:36:59the very symbol

00:37:00of my former tyranny,

00:37:02and dragged

00:37:03my trembling body

00:37:04to the crown prince's palace.

00:37:06There,

00:37:07before the towering

00:37:08obsidian iron gates,

00:37:09I fell to my knees

00:37:11and waited.

00:37:14Back in the Holy Kingdom,

00:37:16a single command

00:37:17from my lips

00:37:17was enough

00:37:18to make shadow

00:37:18crawl to my feet.

00:37:20If I wanted him

00:37:21to bow,

00:37:21he never dared

00:37:22to meet my eyes.

00:37:23But now,

00:37:24the tables had turned

00:37:25with a cruel irony.

00:37:27To see him

00:37:28for even a moment,

00:37:29I had to kneel

00:37:30in the teeth

00:37:30of a blizzard,

00:37:31begging a shred

00:37:32of mercy.

00:37:33I knelt until

00:37:34I lost all feeling

00:37:35in my legs,

00:37:36the ruby whip

00:37:37in my hands,

00:37:38buried under

00:37:38a thick shroud

00:37:39of snow.

00:37:40Just as dawn

00:37:40threatened to break,

00:37:41a dragon's roar

00:37:42shattered the cloud.

00:37:43The black wings

00:37:44eclipsed the dawn

00:37:45as he dived,

00:37:46only to contract

00:37:46and transform

00:37:47the instant

00:37:48they struck the earth.

00:37:49From the heart

00:37:50of the erupting snow,

00:37:51Arthur emerged

00:37:52in human form,

00:37:53breaking through

00:37:54the mist.

00:37:55The crunch

00:37:55of his boots

00:37:56against the frozen ground

00:37:57echoed the frantic

00:37:58beating of my heart.

00:37:59His cold,

00:38:00indifferent gaze

00:38:01lingered for a moment

00:38:01on the whip I held.

00:38:03Tell me,

00:38:03Miss Vivian,

00:38:05which hand was it?

00:38:06Which hand did you use

00:38:08to leave those scars

00:38:09on my body?

00:38:10His voice

00:38:11held no warmth,

00:38:12only the crushing weight

00:38:13of a judge-passing sentence.

00:38:14I was so frozen

00:38:16I could barely breathe.

00:38:17Before I could find

00:38:18my voice,

00:38:19my strength failed me.

00:38:20My knees buckled

00:38:21and I collapsed forward,

00:38:23falling directly

00:38:23into his arms.

00:38:24His chest

00:38:25was burning hot,

00:38:26a searing contrast

00:38:27to the ice.

00:38:28The heat instantly

00:38:29triggered the memory

00:38:30of our night

00:38:30of soul resonance,

00:38:31the way he had

00:38:32pinned me against

00:38:33the altar

00:38:33of predatory hunger.

00:38:35My eyes welled

00:38:36with bitter tears.

00:38:38Your Highness,

00:38:39please,

00:38:40save my father.

00:38:42I'm begging you.

00:38:44His pupils

00:38:44narrowed into

00:38:45golden vertical slits

00:38:46and a faint

00:38:47rhythmic glow

00:38:48of molten fire

00:38:49pulsed beneath

00:38:49the skin of his throat.

00:38:52Elena,

00:38:54is this how beg?

00:39:01Two years ago,

00:39:03I was the arrogant

00:39:05saintess

00:39:05and he was the

00:39:06dragon slave

00:39:07I whipped at my whim.

00:39:09Two years later,

00:39:10he awakens

00:39:11the imperial dragon blood

00:39:12and returns

00:39:14to the imperial capital.

00:39:15As the giant dragon

00:39:17dives to the earth,

00:39:18he transforms

00:39:19into a king

00:39:20of extraordinary elegance.

00:39:23His dark gold

00:39:24dragon pupils

00:39:25are locked

00:39:25firmly onto me,

00:39:27once his equal,

00:39:28now a disgraced

00:39:30slave of the clan,

00:39:31fallen into the abyss

00:39:32beneath the altar.

00:39:34To save my father,

00:39:35I was forced

00:39:37to kneel at his feet

00:39:38and let him tear

00:39:39away my white robes,

00:39:40the very symbol

00:39:41of my sanctity.

00:39:43He laughed coldly,

00:39:45demanding I pleasure him

00:39:46to repay the debts

00:39:47of those two years.

00:39:49He already has

00:39:50a perfect match

00:39:50by his side,

00:39:51yet he insists

00:39:52on taking me

00:39:53by force,

00:39:54trapping me

00:39:55in an eternal cage.

00:39:57Oh,

00:39:58Arthur,

00:39:59you won.

00:40:00But I will never

00:40:01let your children

00:40:02become your prisoners.

00:40:04Watching the madness

00:40:05of his possessive gaze,

00:40:06I press my hand

00:40:08against my stomach,

00:40:09where a faint

00:40:10draconic sigil flickered,

00:40:12the mark pulsing

00:40:13with the rhythmic

00:40:14cadence of a heartbeat.

00:40:15It was this very secret

00:40:17that had driven me

00:40:18to orchestrate

00:40:18my own death,

00:40:19a scandalous escape

00:40:21that had shocked

00:40:21the world.

00:40:22A month ago,

00:40:24the Holy Kingdom

00:40:24fell under

00:40:25a sudden monster assault.

00:40:27I found myself

00:40:28cornered in the black forest,

00:40:30trapped,

00:40:31and suffocating

00:40:32under the weight

00:40:32of a dark,

00:40:33malevolent curse.

00:40:34As my consciousness

00:40:35began to fracture,

00:40:36he appeared.

00:40:37He rode through the chaos.

00:40:39As he charged forward

00:40:41on horseback,

00:40:41I could have sworn

00:40:43I saw the spectral shimmer

00:40:44of dragon wings

00:40:45unfurl behind him,

00:40:46a broken sword

00:40:47in one hand

00:40:48and a spear

00:40:49in the other,

00:40:50cutting a path

00:40:50to my side.

00:40:52In my blurred vision,

00:40:54he looked breathtaking.

00:40:56That night,

00:40:57amidst a frantic

00:40:58soul resonance,

00:40:59I let myself cross

00:41:01the forbidden line

00:41:01with him.

00:41:02I think I might have

00:41:03actually fallen for him.

00:41:04I thought of him

00:41:05the moment I opened my eyes.

00:41:07I banished him once more

00:41:08to the most remote,

00:41:09crumbling tower

00:41:10of the estate,

00:41:10before sending him

00:41:11to the tower

00:41:12was a triumph

00:41:13of my power.

00:41:14Now I found myself

00:41:15sneaking toward it

00:41:16just to catch

00:41:16a glimpse of him.

00:41:18He was right there

00:41:19in my temple,

00:41:20yet I was dying

00:41:21of an incurable heartache.

00:41:23Today was his

00:41:2422nd birthday.

00:41:25I had spent hours

00:41:26baking a lemon tart

00:41:27with my own hands,

00:41:29wanting to give him

00:41:30a surprise.

00:41:31I wanted to tell him

00:41:32that he was going

00:41:33to be a father.

00:41:34Shadow.

00:41:35Two years ago

00:41:35in the arena,

00:41:36I bestowed upon him

00:41:38the name Shadow.

00:41:39He was but a flicker

00:41:40of darkness,

00:41:41easily erased.

00:41:43Now,

00:41:43that name

00:41:44has become

00:41:44my only longing.

00:41:46I reach the tower

00:41:47only to find

00:41:48my world collapsing.

00:41:49My shadow

00:41:50was gone.

00:41:51A massive dragon shadow

00:41:53reared its head,

00:41:54its wings sweeping

00:41:55across the ceiling.

00:41:56A blinding burst

00:41:57of molten gold

00:41:58erupted before my eyes,

00:42:00before shrinking

00:42:01and condensing

00:42:02into the form

00:42:03of a noble man.

00:42:04The slave had vanished,

00:42:06replaced by a prince

00:42:07radiating golden light.

00:42:09The rumors followed quickly.

00:42:11He already had

00:42:12a fiancé,

00:42:13a childhood match,

00:42:15Lady Isabella,

00:42:16the most brilliant woman

00:42:17in the empire.

00:42:18As soon as he returned

00:42:20to the capital,

00:42:21their grand wedding

00:42:22would begin.

