Eyan’s POV
I still remember my mother’s face the last time I saw her.
There was no fear in her eyes. No sorrow.
She was smiling.
Back then, I didn’t understand why.
I was too young to understand what that smile meant—too young to realize it was acceptance.
I hated my father for that smile.
I hated King Thalor Therald for standing still while the enemy held my mother hostage.
For refusing to release the Dragon King.
For letting her die.
I remember screaming at him, my voice raw, my chest burning with grief.
“Father!” I cried, my hands clenched into fists.
“Why didn’t you do anything? Why did you let Mother die?”
My tears blurred my vision as I shouted words I could never take back.
“Did that dragon mean more to you than her life?”
“I you, Father.”
I remember saying it.
I remember meaning it.
After that, I ran away.
And for three long years after my mother’s death, I never spoke to him again.
I didn’t know whose fault it truly was.
All I knew was that my mother was gone, and I wanted someone to blame.
Then, when I turned ten, I found my answer.
Every child born of the Therald bloodline has the same dream on their tenth birthday.
A vision passed down through generations.
A dream that shows us what will happen if the Dragon King is released.
I had that dream too.
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And when I woke up that morning, I cried until my chest hurt.
I ran to my father—the man I had avoided for three years—and fell to my knees before him.
“Father,” I sobbed, my hands trembling.
“I had the dream…”
I looked into his eyes and, for the first time, I saw the grief he had been carrying all along.
“Forgive me,” I cried.
“For saying those cruel things. For saying you let Mother die.”
My voice broke completely.
“It wasn’t your fault…
Mother didn’t die because of you.”
I bowed my head.
“She died because of me.”
My father pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly, as if afraid I might disappear too.
“Eyan,” King Thalor said softly, “don’t say that.”
His voice was heavy with a sorrow .
“It was never your fault. Our bloodline has always paid the price.”
He held me closer.
“We are born to sacrifice the ones we love the most.
That is our duty—to keep the Dragon King sealed.”
His words crushed something inside me.
“We cannot choose love over duty.”
I clung to him, crying like a child who finally understood the world was cruel.
“Father,” I whispered, “why are we born with such a fate? Why must we always sacrifice? I don’t understand…”
After that day, I took an oath.
I swore that I would end this cursed bloodline with me.
That I would never fall in love.
That I would never give fate something it could take away.
Those were my words.
I remember saying them clearly.
And for a long time, I believed them. I believed I could outrun destiny.
Then—
I met
EVA.
Everything I had sworn to shattered the moment I saw her.
There was no struggle, no hesitation—only a quiet, irreversible fall.
I loved her at first sight.
In loving her, I broke the very oath I had made to myself.
And worse—I didn’t regret it.
I became greedy. I wanted warmth instead of duty. I wanted to be chosen. I wanted to be loved—not as an emperor, not as a cursed heir, but as a man.
And she did love me.
She loved me with a purity that terrified me. With a heart that never doubted, never questioned, never wavered.
I know it— if I had told her the truth, if I had explained why I lied, why I hid behind another name, she would have stayed.
She would have held my hand and walked into ruin beside me without fear.
That's exactly why I couldn’t tell her.
I never wanted to walk the same path my father was forced to tread.
I saw what it did to him—how it carved the strength out of his bones and left only duty behind.
I am not strong.
I could never choose the Dragon King over the woman I love.
Never.
Not in this life.
.
.
We had everything planned—
a future that felt so real it almost fooled me into believing fate could be defied.
A home filled with quiet mornings and shared laughter.
A child who would grow between us, never knowing the weight of my bloodline.
A life where we would grow old together, slowly, gently, as if the world had finally spared us.
I wanted that future more than I wanted salvation.
I did everything I could to protect her.
I lied.
I hardened my heart.
I pushed her away with words sharp enough to wound us both—
all to keep her beyond the reach of the curse my blood carries.
And still, I failed.
No matter how tightly I tried to shield her, fate found its way in.
It always does.
Now there is only one choice left to me.
To keep her safe.
To keep our child safe.
.
.
I must release the Dragon King.
.
.
And in doing so, I must break the final I ever made to her—
the promise that we would grow old together, that our story would be long.
.
.
But Some promises are not meant to be
And our love story was always meant to with one heart left behind.
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