The grand entrance hall of the Valerius Estate was suffocatingly extravagant.
Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and the floors were polished marble.
As the Imperial Family walked through the massive double doors.
The air pressure in the room instantly dropped.
Emperor Aldric walked at the front.
He wore an immaculate, jet-black military coat lined with gold.
"His face is an absolute mask of ice."
Beside him walked my older sister…
Crown Princess Seraphina, radiating a freezing, untouchable Budla Aditya aura.
I walked quietly behind them, keeping my head down.
While my eight-year-old little brother, Prince Elian, clutched the edge of my jacket.
Elian looked terrified, his large eyes darting around the room…
..Duke Alistair Valerius.
A tall man with calculating, snake-like eyes and a perfectly tailored silver suit, bowed deeply.
"Welcome, Your Majesty," the Duke announced.
Before the Emperor could even reply, a boy stepped forward from the Duke's side.
It was Julian Valerius.
He was fifteen, dressed in ridiculously expensive blue silk, with slicked-back blonde hair and an arrogant smirk that made me instantly sick to my stomach.
Julian stepped right up to Seraphina, completely ignoring the rest of us.
He took her hand, bowing with a sickeningly smooth smile.
"Princess Seraphina. It is an honor to finally meet my future bri—"
CRACK!
The sound echoed like a gunshot.
Before Julian's lips could even touch her glove.
Seraphina's fist buried itself into his jaw.
She didn't even use her magic. It was pure, brutal physical strength.
Julian was thrown backward off his feet, crashing violently into a decorative marble table and shattering it into pieces.
The entire hall froze in absolute shock.
Julian groaned on the floor, spitting blood.
Seraphina slowly wiped her glove on her coat, her eyes glowing with absolute disgust.
"The engagement is off. If I ever catch you looking at me again, I will freeze your eyes in your skull."
"Forgive my son for his rudeness!"
Duke Alistair stepped forward, his voice a mix of panic and calculated respect.
He bowed his head low to the Emperor.
"His Majesty the King... I know the reason why you do such things. But to cancel the political union entirely..."
Emperor Aldric looked down at the Duke like he was an insect.
"Because I do not like your son. Nor does my daughter. It is only natural for a father to do good things for his daughter, is it not?"
Duke Alistair's jaw tightened.
I could practically see the gears turning in his head.
If this marriage doesn't happen, he was definitely thinking, our family's path to the Imperial throne is completely severed.
The South loses everything…
The Duke tried to open his mouth to argue, but Aldric cut him off…
.."However.."
the Emperor's deep voice echoed.
"You stated you wanted a tie with the Imperial bloodline. There is another way. Call your daughters."
Alistair hesitated for a split second, then snapped his fingers.
Two girls were brought into the hall.
The first was Elena Valerius.
She was sixteen, wearing a stunning crimson dress.
She held her chin high, her eyes practically shining with greed as she looked at me.
She clearly didn't care that I was the "Cursed Prince"—she only saw the Imperial crown on my head.
The second girl was Lyra. She was thirteen, dressed in plain, worn-out clothes that looked like they belonged to a servant, not a Duke's daughter.
Her silver hair was slightly messy, but her deep blue eyes were incredibly sharp.
She didn't look at the Emperor with fear or greed. She just looked tired.
The moment Emperor Aldric's eyes landed on Lyra, his cold mask shattered for a fraction of a second.
His eyes widened. He took a half-step forward, his voice dropping to a barely audible whisper. "Celia...?"
[Flashback: 14 Years Ago - The Mystic Kingdom Border]
The battlefield was soaked in blood.
A much younger Aldric collapsed against a ruined wall, his armor shattered.
A deadly, Sovereign-level poison was spreading through his veins.
He was dying…
A woman knelt beside him, her hands glowing with intense, warm healing magic.
It was Celia—a commoner battle-medic with beautiful silver hair and deep blue eyes.
She poured every ounce of her mana into his chest, burning her own life force to destroy the poison.
"Aldric," Celia gasped, coughing up blood as the spell drained her.
"I don't have much time left. The Duke of the South... he took me in, but the noble world is cruel. When I am gone, they will crush my daughter because of her commoner blood."
Tears mixed with the blood on Aldric's face. He grabbed her hand.
"Promise me, Aldric," Celia whispered, her light fading.
"Protect my Lyra. Swear it."
"I swear it," Aldric choked out. "I will protect her."
[Present Day]
Emperor Aldric's eyes hardened, returning to their terrifying, absolute coldness.
He raised his hand and pointed directly past the arrogant Elena, his finger locking onto the small, quiet girl in the servant's clothes.
"Her," Aldric commanded. "I chose Lyra as my daughter-in-law.
She will marry my second son, Prince Zion."
The room erupted into chaos.
Elena's face contorted in absolute rage.
Julian stared in disbelief.
"Your Majesty, wait!"
Duke Alistair stepped forward, sweating bullets.
"Sh... She is my second daughter! She carries commoner blood! You cannot tie the Imperial family to a—"
"Did I ask for your opinion, Duke?"
Aldric's mana flared, crushing the air in the room.
The Duke immediately choked on his words, stepping back in pure terror.
"The decree is set," Aldric stated. He turned his back.
"Come, my children. We are leaving."
The Imperial Carriage - Heading Back to the Palace..
The ride back was agonizingly silent until Seraphina finally spoke. She sat with her arms crossed, glaring at me and Elian.
"Pathetic," Seraphina spat. "
Julian was a weakling who relies entirely on his father's name.
And you, Zion.
Married off to a half-commoner in the South.
You let them look down on you without even raising your head."
He gripped his knees, staring at the floor.
She thinks I'm useless, I thought, the cursed mana boiling in my chest.
She thinks I am too weak to be part of this family.
Beside me, little Elian pulled his knees to his chest, his eyes watering.
Big sister is always so angry, the eight-year-old thought.
She hates Zion.
She hates me.
It's because my birth killed our mother.
She wishes I was dead.
.."Father,"
I finally spoke up, my voice shaking.
"I... I don't want to marry her. I don't want to go to the South."
Emperor Aldric didn't even look away from the window.
"Your wants are irrelevant, Zion. The marriage is finalized. You will leave the palace."
He didn't explain…
He didn't tell me he was sending me to the only person in the world he promised to protect.
He just let me believe he was throwing me away.
The Valerius Estate - The South
The moment the massive wooden doors of the Duke's estate clicked shut, the silence was broken by a vicious, echoing
SMACK!!
Lyra's head snapped to the side.
She fell to the cold marble floor, her cheek burning bright red.
Elena stood over her, breathing heavily, her hand still raised.
Her eyes were wide with psychotic fury, her High-Level Ice magic leaking into the air and freezing the floor beneath her boots.
"How dare you..."
Elena screamed, her voice cracking with pure jealousy.
"You filthy, commoner trash! That was supposed to be my crown! How dare you take my place!"
Lyra slowly pushed herself up from the floor.
She didn't cry.
She didn't scream for help.
She just wiped a drop of blood from the corner of her mouth and looked up at her cruel stepsister with those sharp, deep blue eyes.
The war in the South had officially begun….