00:42:25My sanctuary

00:42:26had been transformed

00:42:27into a cage,

00:42:28surrounded by the cold steel

00:42:30of the paladins.

00:42:31The moment they spotted me,

00:42:33skulking in the shadows

00:42:34like a common theme,

00:42:35a royal guard

00:42:36lunged forward,

00:42:38pressing the frigid edge

00:42:39of a heavy greatsword

00:42:40against my throat.

00:42:41Neil, daughter of a traitor,

00:42:42how dare you stand

00:42:43in the presence

00:42:44of Prince Arthur?

00:42:45I looked past the blade

00:42:46of the man

00:42:46in the center of the crowd.

00:42:48The ragged,

00:42:49homespun clothes

00:42:50were gone.

00:42:51In their place

00:42:52was a magnificent robe

00:42:53of black and gold.

00:42:55Risking execution,

00:42:57I reached out

00:42:58with trembling fingers,

00:43:00desperately trying

00:43:00to catch his hand.

00:43:02A low,

00:43:03rhythmic vibration

00:43:04hummed in the air

00:43:05as glowing embers

00:43:06of dragon fire

00:43:07drifted from the

00:43:08gold embroidery

00:43:09of his robes.

00:43:11You...

00:43:12Are you truly

00:43:13the crown prince?

00:43:14Tell me,

00:43:14Miss Vivlin,

00:43:15how do you plan

00:43:16to torture me today?

00:43:17Will it be the jeweled whip

00:43:18or shall I feel the weight

00:43:19of your dancing shoes again?

00:43:21Once I return

00:43:22to the capital,

00:43:23I will send

00:43:23the official documents

00:43:24to sever our contract.

00:43:25A woman from this

00:43:26wretched holy kingdom

00:43:27has no place

00:43:28beside my throne.

00:43:29My eyes burned

00:43:30with unshed tears.

00:43:32I hadn't come

00:43:33to hurt him.

00:43:34I had come

00:43:34to celebrate his birth,

00:43:36to tell him

00:43:37that I was carrying

00:43:37his children.

00:43:39But even my touch

00:43:40was a stain

00:43:40to him now.

00:43:42I finally understood

00:43:43the brutal reality.

00:43:44He loathed me.

00:43:45He would never want me,

00:43:47and he would certainly

00:43:48never want the bastards

00:43:49in my womb,

00:43:50even if they carried

00:43:51his own dragon blood.

00:43:54I shielded the faint

00:43:55yet searing spark

00:43:56of dragon blood

00:43:56within me,

00:43:57standing amidst

00:43:58the hallowed ruins

00:43:59in utter despair.

00:44:00I wanted to tell him

00:44:01that I would give up

00:44:02everything.

00:44:03I would follow him

00:44:04to the capital

00:44:05as a lowly handmaid,

00:44:06anything just to stay

00:44:07by his side.

00:44:08But to him,

00:44:09my very touch

00:44:10was a defilement.

00:44:11The deposition decree,

00:44:13sealed with the dragon crest,

00:44:15had severed our contract

00:44:16forever.

00:44:17At eighteen,

00:44:18I had fallen

00:44:19from the adored saintess

00:44:20to a prisoner

00:44:20abandoned by the gods.

00:44:22I finally woke up

00:44:23from the dream.

00:44:24Arthur hated me.

00:44:25He would go on

00:44:26to marry the pure-blooded

00:44:27Lady Isabella

00:44:28and father

00:44:29noble dragon heirs

00:44:30to him.

00:44:32Do you have any

00:44:33final prayers,

00:44:34Miss Vivian?

00:44:35He looked down at me

00:44:36as if I were

00:44:37a speck of dust.

00:44:38I had wanted to beg him

00:44:40to taste the lemon tart

00:44:41I baked with my own hands.

00:44:43But seeing the frost

00:44:44in his eyes,

00:44:45I could only bite my lip

00:44:46and shake my head

00:44:47through a blur of tears.

00:44:49Golden scales erupted

00:44:50across his skin

00:44:51as the air ignited

00:44:52with his draconic aura.

00:44:54With a mocking smear,

00:44:55his body shifted

00:44:56and expanded

00:44:57in a blinding flash of light,

00:44:59transforming into

00:45:00a massive dragon.

00:45:01The gale from his wings

00:45:03slamming me violently

00:45:04into the snow.

00:45:05He vanished into the clouds

00:45:07without a single

00:45:07backward glance.

00:45:08I sat frozen in the ice

00:45:10until a sharp,

00:45:12searing pain

00:45:12tore through my abdomen,

00:45:14nearly causing me

00:45:15to lose the child.

00:45:16Watching the fading silhouette

00:45:17in the sky,

00:45:18I clutched my stomach

00:45:19where a faint dragon mark

00:45:20pulsed,

00:45:21beating rhythmically

00:45:22like a second heart.

00:45:26Disaster struck

00:45:27three days

00:45:28after Arthur's departure.

00:45:30My father,

00:45:31the Holy Father,

00:45:32was branded

00:45:33with the twin sins

00:45:34of treason

00:45:34and black magic.

00:45:35Then cast into the darkest

00:45:37depths of the abyss prison,

00:45:38I rushed to the capital,

00:45:39desperate and breathless,

00:45:41only to be met

00:45:42with a death sentence.

00:45:43He was to face

00:45:44the trial of holy fire

00:45:45on the night

00:45:46of the next full moon.

00:45:48Inside the stench-ridden dungeon,

00:45:50my mother's withered hand

00:45:51gripped mine

00:45:52with terrifying strength.

00:45:54Elena,

00:45:55you must go

00:45:55to Prince Arthur.

00:45:57You must go

00:45:58to your shadow.

00:46:00You swore vows

00:46:02before the dragon god.

00:46:03You are high one

00:46:05only contract holder.

00:46:06He cannot simply

00:46:08watch us die.

00:46:09Her words

00:46:10cut through

00:46:11me like acerated blood,

00:46:12but he couldn't

00:46:13find the voice to answer.

00:46:15How could I admit

00:46:16that during those

00:46:16two years of shadow,

00:46:18I had forced him

00:46:19into the freezing depths

00:46:20of the holy lake

00:46:21just to retrieve

00:46:22a lost jewel

00:46:23for my amusement?

00:46:25How could I confess

00:46:26that in fits of rage,

00:46:27I had left scars

00:46:28upon his back

00:46:29that would never heal?

00:46:30He likely wanted

00:46:31to see my family

00:46:32reduced to absolutely

00:46:33ash more than

00:46:34anyone else

00:46:34in the world.

00:46:35But looking at

00:46:36the last flickering

00:46:37spark of hope

00:46:38in my mother's eyes,

00:46:39I forced myself

00:46:39to move.

00:46:40I picked up

00:46:41the ruby-encrusted whip,

00:46:42the very symbol

00:46:43of my former tyranny,

00:46:45and dragged

00:46:46my trembling body

00:46:47to the crown prince's palace.

00:46:49There,

00:46:50before the towering

00:46:51obsidian iron gates,

00:46:52I fell to my knees

00:46:53and waited.

00:46:57Back in the holy kingdom,

00:46:59a single command

00:47:00from my lips

00:47:00was enough

00:47:00to make shadow

00:47:01crawl to my feet.

00:47:03If I wanted him

00:47:04to bow,

00:47:04he never dared

00:47:05to meet my eyes.

00:47:06But now,

00:47:07the tables had turned

00:47:08with a cruel irony.

00:47:10To see him

00:47:11for even a moment,

00:47:12I had to kneel

00:47:13in the teeth

00:47:13of a blizzard,

00:47:14begging a shred

00:47:15of mercy.

00:47:16I knelt until

00:47:17I lost all feeling

00:47:18in my legs,

00:47:19the ruby whip

00:47:20in my hands

00:47:20buried under

00:47:21a thick shroud of snow.

00:47:23Just as dawn

00:47:23threatened to break,

00:47:24a dragon's roar

00:47:25shattered the cloud.

00:47:26The black wings

00:47:27eclipsed the dawn

00:47:28as he dived,

00:47:28only to contract

00:47:29and transform

00:47:30the instant

00:47:31they struck the earth.

00:47:32From the heart

00:47:33of the erupting snow,

00:47:34Arthur emerged

00:47:35in human form,

00:47:36breaking through the mist.

