The throne room was insane.
It was bigger than any room Alfred—no, Louis—had ever seen, and that was saying a lot.
The ceiling was so high it made him feel a little dizzy, and it was covered in painted scenes of epic battles and dragons with gold wings that looked like they were judging his every clumsy step.
He walked down a long red carpet, feeling the eyes of the guards in their shiny armor burning into his back.
The whole place felt way too big for him.
At the very end, his new dad sat on a huge chair carved from black rock.
The guy's crown sparkled with jewels, but his face was tight with stress, like he'd just found out his credit card was declined.
"Louis," the King said, his voice super low and tired. "You're here."
Louis's mouth felt like sandpaper.
"Yeah… Dad."
The word felt totally wrong.
The King's eyes flickered, maybe with regret or something, before he just went back to business.
He picked up a scroll from the arm of his throne and unrolled it.
"This showed up this morning," he said, his voice shaking just a little. "It's from the Dragon King."
Louis's stomach did a backflip.
The King started reading, and every word was like a punch to the gut:
'To the people of Aurelion. For ages, I've watched you guys do your thing. I've put up with your stupid wars and your greed. But I'm officially done. To save your whole kingdom from getting torched, you'll give me a bride. Say no, and I'll turn your lands into a pile of ash.'
The silence that followed was heavy enough to crush him.
Louis's brain raced.
A bride?
That had to be some unlucky princess, right? Some noblewoman they could just pawn off?
He was sweating buckets.
He risked a glance at the other nobles standing around. Their faces were white, their lips a thin line, but all their eyes were glued to him.
The King's hands trembled as he rolled up the scroll.
"The decision has been made," he said. "The bride… is you."
The world just tilted sideways.
"Me?!" His voice cracked, way too loud. "You're not serious! I'm—I'm not even…"
The King just closed his eyes.
"You're seventeen. Royal blood. And more importantly… he asked for you by name."
Louis's mind went blank.
His heart pounded like a drum solo.
By name?
The Dragon King knew who he was?
How?
And why?
The nobles shifted awkwardly, and whispers started fizzing through the crowd like static.
Louis's knees felt like jelly.
He wanted to scream, to laugh, to wake up in his crappy apartment with the broken vending machine.
Anything but this.
Because right now, his second chance at life wasn't a gift.
It was a death sentence, delivered by a monster