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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the Phoenix will never rise

darkness as it was

beneath that hope lurked a shadow of doubt, a fear of the unknown

of your powers as queen, which you longer you are here. I suspect that you were behind the changing of the sky."

grow into the

the sky turned blood

"Frightening."

chosen lightly, and she is always as fearsome as her

"So, what

He grinned. "A hurricane."

turned the information over in my mind. Glancing down

humans are like now, or at least very little. What if the corruption of their

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

blinked at her "I've heard myths about

myths currently."

the veil

honestly, thousands of young women have been killed at this

like a fish's, and

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10:01 Wed, Oct 16

CH22

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

king chuckled. "As sovereign over the

My eyes bulged. "Sovereign?"

"There is a reason only the queen can control the veil... representative of

wasn't what

would say

his voice firm. "But the danger

his gaze connecting with mine. "For both worlds. I hope that your lingering resentments do not cloud your judgment or hinder your progress

"When I can verify what you say

am grateful for your

to one of the servants nearby, a hint of a smile playing

lips.

such grim conversations," he declared, his voice lighter now. "Let us celebrate the potential for a brighter

leaned forward, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Indeed,

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 we know." He looked at me. "I can only imagine that humans have a similar