00:47:38The crunch

00:47:38of his boots

00:47:39against the frozen ground

00:47:40echoed the frantic

00:47:41beating of my heart.

00:47:42His cold,

00:47:43indifferent gaze

00:47:43lingered for a moment

00:47:44on the whip I held.

00:47:46Tell me,

00:47:46Miss Vivian,

00:47:47which hand was it?

00:47:49Which hand did you use

00:47:51to leave those scars

00:47:52on my body?

00:47:53His voice

00:47:54held no warmth,

00:47:55only the crushing weight

00:47:56of a judge-passing sentence.

00:47:58I was so frozen

00:47:59I could barely breathe.

00:48:00Before I could find my voice,

00:48:02my strength failed me.

00:48:03My knees buckled

00:48:04and I collapsed forward,

00:48:06falling directly

00:48:06into his arms.

00:48:07His chest was burning hot,

00:48:09a searing contrast

00:48:10to the ice.

00:48:11The heat instantly

00:48:12triggered the memory

00:48:13of our night of soul resonance,

00:48:14the way he had pinned me

00:48:16against the altar

00:48:16of predatory hunger.

00:48:17My eyes welled

00:48:19with bitter tears.

00:48:21Your Highness,

00:48:22please,

00:48:23save my father,

00:48:25I'm begging you.

00:48:27His pupils narrowed

00:48:28into golden vertical slits

00:48:29and a faint rhythmic glow

00:48:31of molten fire

00:48:32pulsed beneath

00:48:32the skin of his throat.

00:48:35Elena,

00:48:37is this how beg?

00:48:44Two years ago,

00:48:46I was the arrogant saintess

00:48:48and he was the dragon slave

00:48:50I whipped at my whim.

00:48:51Two years later,

00:48:53he awakens the imperial dragon blood

00:48:55and returns to the imperial capital.

00:48:58As the giant dragon

00:49:00dives to the earth,

00:49:01he transforms into a king

00:49:03of extraordinary elegance.

00:49:06His dark gold dragon pupils

00:49:08are locked firmly onto me.

00:49:10Once his equal,

00:49:11now a disgraced slave of the clan,

00:49:14fallen into the abyss

00:49:15beneath the altar.

00:49:17To save my father,

00:49:18I was forced to kneel

00:49:20at his feet

00:49:21and let him tear away

00:49:22my white robes,

00:49:23the very symbol

00:49:24of my sanctity.

00:49:26He laughed coldly,

00:49:28demanding I pleasure him

00:49:29to repay the debts

00:49:30of those two years.

00:49:32He already has a perfect match

00:49:33by his side,

00:49:34yet he insists

00:49:35on taking me by force,

00:49:37trapping me

00:49:38in an eternal cage.

00:49:46Watching the madness

00:49:48of his possessive gaze,

00:49:49I press my hand

00:49:51against my stomach,

00:49:52where a faint draconic sigil

00:49:54flickered,

00:49:55the mark pulsing

00:49:56with the rhythmic cadence

00:49:57of a heartbeat.

00:49:59It was this very secret

00:50:00that had driven me

00:50:01to orchestrate my own death,

00:50:02a scandalous escape

00:50:04that had shocked the world.

00:50:05A month ago,

00:50:06the Holy Kingdom fell

00:50:08under a sudden

00:50:09monster assault.

00:50:10I found myself

00:50:11cornered in the black forest,

00:50:13trapped and suffocating

00:50:15under the weight

00:50:15of a dark malevolent curse.

00:50:17As my consciousness

00:50:18began to fracture,

00:50:19he appeared.

00:50:20He rode the chaos.

00:50:22As he charged forward

00:50:23on horseback,

00:50:24I could have sworn

00:50:25I saw the spectral shimmer

00:50:27of dragon wings

00:50:28unfurl behind him,

00:50:29a broken sword

00:50:30in one hand

00:50:30and a spear

00:50:31in the other,

00:50:32cutting a path

00:50:33to my side.

00:50:35In my blurred vision,

00:50:37he looked breathtaking.

00:50:39That night,

00:50:40amidst a frantic

00:50:41soul resonance,

00:50:42I let myself

00:50:43cross the forbidden line

00:50:44with him.

00:50:45I think I might have

00:50:46actually fallen for him.

00:50:47I thought of him

00:50:48the moment I opened my eyes.

00:50:50I banished him once more

00:50:51to the most remote,

00:50:52crumbling tower

00:50:53of the estate.

00:50:54Before sending him

00:50:54to the tower

00:50:55was a triumph of my power.

00:50:57Now I found myself

00:50:58sneaking toward it

00:50:59just to catch a glimpse

00:51:00of him.

00:51:00He was right there

00:51:02in my temple.

00:51:02Yet I was dying

00:51:04of an incurable heartache.

00:51:06Today was his

00:51:0722nd birthday.

00:51:08I had spent hours

00:51:09baking a lemon tart

00:51:10with my own hands,

00:51:12wanting to give him

00:51:13a surprise.

00:51:14I wanted to tell him

00:51:15that he was going

00:51:16to be a father.

00:51:17Two years ago

00:51:18in the arena,

00:51:19I bestowed upon him

00:51:21the name Shadow.

00:51:22He was but a flicker

00:51:23of darkness,

00:51:24easily erased.

00:51:26Now,

00:51:26that name has become

00:51:27my only longing.

00:51:28I reach the tower

00:51:30only to find my world

00:51:31collapsing.

00:51:31My shadow

00:51:33was gone.

00:51:34A massive dragon shadow

00:51:36reared its head,

00:51:37its wings sweeping

00:51:38across the ceiling.

00:51:39A blinding burst

00:51:40of molten gold

00:51:41erupted before my eyes,

00:51:43before shrinking

00:51:44and condensing

00:51:45into the form

00:51:45of a noble man.

00:51:47The slave had vanished,

00:51:49replaced by a prince

00:51:50radiating golden light.

00:51:52The rumors followed quickly.

00:51:54He already had

00:51:55a fiancé,

00:51:56a childhood match,

00:51:58Lady Isabella,

00:51:59the most brilliant woman

00:52:00in the empire.

00:52:01As soon as he returned

00:52:02to the capital,

00:52:03their grand wedding

00:52:05would begin.

00:52:08My sanctuary

00:52:09had been transformed

00:52:10into a cage,

00:52:11surrounded by the cold

00:52:12steel of the paladins.

00:52:14The moment they spotted me,

00:52:16skulking in the shadows

00:52:17like a common theme,

00:52:18a royal guard

00:52:19lunged forward,

00:52:21pressing the frigid edge

00:52:22of a heavy greatsword

00:52:23against my throat.

00:52:24Neil,

00:52:24daughter of a traitor,

00:52:25how dare you stand

00:52:26in the presence

00:52:27of Prince Arthur.

00:52:28I looked past the blade

00:52:29of the man

00:52:29in the center of the crowd.

00:52:31The ragged,

00:52:32homespun clothes

00:52:33were gone.

00:52:34In their place

00:52:35was a magnificent robe

00:52:36of blackened gold.

00:52:38Risking execution,

00:52:40I reached out

00:52:41with trembling fingers,

00:52:42desperately trying

00:52:43to catch his hand.

00:52:45A low,

00:52:46rhythmic vibration

00:52:47hummed in the air

00:52:48as glowing embers

00:52:49of dragon fire

00:52:50drifted from the gold

00:52:51embroidery of his robes.

00:52:54You...

00:52:55Are you truly

00:52:56the crown prince?

00:52:57Tell me,

00:52:57Miss Vivian,

00:52:58how do you plan

00:52:59to torture me today?

00:53:00Will it be the jeweled whip

00:53:01or shall I feel

00:53:02the weight

00:53:02of your dancing shoes again?

00:53:04Once I return

00:53:05to the capital,

00:53:06I will send

00:53:06the official documents

00:53:07to sever our contract.

00:53:08A woman from this

00:53:09wretched holy kingdom

00:53:10has no place

00:53:11beside my throne.

00:53:12My eyes burned

00:53:13with unshed tears.

00:53:15I hadn't come

00:53:15to hurt him.

