"I cannot tell you what your mission truly is," Senar's voice echoed, firm yet heavy with sorrow.

Her glowing eyes burned into mine, and the realm around us seemed to tremble faintly, as though even the air itself feared her words.

"But know this," she continued slowly, "if you wish to save us, your people, you must free the cursed king."

My breath caught. For a moment, the world went still. I waited, lips parted, for something more. Some clue, Something less impossible.

"That's it?"

"Just… free the Frozen? That's the great prophecy everyone whispers about?"

A chuckle slipped through the shadows, light yet unsettling.

"Not quite," came Surya's voice, laced with a mocking sweetness that made my skin prickle.

Before I could ask what she meant, Saki stepped forward. Her pale face tilted with an almost unnatural calm, and her eyes gleamed like glass.

"You will have to marry him," she said.

The words hit harder than any blow. My chest tightened, and the air seemed to drain out of my lungs.

"What?" My voice cracked, louder than I intended.

"Yes," Saki repeated simply, as if speaking of the weather.

"It is the only way out."

A cold shiver slid down my spine. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might tear itself apart.

"I can't believe this," I muttered, shaking my head.

"What is wrong with everyone and me getting married? Is that the only solution anyone has for anything?"

Sirnala, who had been quiet until now, stepped closer. Her golden eyes narrowed, sharp with curiosity.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her tone carrying a warning edge.

"I already have a betrothed," desperate to make them understand.

"An arrangement made to save my father's reputation… his company. Everything he's worked for depends on it. If I walk away, he loses everything."

The silence that followed pressed against me, thick and suffocating.

Then Senar spoke, her voice low and final, leaving no room for argument.

"There is only one true prophecy," she said.

"Your destiny is not tied to a company or a man of your father's choosing. It is bound to the cursed king. You are his bride."

The words echoed, louder and louder, drilling into my chest like iron nails.

"Bride of the cursed king…" I repeated in my head, unable to stop the phrase from leaving my heart

Saki's gaze softened, though her voice remained steady. "You are his Luna," she said.

My knees weakened. Tears threatened to spill as I shook my head.

"No. No, I can't. I'm already promised. I'm getting married to the heir of the Nighthorn pack. That marriage will save my father. Maybe even protect me. I don't…"

My voice cracked.

"…I don't have the luxury of choosing fate. My life isn't mine."

The name Nighthorns barely left my lips before Saki's calm shattered.

Her entire body stiffened. Her voice, sharp as a whip, lashed through the silence.

"You mustn't!"

I flinched. Her eyes burned, blazing with fear and fury.

"The Nighthorns," she repeated, her tone now trembling as if the very name carried a curse,

"are far more dangerous than you think, child."

My heart raced faster.

"What do you mean?", unsure if I wanted the answer.

"If you marry into the Nighthorns, it will lead to an end we cannot prevent,"

Saki said. Her words fell like stones.

"Their blood carries curses older than the Frozen king himself. You will not save your family by binding yourself to them, you will destroy it."

Her warning cut deeper than any blade. My throat tightened, and tears pricked my eyes.

In my mind, my father's weary face appeared, his trembling hands as he will beg me to agree, his desperate voice when he speaks of saving our company's name.

He had called it the only way to restore what was lost, the only way to keep us from ruin.

And now these beings, creatures who felt carved from ancient power itself, stood before me declaring that very path would doom us all.

"No…" I shook my head violently, my voice breaking.

"You don't understand. If I don't marry him, my father loses everything. His name. His honor. His company. Everything he built will crumble."

"Your father's honor,"

Senar cut in, her tone sharp enough to slice me open,

"is not worth the price of your soul. Nor the blood of thousands."

The air around me shifted, heavy with judgment. My chest ached, and my thoughts scattered like shards of broken glass.

"Why me?" The question tore out of me before I could stop it. My voice was raw, thick with tears. "Why do I have to be the sacrifice in everyone's story? Why do I have to be the bride, the savior, the Luna, the key to every curse and prophecy?"

No one answered. Their glowing eyes remained fixed on me, unyielding, like judges who had already passed their sentence.

Finally, Saki exhaled. Her voice softened, almost motherly.

"Enough. You must return."

She tilted her head, gaze falling to the necklace at my chest.

"I do not know where you got that necklace, but guard it well. It is the only way to summon us again."

My hand shot instinctively to my chest, pressing against the cool metal. The necklace felt heavier now, as though it had soaked in the weight of every word they spoke.

As they turned to leave. Mist curled around them, swallowing their forms, until only Senar remained.

She lingered, his sharp gaze locking onto mine.

"One more thing," she said, her voice lower now, almost tender.

"A protector and queen to the cursed king does not need validation. Not from her people. Not from her friends. Not even from her father. Remember that."

Her words struck something deep within me, something buried under years of silence, of obedience, of bending myself until I nearly broke. For a moment, my lips trembled, but no sound escaped.

And then, like smoke in the wind, he too was gone.

The realm around me dissolved. Darkness rushed in, crushing and infinite. My body twisted, weightless, until suddenly

I gasped.

My eyes snapped open. The room spun, the air thick. I wasn't lying on my bed. I wasn't even touching it.

I was floating. Suspended above the sheets. My body hung in midair, as though invisible hands held me in place.

The necklace on my chest pulsed with a faint red glow. Its light burned against my skin, searing, alive.

Panic surged through me. My limbs flailed, desperate for balance, but there was no ground to catch me. No gravity to pull me down.

The line between their realm and mine had blurred, torn open, and now I was caught in the middle.

My breath came fast and shallow. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought it might burst.

And in that terrifying moment, as the world tilted and the necklace seared hotter, only one thought clawed its way into my mind.

Who do I betray first?