[Kazimir]
Humans. The most detestable creatures in the world. Born as the weakest race among the hundreds, they stood at the top of the food chain by their twisted minds and shameless hypocrisy.
They called us monsters while they burned villages. They called us demons while they betrayed their own brothers for a handful of gold.
And the greatest among them, the so-called "Hero" Mateo Valero, was the worst of them all. He was a butcher whom they crowned a king. A man who killed my father and called it justice.
For years, I have planned my revenge. It was almost near; however, at the last moment, I stopped.
What comes after?
For a man who killed my father and obliterated my entire family, giving a swift death would be a gift. I wanted to take from him what he treasured most, just like he did to me.
I wanted to see the light leave his eyes as he watched his precious daughter break under me. Only then would I kill him, after breaking him completely by breaking her from the inside out.
This political marriage was the perfect cage. A treaty he could not refuse without looking like a warmonger to his own pathetic people.
He would have to give me his treasure, and I would lock it away in my dark castle for the rest of her miserable life, a living symbol of his defeat.
And when he thinks the war is over, I will strike him. Harder than he could ever imagine.
When the shadow of my mount fell upon the carriage, I felt a moment of cold satisfaction. The human knights scattered like rats, as they should. I tore the roof from the carriage like a lid from a box and descended.
The girl inside was not what I expected. Merely looking at her face made my heart burn. Anger surged through me, threatening to swallow her whole.
'What's happening?'
It was strange. I hated Mateo, sure. I hated everything he cherished. But the hate I now felt towards this girl was ten times, no, a hundred times what I felt towards him.
It was almost like she was my arch-nemesis, but I don't remember ever seeing her once. She was thin, a pale thing with platinum hair and wide, purple eyes that held more shock than fear.
My hands almost moved to pluck those eyes from their sockets and put them into my treasure collection.
I sat before her, letting my presence fill the small space. I wanted to see her fear. Everyone who saw me for the first time was scared witless.
Yet even after waiting for a few minutes, there was no fear on her face. After some time, however, a hint of repulsion flashed in her eyes.
But her words were the exact opposite of her expression.
"I accept this marriage."
For a moment, I was taken aback. Was there a choice for her in the first place? She was here because I ordered it. Even if she never accepted, she would be my bride.
'Is she acting tough? Is it a bluff?'
What was this weak creature trying to show?
Then, as expected, the mask crumbled. "Just joking, my husband. I am wholly not ready to marry you," she said, forcing a smile that was painful to look at.
I frowned. What? Accept or reject? What kind of drama was she plotting? I ignored the first part of her words as I spoke.
"That's not for you to decide." Because your thread of fate is for me to play with.
"You like me? Then marry me. I am fine." My mount almost choked on its non-existent saliva.
The sheer shamelessness of this woman, to think I was marrying her because I liked her. The audacity of her to even consider the possibility that I was lucky to marry her.
"Ha," I scoffed, my hatred boiling over. "You are the same as your father. Shameless."
I expected her to cry. To protest. To defend the "great Hero's" honor.
Instead, she laughed.
The sound was so out of place it silenced my thoughts. "Why are you laughing?"
"Because I don't agree with you. My father is not shameless."
"Then why are you laughing?" I demanded, as if she had mirrored my own thoughts from before.
"Because you are not funny."
[Luna]
This man was fearsome, and I was more than terrified to share my carriage with him. But he was also funny. I liked how he mirrored my own logic.
My father was surely a shameless person.
Believing in superstitions like a curse and locking his own daughter away for sixteen years, only to marry her off to hostile forces for the supposed possibility of a peace treaty... Mateo Valero was truly shameless.
I arched my brows as I imagined my father's face if he heard the words of his soon-to-be son-in-law. It would be even better if the demonic dragon announced this across the skies of Albadia.
"You..." My words were cut off when the silhouette of my future husband suddenly zoomed in.
Before I could decipher what was happening, his cold, calloused fingers wrapped around my neck.
The connection between my brain and my body seemed to sever as my eyes blurred and my throat ached for breath.
"Do you want me to be funny?"
Wh-what is he... I-I...
His face moved closer to mine. The sharp scent of him filled my nose. Even on the verge of death, my heart started beating uncontrollably.
I swear it wasn't out of excitement. Yes. It was a common physical reaction when facing death. That's it.
"L-let... g-go..." I managed to force out.
Revulsion flashed across his face. Godsdamned leech. How dare he show that expression while choking me. It's not like I wanted this.
"You are disgusting," he said, pushing me back.
"Cough... cough..." I gulped for air, falling back onto the seat. My chest rose and fell as my breathing slowly stabilized.
I looked at him with pure hatred.
"You are a terrible excuse for a man."
This time, his face contorted into something dangerous that I couldn't quite pinpoint.
"So you like it this way?" he asked.
"Who in their right mind would like being choked, you godsdamned leech?" I muttered under my breath.
"Should I continue?"
"Shut up. Hell no," I scrambled back until my back hit the wall of the carriage. He took another step toward me before stopping, tilting his head as if listening to someone.
After a moment, he glanced back at me and smirked. It didn't reach his eyes.
"Don't worry, human. We have so much time... for all of that."
What? My surroundings shifted as the wind tore at my skin. I was in the sky, on the back of the bone dragon.
My back was pressed against a hard chest; I didn't have to look to know who it was.