00:53:16I had come

00:53:17to celebrate his birth,

00:53:19to tell him

00:53:19that I was carrying

00:53:20his children,

00:53:21but even my touch

00:53:23was a stain

00:53:23to him now.

00:53:25I finally understood

00:53:26the brutal reality.

00:53:27He loathed me.

00:53:28He would never want me

00:53:30and he would certainly

00:53:31never want the bastards

00:53:32in my womb,

00:53:33even if they carried

00:53:34his own dragon blood.

00:53:37I shielded the faint

00:53:38yet searing spark

00:53:39of dragon blood

00:53:39within me,

00:53:41standing amidst

00:53:41the hallowed ruins

00:53:42in utter despair.

00:53:43I wanted to tell him

00:53:44that I would give up

00:53:45everything.

00:53:46I would follow him

00:53:47to the capital

00:53:47as a lowly handmaid,

00:53:49anything just to stay

00:53:50by his side.

00:53:51But to him,

00:53:52my very touch

00:53:53was a defilement.

00:53:54The deposition decree,

00:53:56sealed with the dragon crest,

00:53:58had severed our contract

00:53:59forever.

00:54:00At eighteen,

00:54:01I had fallen

00:54:01from the adored saintess

00:54:03to a prisoner

00:54:03abandoned by the gods.

00:54:05I finally woke up

00:54:06from the dream.

00:54:07Arthur hated me.

00:54:08He would go on

00:54:09to marry the pure-blooded

00:54:10Lady Isabella

00:54:11and father noble

00:54:12dragon heirs.

00:54:13To him,

00:54:15Do you have any

00:54:16final prayers,

00:54:17Miss Vivian?

00:54:18He looked down at me

00:54:19as if I were

00:54:20a speck of dust.

00:54:21I had wanted

00:54:22to beg him

00:54:23to taste the lemon tart

00:54:24I baked

00:54:24with my own hands.

00:54:26But seeing the frost

00:54:27in his eyes,

00:54:28I could only bite my lip

00:54:29and shake my head

00:54:30through a blur of tears.

00:54:32Golden scales

00:54:32erupted across his skin

00:54:34as the air ignited

00:54:35with his draconic aura.

00:54:37With a mocking smear,

00:54:38his body shifted

00:54:39and expanded

00:54:40in a blinding flash

00:54:41of light,

00:54:42transforming into

00:54:43a massive dragon.

00:54:44The gale from his wings

00:54:46slamming me violently

00:54:47into the snow.

00:54:48He vanished into the clouds

00:54:50without a single

00:54:50backward glance.

00:54:51I sat frozen

00:54:53in the ice

00:54:53until a sharp searing pain

00:54:55tore through my abdomen,

00:54:57nearly causing me

00:54:58to lose the child.

00:54:59Watching the fading silhouette

00:55:00in the sky,

00:55:01I clutched my stomach

00:55:02where a faint dragon mark

00:55:03pulsed,

00:55:04beating rhythmically

00:55:05like a second heart.

00:55:09Disaster struck

00:55:10three days

00:55:11after Arthur's departure.

00:55:13My father,

00:55:14the Holy Father,

00:55:15was branded

00:55:15with the twin sins

00:55:17of treason

00:55:17and black magic

00:55:18then cast into

00:55:19the darkest depths

00:55:20of the abyss prison.

00:55:21I rushed to the capital

00:55:22desperate and breathless

00:55:23only to be met

00:55:25with the death sentence.

00:55:26He was to face

00:55:27the trial of Holy Fire

00:55:28on the night

00:55:29of the next full moon.

00:55:31Inside the stench-ridden dungeon,

00:55:33my mother's withered hand

00:55:34gripped mine

00:55:35with terrifying strength.

00:55:37Elena,

00:55:38you must go

00:55:38to Prince Arthur.

00:55:40You must go

00:55:41to your shadow.

00:55:43You swore vows

00:55:45before the dragon god.

00:55:46You are high

00:55:47on only contract holder.

00:55:49He cannot simply

00:55:51watch us die.

00:55:52Her words

00:55:53cut through

00:55:54Malek-acerated blood,

00:55:55but he couldn't find

00:55:56the voice to answer.

00:55:57How could I admit

00:55:59that during those

00:55:59two years of shadow,

00:56:01I had forced him

00:56:02into the freezing depths

00:56:03of the Holy Lake

00:56:04just to retrieve

00:56:05a lost jewel

00:56:06for my amusement?

00:56:07How could I confess

00:56:09that,

00:56:09in fits of rage,

00:56:10I had left scars

00:56:11upon his back

00:56:12that would never heal?

00:56:13He likely wanted

00:56:14to see my family

00:56:15reduced to ash

00:56:16more than anyone else

00:56:17in the world.

00:56:18But looking at the last

00:56:20flickering spark of hope

00:56:21in my mother's eyes,

00:56:21I forced myself to move.

00:56:23I picked up

00:56:24the ruby-encrusted whip,

00:56:25the very symbol

00:56:26of my former tyranny,

00:56:28and dragged my trembling body

00:56:30to the crown prince's palace.

00:56:32There,

00:56:33before the towering

00:56:34obsidian iron gates,

00:56:35I fell to my knees

00:56:36and waited.

00:56:40Back in the Holy Kingdom,

00:56:41a single command

00:56:42from my lips

00:56:43was enough to make shadow

00:56:44crawl to my feet.

00:56:46If I wanted him to bow,

00:56:47he never dared

00:56:48to meet my eyes.

00:56:49But now,

00:56:50the tables had turned

00:56:51with a cruel irony.

00:56:53To see him

00:56:54for even a moment,

00:56:55I had to kneel

00:56:56in the teeth

00:56:56of a blizzard,

00:56:57begging a shred of mercy.

00:56:59I knelt until

00:57:00I lost all feeling

00:57:01in my legs,

00:57:02the ruby whip

00:57:03in my hands

00:57:03buried under

00:57:04a thick shroud of snow.

00:57:05Just as dawn

00:57:06threatened to break,

00:57:07a dragon's roar

00:57:08shattered the cloud.

00:57:09The black wings

00:57:10eclipsed the dawn

00:57:10as he dived,

00:57:11only to contract

00:57:12and transform

00:57:13the instant

00:57:14they struck the earth.

00:57:15From the heart

00:57:16of the erupting snow,

00:57:17Arthur emerged

00:57:18in human form,

00:57:19breaking through the mist.

00:57:20The crunch of his boots

00:57:22against the frozen ground

00:57:23echoed the frantic

00:57:24beating of my heart.

00:57:25His cold,

00:57:26indifferent gaze

00:57:26lingered for a moment

00:57:27on the whip I held.

00:57:28Tell me,

00:57:29Miss Vivian,

00:57:30which hand was it?

00:57:32Which hand did you use

00:57:34to leave those scars

00:57:34on my body?

00:57:36His voice held no warmth,

00:57:38only the crushing weight

00:57:39of a judge passing sentence.

00:57:40I was so frozen,

00:57:42I could barely breathe.

00:57:43Before I could find my voice,

00:57:45my strength failed me.

00:57:46My knees buckled

00:57:47and I collapsed forward,

00:57:48falling directly

00:57:49into his arms.

00:57:50His chest was burning hot,

00:57:52a searing contrast

00:57:53to the ice.

00:57:54The heat instantly

00:57:55triggered the memory

00:57:56of our night of soul resonance,

00:57:57the way he had pinned me

00:57:58against the altar

00:57:59of predatory hunger.

00:58:00My eyes welled

00:58:02with bitter tears.

00:58:04Your Highness,

00:58:05please,

00:58:06save my father.

00:58:08I'm begging you.

00:58:10His pupils narrowed

00:58:11into golden vertical slits,

00:58:12and a faint rhythmic glow

00:58:14of molten fire

00:58:15pulsed beneath

00:58:15the skin of his throat.

00:58:18Elena,

00:58:19is this how beg?

00:58:27Two years ago,

00:58:29I was the arrogant saintess,

00:58:31and he was the dragon slave

00:58:33I whipped at my whim.

00:58:34Two years later,

00:58:36he awakens the imperial dragon blood

00:58:38and returns to the imperial capital.

00:58:41As the giant dragon

00:58:43dives to the earth,

00:58:44he transforms into a king

00:58:46of extraordinary elegance.

