The firelight trembled in Aurean's parents' eyes — not from warmth, but from fear.
"Please, Aurean… you must listen to us," his mother whispered, fingers clenched around the hem of her robe. "You have to marry the Demon Lord."
Aurean stared at them, breath sharp as broken glass. "Why *me*?"
His father didn't look up. "Because your brother betrayed us." A pause. Heavy as stone. "He was meant to be the one… the one who could carry an heir for Lord Varys Solmere—the Undying Flame."
"And now he's gone," his mother added softly, voice fraying at the edges. "Ran away with another man—"
"With love!" Aurean snapped, fists trembling at his sides. "He ran away with *love*! And you're standing here asking me to walk into a marriage of fear? To some *monster* who will burn our family alive if I don't obey?"
Silence.
Then—nodding.
"We are sorry," his father said quietly—but not enough.
They were relieved he wouldn't fight them.
And that hurt more than anything else.
Aurean turned toward the window where moonlight spilled over golden dunes beyond their home in Lirath City—the same light that once danced on stories of freedom he used to dream about as a child.
Now? Now there was no dream left for him—only duty wrapped in chains disguised as fate.
But inside?
Annoyed.
Sad.
Furious beyond words…
Yet still—he would go.
For them.
Even if they had already given up on him first…