The Dragon King's Substitute Bride

Chapter 22

CH22

Morgan

The entire table went quiet. The king cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Pretending?"

"As lovely as this... welcome dinner is, you don't decide to revive the Trials lightly or without reason." I sat forward. "So what has been so important that thousands of young women have had to die?"

"You cross the line, human," someone hissed down the table.

He lifted a hand with a wry smile.

"You are truly... chosen by the heavens, aren't you? Speaking like a beam of light: straight and precise." He sat back. "My wife would speak the way you do. It made it impossible to capitulate. I appreciate it. It's refreshing... I've missed it, and given the situation, it's necessary."

Ignoring the hostility from further down the table, I focused on the king. He worked his jaw before speaking again.

"Our realm and the human realm rely on each other. It is believed that our realms sit side by side, but in truth, they are intertwined, not just through mirrors and portals and gateways but by their very essence. The veil, as we call it, is the borderline and the connection. It keeps us separate but also connects us. When the veil is open, the magic that is naturally generated in our room can spill out into the human room, allowing for longer life spans, healthier people, and richer land, but when it is closed, humans grow weaker, the earth suffers, and the magic that would usually spill out and have somewhere to go stagnate and corrupts us."

I thought of Ael's worry about their little magical garden dying.

"It has been five years since the veil closed with my wife's murder. We estimate that if the veil remains closed for another ten years, the human realm will fall, and ours will fall soon after. We

have been warned of this in the Visions of Queens.

"And you're certain."

salready begun," b

"The corruption said. "Tsuneo's coma is thought to be the first sign."

"What do these... visions say?"

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CH22

and the Phoenix will never rise

and all will turn to darkness as it was in the beginning,

of hope dancing in his eyes. But beneath that hope lurked a shadow of doubt, a fear of the

go between worlds is part of your powers as queen, which you longer you are here. I

grow into the

the sky turned

"Frightening."

chosen lightly, and she is always

"So, what was your wife

He grinned. "A hurricane."

turned the information over in my mind. Glancing down the table, it was clear that everyone was looking

the consequences of opening the veil again?" Someone further down asked. "We know nothing about what humans are like now, or at least very little. What if the corruption of their

ago that humans would hunt magical kind for their own ends," one of them sneered. "Butchering our kind in vain hopes of immortality.

blinked at her "I've heard myths about it, but they

myths currently."

veil has

have been killed at this point, so a few mermaids hardly

turning bright red. Her eyes changed like a fish's, and I figured she was probably

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10:01 Wed, Oct 16

CH22

"And as I recall, part of the myths was that mermaids would drown and eat us, so... guess? Like tigers cating people and vis vera." I smiled at her. "Maybe we could agree to mutually (1)

"As sovereign over the human realm, you very well

My eyes bulged. "Sovereign?"

only the queen can

what I

would say

his voice firm.

that your lingering resentments do not cloud your judgment or hinder your progress in opening the

"When I can verify what you say as truth, I'm sure it

grateful for your healthy

head and gestured to one of the servants nearby, a hint of

lips.

of such grim conversations," he declared, his voice lighter now. "Let us celebrate the potential for a brighter future and the unique bond that has brought us

forward, his eyes twinkling

of them was set in front of me. The other was in front of the king. The others were brought other goblets. "Tonight," he boomed, his voice filled with newfound vigor, "we toast to new beginnings and the revitalization of all that