00:58:48His dark gold dragon pupils

00:58:51are locked firmly onto me,

00:58:52once his equal,

00:58:54now a disgraced slave

00:58:56of the clan,

00:58:57fallen into the abyss

00:58:58beneath the altar.

00:58:59To save my father,

00:59:01I was forced to kneel

00:59:03at his feet

00:59:03and let him tear away

00:59:05my white robes,

00:59:06the very symbol

00:59:07of my sanctity.

00:59:09He laughed coldly,

00:59:11demanding I pleasure him

00:59:12to repay the debts

00:59:13of those two years.

00:59:14He already has

00:59:15a perfect match

00:59:16by his side,

00:59:17yet he insists

00:59:18on taking me by force,

00:59:20trapping me

00:59:21in an eternal cage.

00:59:22Oh,

00:59:24you are.

00:59:26But I will never let

00:59:27your children

00:59:28become your prisoners.

00:59:29Watching the madness

00:59:30of his possessive gaze,

00:59:32I press my hand

00:59:33against my stomach,

00:59:35where a faint

00:59:36draconic sigil flickered,

00:59:37the mark pulsing

00:59:39of the rhythmic cadence

00:59:40of a heartbeat.

00:59:41It was this very secret

00:59:43that had driven me

00:59:44to orchestrate my own death,

00:59:45a scandalous escape

00:59:47that had shocked the world.

00:59:48A month ago,

00:59:49the Holy Kingdom fell

00:59:51under a sudden

00:59:52monster assault.

00:59:53I found myself

00:59:54cornered in the black forest,

00:59:56trapped,

00:59:57and suffocating

00:59:57under the weight

00:59:58of a dark malevolent curse.

01:00:00As my consciousness

01:00:01began to fracture,

01:00:02he appeared.

01:00:03He rode the chaos.

01:00:05As he charged forward

01:00:06on horseback,

01:00:07I could have sworn

01:00:08I saw the spectral shimmer

01:00:10of dragon wings

01:00:10unfurl behind him,

01:00:12a broken sword

01:00:13in one hand

01:00:13and a spear

01:00:14in the other,

01:00:15cutting a path

01:00:16to my side.

01:00:18In my blurred vision,

01:00:20he looked breathtaking.

01:00:22That night,

01:00:23amidst a frantic

01:00:24soul resonance,

01:00:25I let myself

01:00:26cross the forbidden line

01:00:27with him.

01:00:28I think I might have

01:00:29actually fallen for him.

01:00:30I thought of him

01:00:31the moment I opened my eyes.

01:00:32I banished him once more

01:00:34to the most remote,

01:00:35crumbling tower

01:00:36of the estate.

01:00:36Before sending him

01:00:37to the tower

01:00:38was a triumph

01:00:39of my power.

01:00:40Now I found myself

01:00:41sneaking toward it

01:00:42just to catch

01:00:42a glimpse of him.

01:00:43He was right there

01:00:44in my temple,

01:00:45yet I was dying

01:00:47of an incurable heartache.

01:00:49Today was his

01:00:4922nd birthday.

01:00:51I had spent hours

01:00:52baking a lemon tart

01:00:53with my own hands,

01:00:55wanting to give him

01:00:55a surprise.

01:00:57I wanted to tell him

01:00:58that he was going

01:00:59to be a father.

01:01:00Shadow.

01:01:00Two years ago

01:01:01in the arena,

01:01:02I bestowed upon him

01:01:03the name Shadow.

01:01:04He was but a flicker

01:01:06of darkness,

01:01:07easily erased.

01:01:08Now,

01:01:09that name has become

01:01:10my only longing.

01:01:11I reach the tower

01:01:13only to find my world

01:01:14collapsing.

01:01:15My shadow

01:01:16was gone.

01:01:17A massive dragon shadow

01:01:19reared its head,

01:01:20its wings sweeping

01:01:21across the ceiling.

01:01:22A blinding burst

01:01:23of molten gold

01:01:24erupted before my eyes,

01:01:26before shrinking

01:01:27and condensing

01:01:28into the form

01:01:28of a noble man.

01:01:29The slave

01:01:31had vanished,

01:01:32replaced by a prince

01:01:33radiating golden light.

01:01:34The rumors

01:01:35followed quickly.

01:01:37He already had

01:01:38a fiancé,

01:01:39a childhood match,

01:01:41Lady Isabella,

01:01:42the most brilliant woman

01:01:43in the empire.

01:01:44As soon as he returned

01:01:45to the capital,

01:01:46their grand wedding

01:01:48would begin.

01:01:51My sanctuary

01:01:52had been transformed

01:01:53into a cage,

01:01:54surrounded by the cold

01:01:55steel of the paladins.

01:01:57The moment they spotted me,

01:01:59skulking in the shadows

01:02:00like a common theme,

01:02:01a royal guard

01:02:02lunged forward,

01:02:03pressing the frigid edge

01:02:04of a heavy greatsword

01:02:05against my throat.

01:02:07Neil,

01:02:07daughter of a traitor,

01:02:08how dare you stand

01:02:09in the presence

01:02:10of Prince Arthur?

01:02:11I looked past the blade

01:02:12of the man

01:02:12in the center

01:02:13of the crowd.

01:02:14The ragged,

01:02:15homespun clothes

01:02:15were gone.

01:02:16In their place

01:02:18was a magnificent robe

01:02:19of blackened gold.

01:02:21Risking execution,

01:02:23I reached out

01:02:24with trembling fingers,

01:02:25desperately trying

01:02:26to catch his hand.

01:02:28A low,

01:02:29rhythmic vibration

01:02:29hummed in the air

01:02:30as glowing embers

01:02:32of dragonfire

01:02:33drifted from the

01:02:34cold embroidery

01:02:34of his robes.

01:02:37You...

01:02:38Are you truly

01:02:39the crown prince?

01:02:40Tell me,

01:02:40Miss Vivian,

01:02:41how do you plan

01:02:42to torture me today?

01:02:43Will it be

01:02:43the jeweled whip

01:02:44or shall I feel

01:02:44the weight

01:02:45of your dancing shoes

01:02:46again?

01:02:47Once I return

01:02:48to the capital,

01:02:49I will send

01:02:49the official documents

01:02:50to sever our contract.

01:02:51A woman from

01:02:52this wretched

01:02:52holy kingdom

01:02:53has no place

01:02:54beside my throne.

01:02:55My eyes burned

01:02:56with unshed tears.

01:02:57I hadn't come

01:02:58to hurt him.

01:02:59I had come

01:03:00to celebrate his birth,

01:03:02to tell him

01:03:02that I was carrying

01:03:03his children.

01:03:04But even my touch

01:03:06was a stain

01:03:06to him now.

01:03:07I finally understood

01:03:09the brutal reality.

01:03:10He loathed me.

01:03:11He would never want me,

01:03:13and he would certainly

01:03:14never want the bastards

01:03:15in my womb,

01:03:16even if they carried

01:03:17his own dragon blood.

01:03:19I shielded the faint

01:03:21yet searing spark

01:03:22of dragon blood

01:03:22within me,

01:03:23standing amidst

01:03:24the hallowed ruins

01:03:25in utter despair.

01:03:26I wanted to tell him

01:03:27that I would give up

01:03:28everything.

01:03:29I would follow him

01:03:30to the capital

01:03:30as a lowly handmaid,

01:03:32anything just to

01:03:32stay by his side.

01:03:34But to him,

01:03:35my very touch

01:03:36was a defilement.

01:03:37The deposition decree,

01:03:39sealed with the

01:03:40dragon crest,

01:03:41had severed our

01:03:41contract forever.

01:03:43At eighteen,

01:03:44I had fallen

01:03:44from the adored

01:03:45saintess to a prisoner

01:03:46abandoned by the gods.

01:03:48I finally woke up

01:03:49from the dream.

01:03:50Arthur hated me.

01:03:51He would go on

01:03:52to marry the pure-blooded

01:03:53Lady Isabella

01:03:54and father

01:03:55noble dragon heirs

01:03:56to him.

01:03:58Do you have

01:03:58any final prayers,

01:04:00Miss Vivian?

01:04:01He looked down at me

01:04:02as if I were

01:04:03a speck of dust.

01:04:04I had wanted

01:04:05to beg him

01:04:06to taste the

01:04:06lemon tart

01:04:07I baked

01:04:07with my own hands.

