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 heavens will fall, and the Phoenix will never rise from

stars will burn out, and all will turn to darkness

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

queen, which you longer you are here. I suspect that you were behind the changing of

grow into the

back to when the sky

"Frightening."

is not chosen lightly, and she

smirked. "So, what

He grinned. "A hurricane."

the information over in my mind. Glancing down the table, it was

nothing about what humans are like now, or at least very little. What if the

so long ago that humans would hunt magical kind for their own ends," one of them sneered. "Butchering

you talking about mermaids?" I blinked at her "I've heard myths about it,

myths currently."

the veil has been

perfect, and honestly, thousands of young women have been killed at this point, so a few

Her eyes changed like a fish's, and I figured she was probably a mermaid

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10:01 Wed, Oct 16

CH22

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) exclude each other from each

chuckled. "As sovereign over the

My eyes bulged. "Sovereign?"

only the queen can control the veil...

that wasn't what I

would say

risks are undeniable," the king said, his voice firm. "But the danger we would

your lingering resentments do not cloud your judgment

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

smiled. "I am grateful for your healthy

head and gestured to one of the

lips.

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

leaned forward, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

his side, bearing a silver tray laden with two intricately carved goblets filled with a shimmering, golden liquid. One 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 we know." He looked at me. "I can only imagine that humans