01:04:08But seeing the

01:04:09frost in his eyes,

01:04:10I could only

01:04:11bite my lip

01:04:12and shake my head

01:04:12through a blur

01:04:13of tears.

01:04:14Golden scales

01:04:15erupted across

01:04:16his skin

01:04:17as the air

01:04:18ignited with

01:04:18his draconic aura.

01:04:20With a mocking

01:04:21smear,

01:04:21his body shifted

01:04:22and expanded

01:04:23in a blinding

01:04:24flash of light,

01:04:25transforming into

01:04:26a massive dragon.

01:04:27The gale from his

01:04:28wings slamming me

01:04:29violently into the snow.

01:04:31He vanished into

01:04:32the clouds

01:04:32without a single

01:04:33backward glance.

01:04:34I sat frozen

01:04:35in the ice

01:04:36until a sharp

01:04:37searing pain

01:04:38tore through my

01:04:39abdomen,

01:04:40nearly causing me

01:04:41to lose the child.

01:04:42Watching the fading

01:04:43silhouette in the sky,

01:04:44I clutched my stomach

01:04:45where a faint

01:04:46dragon mark pulsed,

01:04:47beating rhythmically

01:04:48like a second heart.

01:04:52Disaster struck

01:04:53three days

01:04:54after Arthur's

01:04:55departure.

01:04:56My father,

01:04:57the Holy Father,

01:04:58was branded

01:04:58with the twin

01:04:59sins of treason

01:05:00and black magic

01:05:01then cast into

01:05:02the darkest depths

01:05:03of the abyss

01:05:03prison.

01:05:04I rushed to the

01:05:05capital,

01:05:05desperate and

01:05:06breathless,

01:05:06only to be met

01:05:07with the death

01:05:08sentence.

01:05:09He was to face

01:05:10the trial of

01:05:11Holy Fire

01:05:11on the night

01:05:12of the next

01:05:13full moon.

01:05:14Inside the

01:05:14stench-ridden dungeon,

01:05:16my mother's

01:05:17withered hand

01:05:17gripped mine

01:05:18with terrifying

01:05:18strength.

01:05:20Elena,

01:05:20you must go

01:05:21to Prince Arthur.

01:05:23You must go

01:05:24to your shadow.

01:05:26You swore vows

01:05:27before the dragon god.

01:05:29You are

01:05:30high on only

01:05:31contract holder.

01:05:32He cannot

01:05:33simply watch us

01:05:34die.

01:05:35Her words

01:05:36cut through

01:05:37Malek-acerated blood,

01:05:38but he couldn't

01:05:39find the voice

01:05:39to answer.

01:05:40How could I admit

01:05:41that during those

01:05:42two years of shadow,

01:05:44I had forced him

01:05:45into the freezing

01:05:46depths of the

01:05:46holy lake

01:05:47just to retrieve

01:05:48a lost jewel

01:05:48for my amusement.

01:05:50How could I

01:05:51confess that?

01:05:52In fits of rage,

01:05:53I had left scars

01:05:54upon his back

01:05:55that would never

01:05:55heal.

01:05:56He likely wanted

01:05:57to see my family

01:05:58reduced to ash

01:05:59more than anyone

01:06:00else in the world.

01:06:01But looking at

01:06:02the last flickering

01:06:03spark of hope

01:06:03in my mother's

01:06:04eyes,

01:06:05I forced myself

01:06:05to move.

01:06:06I picked up

01:06:07the ruby-encrusted

01:06:08whip,

01:06:08the very symbol

01:06:09of my former

01:06:10tyranny,

01:06:10and dragged

01:06:11my trembling body

01:06:12to the crown

01:06:13prince's palace.

01:06:15There,

01:06:15before the towering

01:06:17obsidian iron gates,

01:06:18I fell to my knees

01:06:19and waited.

01:06:23Back in the

01:06:23holy kingdom,

01:06:24a single command

01:06:25from my lips

01:06:26was enough

01:06:26to make shadow

01:06:27crawl to my feet.

01:06:29If I wanted him

01:06:29to bow,

01:06:30he never dared

01:06:31to meet my eyes.

01:06:32But now,

01:06:33the tables had turned

01:06:34with a cruel irony.

01:06:36To see him

01:06:37for even a moment,

01:06:37I had to kneel

01:06:39in the teeth

01:06:39of a blizzard,

01:06:40begging a shred

01:06:41of mercy.

01:06:42I knelt

01:06:42until I lost

01:06:43all feeling

01:06:44in my legs,

01:06:45the ruby whip

01:06:45in my hands

01:06:46buried under

01:06:47a thick shroud

01:06:47of snow.

01:06:48Just as dawn

01:06:49threatened to break,

01:06:50a dragon's roar

01:06:51shattered the cloud.

01:06:52The black wings

01:06:53eclipsed the dawn

01:06:53as he dived,

01:06:54only to contract

01:06:55and transform

01:06:56the instant

01:06:56they struck the earth.

01:06:58From the heart

01:06:59of the erupting snow,

01:07:00Arthur emerged

01:07:01in human form,

01:07:02breaking through

01:07:03the mist.

01:07:03The crunch

01:07:04of his boots

01:07:04against the frozen ground

01:07:06echoed the frantic

01:07:07beating of my heart.

01:07:08His cold,

01:07:09indifferent gaze

01:07:09lingered for a moment

01:07:10on the whip I held.

01:07:11Tell me,

01:07:12Miss Vivian,

01:07:13which hand was it?

01:07:15Which hand did you use

01:07:16to leave those scars

01:07:17on my body?

01:07:19His voice held no warmth,

01:07:21only the crushing weight

01:07:22of a judge passing sentence.

01:07:23I was so frozen

01:07:25I could barely breathe.

01:07:26Before I could find my voice,

01:07:28my strength failed me.

01:07:29My knees buckled

01:07:30and I collapsed forward,

01:07:31falling directly

01:07:32into his arms.

01:07:33His chest was burning hot,

01:07:35a searing contrast

01:07:36to the ice.

01:07:37The heat instantly

01:07:38triggered the memory

01:07:39of our night of soul resonance.

01:07:40The way he had pinned me

01:07:41against the altar

01:07:42of his predatory hunger.

01:07:43My eyes welled

01:07:45with bitter tears.

01:07:47Your Highness,

01:07:48please,

01:07:49save my father.

01:07:51I'm begging you.

01:07:53His pupils narrowed

01:07:54into golden vertical slits

01:07:55and a faint rhythmic glow

01:07:57of molten fire

01:07:57pulsed beneath

01:07:58the skin of his throat.

01:08:01Elena,

01:08:02is this how beg?

01:08:10Two years ago,

01:08:12I was the arrogant saintess

01:08:14and he was the dragon slave

01:08:16I whipped at my whim.

01:08:17Two years later,

01:08:19he awakens the imperial dragon blood

01:08:21and returns to the imperial capital.

01:08:24As the giant dragon

01:08:26dives to the earth,

01:08:27he transforms into a king

01:08:29of extraordinary elegance.

01:08:31His dark gold dragon pupils

01:08:33are locked firmly onto me.

01:08:35Once his equal,

01:08:37now a disgraced slave

01:08:39of the clan,

01:08:40fallen into the abyss

01:08:41beneath the altar.

01:08:42To save my father,

01:08:44I was forced to kneel

01:08:46at his feet

01:08:46and let him tear away

01:08:48my white robes,

01:08:49the very symbol

01:08:50of my sanctity.

01:08:52He laughed coldly,

01:08:54demanding I pleasure him

01:08:55to repay the debts

01:08:56of those two years.

01:08:57He already has

01:08:58a perfect match

01:08:59by his side,

01:09:00yet he insists

01:09:01on taking me by force,

01:09:03trapping me

01:09:04in an eternal cage.

01:09:05Oh, you are.

01:09:09But I will never let

01:09:10your children

01:09:10become your prisoners.

01:09:12Watching the madness

01:09:13of his possessive gaze,

01:09:15I press my hand

01:09:16against my stomach,

01:09:18where a faint

01:09:19draconic sigil flickered,

01:09:20the mark pulsing

01:09:22with the rhythmic cadence

01:09:23of a heartbeat.

01:09:24It was this very secret

01:09:26that had driven me

01:09:27to orchestrate

01:09:27my own death,

01:09:28a scandalous escape

01:09:29that had shocked

01:09:30the world.

01:09:31A month ago,

01:09:32the Holy Kingdom fell

01:09:34under a sudden

01:09:35monster assault.

01:09:36I found myself

01:09:37cornered in the black forest,

01:09:39trapped,

01:09:39and suffocating

01:09:40under the weight

01:09:41of a dark malevolent curse.

01:09:43As my consciousness

01:09:43began to fracture,

01:09:45he appeared.

01:09:46He rode the chaos.

01:09:48As he charged forward

01:09:49on horseback,

01:09:50I could have sworn

01:09:51I saw the spectral shimmer

01:09:52of dragon wings

01:09:53unfurl behind him.

01:09:55A broken sword

01:09:56in one hand

01:09:56and a spear

01:09:57in the other,

01:09:58cutting a path

01:09:59to my side.

01:10:01In my blurred vision,

01:10:03he looked breathtaking.

01:10:05That night,

01:10:06amidst a frantic

01:10:07soul resonance,

01:10:08I let myself cross

01:10:09the forbidden line

01:10:10with him.

01:10:11I think I might have

01:10:11actually fallen for him.

01:10:13I thought of him

01:10:14the moment I opened my eyes.

01:10:15I banished him once more

01:10:17to the most remote,

01:10:18crumbling tower

01:10:19of the estate,

01:10:19before sending him

01:10:20to the tower

01:10:21was a triumph

01:10:21of my power.

01:10:23Now I found myself

01:10:24sneaking toward it

01:10:25just to catch

01:10:25a glimpse of him.

01:10:26He was right there

01:10:27in my temple,

01:10:28yet I was dying

01:10:30of an incurable heartache.

01:10:31Today was his

01:10:3222nd birthday.

01:10:34I had spent hours

01:10:35baking a lemon tart

01:10:36with my own hands,

01:10:38wanting to give him

01:10:38a surprise.

01:10:40I wanted to tell him

01:10:41that he was going

01:10:42to be a father.

01:10:43Two years ago

01:10:44in the arena,

01:10:45I bestowed upon him

01:10:46the name Shadow.

01:10:48He was but a flicker

01:10:49of darkness,

01:10:50easily erased.

01:10:51Now,

01:10:52that name

01:10:53has become

01:10:53my only longing.

01:10:54I reach the tower

01:10:55only to find

01:10:56my world collapsing.

01:10:58My shadow

01:10:59was gone.

01:11:00A massive dragon shadow

01:11:02reared its head,

01:11:03its wings sweeping

01:11:04across the ceiling.

01:11:05A blinding burst

01:11:06of molten gold

01:11:07erupted before my eyes,

01:11:09before shrinking

01:11:10and condensing

01:11:11into the form

01:11:11of a noble man.

01:11:12The slave

01:11:13had vanished,

01:11:15replaced by a prince

01:11:16radiating golden light.

01:11:17The rumors

01:11:18followed quickly.

01:11:20He already had

01:11:21a fiancé,

01:11:22a childhood match,

01:11:24Lady Isabella,

01:11:25the most brilliant

01:11:26woman in the empire.

01:11:27As soon as he returned

01:11:28to the capital,

01:11:29their grand wedding

01:11:30would begin.

01:11:33My sanctuary

01:11:35had been transformed

01:11:36into a cage,

01:11:37surrounded by the cold steel

01:11:39of the paladins.

01:11:40The moment they spotted me,

01:11:42skulking in the shadows

01:11:43like a common theme,

01:11:44a royal guard

01:11:45lunged forward,

01:11:46pressing the frigid

01:11:47edge of a heavy

01:11:48greatsword

01:11:48against my throat.

01:11:49Kneel,

01:11:50daughter of a traitor,

01:11:51how dare you stand

01:11:52in the presence

01:11:53of Prince Arthur?

01:11:54I looked past the blade

01:11:55of the man

01:11:55in the center

01:11:56of the crowd.

01:11:56The ragged,

01:11:58homespun clothes

01:11:58were gone.

01:11:59In their place

01:12:00was a magnificent robe

01:12:02of black and gold.

01:12:04Risking execution,

01:12:06I reached out

01:12:07with trembling fingers,

01:12:08desperately trying

01:12:09to catch his hand.

01:12:11A low,

01:12:11rhythmic vibration

01:12:12hummed in the air

01:12:13as glowing embers

01:12:15of dragon fire

01:12:16drifted from the

01:12:17gold embroidery

01:12:17of his robes.

01:12:20You...

01:12:21Are you truly

01:12:22the crown prince?

01:12:23Tell me,

01:12:23Miss Vivlin,

01:12:24how do you plan

01:12:24to torture me today?

01:12:26Will it be the

01:12:26jeweled whip

01:12:27or shall I feel

01:12:27the weight

01:12:28of your dancing shoes

01:12:29again?

01:12:30Once I return

01:12:31to the capital,

01:12:32I will send

01:12:32the official documents

01:12:33to sever our contract.

01:12:34A woman from this

01:12:35wretched holy kingdom

01:12:36has no place

01:12:37beside my throne.

01:12:38My eyes burned

01:12:39with unshed tears.

01:12:40I hadn't come

01:12:41to hurt him.

01:12:42I had come

01:12:43to celebrate his birth.

01:12:45To tell him

01:12:45that I was

01:12:46carrying his children.

01:12:47But even my touch

01:12:48was a stain

01:12:49to him now.

01:12:50I finally understood

01:12:52the brutal reality.

01:12:53He loathed me.

01:12:54He would never

01:12:55want me.

01:12:56And he would

01:12:56certainly never

01:12:57want the bastards

01:12:58in my womb.

01:12:59Even if they

01:13:00carried his own

01:13:00dragon blood.

01:13:02I shielded the

01:13:03faint yet searing

01:13:04spark of dragon blood

01:13:05within me.

01:13:06Standing amidst

01:13:07the hallowed ruins

01:13:08in utter despair.

01:13:09I wanted to tell him

01:13:10that I would give up

01:13:11everything.

01:13:12I would follow him

01:13:13to the capital

01:13:13as a lowly handmaid.

01:13:14Anything just

01:13:15to stay by his side.

01:13:17But to him

01:13:17my very touch

01:13:19was a defilement.

01:13:20The deposition decree

01:13:21sealed with the

01:13:22dragon crest

01:13:23had severed our

01:13:24contract forever.

01:13:26At eighteen

01:13:26I had fallen

01:13:27from the adored

01:13:28saintess to a

01:13:29prisoner abandoned

01:13:30by the gods.

01:13:31I finally woke up

01:13:32from the dream.

01:13:33Arthur hated me.

01:13:34He would go on

01:13:35to marry the

01:13:36pure-blooded

01:13:36Lady Isabella

01:13:37and father

01:13:38noble dragon heirs.

01:13:39To him.

01:13:41Do you have

01:13:41any final prayers

01:13:43Miss Vivian?

01:13:44He looked down

01:13:45at me as if

01:13:46I were a speck

01:13:46of dust.

01:13:47I had wanted

01:13:48to beg him

01:13:49to taste the

01:13:49lemon tart

01:13:50I baked

01:13:50with my own

01:13:51hands.

01:13:51But seeing

01:13:52the frost

01:13:52in his eyes

01:13:53I could only

01:13:54bite my lip

01:13:55and shake

01:13:55my head

01:13:55through a

01:13:56blur of tears.

01:13:57Golden scales

01:13:58erupted

01:13:59across his skin

01:14:00as the air

01:14:01ignited with

01:14:01his draconic

01:14:02aura.

01:14:03With a mocking

01:14:03smear his body

01:14:05shifted and

01:14:05expanded in a

01:14:06blinding flash of

01:14:07light transforming

01:14:08into a massive

01:14:09dragon.

01:14:10The gale from

01:14:11his wings slamming

01:14:12me violently

01:14:13into the snow.

01:14:14He vanished

01:14:14into the clouds

01:14:15without a single

01:14:16backward glance.

01:14:17I sat frozen

01:14:18in the ice

01:14:19until a sharp

01:14:20searing pain

01:14:21tore through

01:14:22my abdomen

01:14:22nearly causing

01:14:24me to lose

01:14:24the child.

01:14:25Watching the

01:14:25fading silhouette

01:14:26in the sky

01:14:27I clutched

01:14:27my stomach

01:14:28where a faint

01:14:29dragon mark

01:14:29pulsed beating

01:14:30rhythmically

01:14:31like a second

01:14:31heart.

01:14:35Disaster struck

01:14:36three days

01:14:37after Arthur's

01:14:38departure

01:14:38my father

01:14:40the Holy Father

01:14:41was branded

01:14:41with the twin

01:14:42sins of treason

01:14:43and black magic

01:14:44then cast into

01:14:45the darkest

01:14:45depths of the

01:14:46abyss prison.

01:14:47I rushed to

01:14:47the capital

01:14:48desperate and

01:14:49breathless

01:14:49only to be met

01:14:50with the death

01:14:51sentence.

01:14:52He was to face

01:14:53the trial of

01:14:54Holy Fire

01:14:54on the night

01:14:55of the next

01:14:56full moon.

01:14:57Inside the

01:14:57stench-ridden

01:14:58dungeon

01:14:58my mother's

01:14:59withered hand

01:15:00gripped mine

01:15:00with terrifying

01:15:01strength.

01:15:03Elena,

01:15:03you must go

01:15:04to Prince

01:15:04Arthur.

01:15:06You must go

01:15:07to your

01:15:08shadow.

01:15:09You swore

01:15:10vows before

01:15:11the dragon

01:15:11god.

01:15:12You are

01:15:13high on only

01:15:14contract holder.

01:15:15He cannot

01:15:16simply watch

01:15:17us die.

01:15:18Her words

01:15:19cut through

01:15:20my leg

01:15:20acerated blood

01:15:21but he couldn't

01:15:22find the voice

01:15:22to answer.

01:15:23How could I

01:15:24admit that during

01:15:25those two years

01:15:26of shadow

01:15:26I had forced

01:15:27him into the

01:15:28freezing depths

01:15:29of the holy lake

01:15:30just to retrieve

01:15:30a lost jewel

01:15:31for my amusement.

01:15:33How could I

01:15:34confess that

01:15:35in fits of rage

01:15:36I had left

01:15:37scars upon his

01:15:37back that would

01:15:38never heal.

01:15:39He likely

01:15:40wanted to see

01:15:40my family

01:15:41reduced to ash

01:15:42more than

01:15:42anyone else

01:15:43in the world.

01:15:44But looking

01:15:45at the last

01:15:45flickering spark

01:15:46of hope

01:15:46in my mother's

01:15:47eyes

01:15:47I forced

01:15:48myself to

01:15:48move.

01:15:49I picked

01:15:49up the

01:15:50ruby-encrusted

01:15:51whip

01:15:51the very

01:15:52symbol

01:15:52of my

01:15:52former

01:15:53tyranny

01:15:53and dragged

01:15:54my trembling

01:15:55body to

01:15:56the crown

01:15:56prince's

01:15:56palace.

01:15:58There

01:15:58before the

01:15:59towering

01:16:00obsidian

01:16:00iron gates

01:16:01I fell

01:16:02to my

01:16:02knees

01:16:02and waited.

01:16:06Back in the

01:16:06holy kingdom

01:16:07a single

01:16:08command from

01:16:08my lips

01:16:09was enough

01:16:09to make

01:16:09shadow

01:16:10crawl to

01:16:11my feet.

01:16:11If I

01:16:12wanted him

01:16:12to bow

01:16:13he never

01:16:14dared

01:16:14to meet

01:16:14my eyes.

01:16:15But now

01:16:16the tables

01:16:17had turned

01:16:17with a

01:16:17cruel

01:16:18irony.

01:16:19To see

01:16:19him for

01:16:20even a

01:16:20moment I

01:16:20had to

01:16:21kneel

01:16:22in the

01:16:22teeth

01:16:22of a

01:16:22blizzard

01:16:23begging

01:16:23a shred

01:16:24of

01:16:24mercy.

01:16:25I

01:16:25knelt

01:16:25until

01:16:26I

01:16:26lost

01:16:26all

01:16:26feeling

01:16:27in

01:16:27my

01:16:27legs.

01:16:28The

01:16:28ruby

01:16:28whip

01:16:28in my

01:16:29hands

01:16:29buried

01:16:29under a

01:16:30thick

01:16:30shroud

01:16:30of

01:16:31snow.

01:16:31Just as

01:16:32dawn

01:16:32threatened

01:16:32to

01:16:32break

01:16:33a

01:16:33dragon's

01:16:33roar

01:16:34shattered

01:16:34the

01:16:34cloud.

01:16:35The

01:16:35black

01:16:35wings

01:16:36eclipsed

01:16:36the

01:16:36dawn

01:16:36as

01:16:36he

01:16:37dived

01:16:37only to

01:16:38contract

01:16:38and

01:16:38transform

01:16:39the

01:16:39instant

01:16:39they

01:16:40struck

01:16:40the

01:16:40earth.

01:16:41From

01:16:41the

01:16:41heart

01:16:41of

01:16:42the

01:16:42erupting

01:16:42snow

01:16:42Arthur

01:16:43emerged

01:16:44in

01:16:44human

01:16:44form

01:16:45breaking

01:16:45through

01:16:45the

01:16:46mist.

01:16:46The

01:16:47crunch

01:16:47of

01:16:47his

01:16:47boots

01:16:47against

01:16:48the

01:16:48frozen

01:16:48ground

01:16:48echoed

01:16:49the

01:16:49frantic

01:16:49beating

01:16:50of

01:16:50my

01:16:50heart.

01:16:51His

01:16:51cold

01:16:51indifferent

01:16:52gaze lingered

01:16:53for a

01:16:53moment

01:16:53on the

01:16:53whip I

01:16:53held.

01:16:54Tell me

01:16:55Miss

01:16:55Vivian

01:16:56which

01:16:57hand

01:16:57was it?

01:16:58Which

01:16:59hand

01:16:59did you

01:16:59use to

01:16:59leave those

01:17:00scars

01:17:00on my

01:17:01body?

01:17:02His

01:17:02voice

01:17:03held no

01:17:03warmth

01:17:03only the

01:17:04crushing

01:17:05weight of

01:17:05a judge

01:17:05passing

01:17:06said

01:17:06I was

01:17:07so

01:17:07frozen

01:17:08I

01:17:08could

01:17:08barely

01:17:08breathe.

01:17:09Before

01:17:09I could

01:17:10find my

01:17:10voice

01:17:10my

01:17:11strength

01:17:11failed

01:17:11me.

01:17:12My

01:17:12knees

01:17:13buckled

01:17:13and I

01:17:13collapsed

01:17:14forward

01:17:14falling

01:17:14directly

01:17:15into

01:17:15his

01:17:15arms.

01:17:16His

01:17:16chest

01:17:17was

01:17:17burning

01:17:17hot

01:17:18a

01:17:18searing

01:17:18contrast

01:17:19to

01:17:19the

01:17:19ice.

01:17:20The

01:17:20heat

01:17:20instantly

01:17:21triggered

01:17:21the

01:17:21memory

01:17:21of

01:17:22our

01:17:22night

01:17:22of

01:17:22soul

01:17:22resonance.

01:17:23The

01:17:23way

01:17:23he

01:17:24had

01:17:24pinned

01:17:24me

01:17:24against

01:17:24the

01:17:25altar

01:17:25of

01:17:25predatory

01:17:26hunger.

01:17:26My

01:17:27eyes

01:17:27welled

01:17:28with

01:17:28bitter

01:17:28tears.

01:17:30Your

01:17:30highness

01:17:31please

01:17:32save

01:17:33my

01:17:33father.

01:17:34I'm

01:17:34begging

01:17:35you.

01:17:35His

01:17:36pupils

01:17:36narrowed

01:17:36into

01:17:37golden

01:17:37vertical

01:17:37slits

01:17:38and

01:17:38a

01:17:39faint

01:17:39rhythmic

01:17:39glow

01:17:39of

01:17:40molten

01:17:40fire

01:17:40pulsed

01:17:41beneath

01:17:41the

01:17:41skin

01:17:41of

01:17:41his

01:17:42throat.

the princess they called cursed

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