The throne hall thundered with magic as the summoning array ignited between Prince Joshua Vale's feet.
Light cracked across the marble, shaking the pillars of the castle, and casting warped shadows over the startled court audience.
"Joshua—!"
"Your highness!"
The prince held up his hand with a calm smirk. "Settle down everyone. This was the agreed upon terms. We knew the demon realm would summon me. I'm simply fulfilling my duty as Prince."
That's right. My duty. There's no way out of this. Not for a prince they never expected to keep.
The words stirred unease amongst the nobles, but they didn't contradict him. No one but her.
A sharp patter of footsteps broke through the noise.
"Your Highness—wait please!"
A maid burst through the parting crowd, breathless, like she'd run the moment she heard about the summoning. Her eyes met his, wide and desperate.
Elara.
She'd been with him since he was small—long before anyone cared about titles, long before "third prince" meant anything at all. For years, she was the one person who saw him, not the crown.
She stopped just short of the glowing circle. Her hands bunched in her uniform, knuckles white.
"You can't just go without—" Her voice snagged, and she pushed the words out anyway. "Without saying something, Joshua! Everyone else keeps pretending this is just politics, but you… you're not someone they can just lose."
The court shifted, a quiet shudder running through the room as people pretended not to hear her.
Not a single person interrupted, her words striking true.
Joshua's expression softened, dropping the polite noble mask when he faced the maid.
"Elara, I'll be fine."
Her head shook instantly, tears streaking down her face.
"No, you won't," she insisted. Ignoring the surprised reactions of the nobles, she took his hand in both of hers. "You're being sent to the Demon Realm alone... to marry a stranger. How am I supposed not to worry?"
The magic circle rippled beneath his feet. Their time together was about to get cut short. Joshua reached out and brushed a thumb across her cheek.
"You've always worried," he said, almost to himself. "Even when I didn't really deserve it. That's… actually why I kept quiet. I've already asked too much of you, my loyal maid."
She didn't let him finish. Her hand closed around his, firm and shaking at the same time, as if holding on could keep him there a moment longer.
"Then let me ask something," she breathed. "Please. Just come back. Promise me you'll return to me alive."The last word barely held together, fading under the rising hum of the circle as the light brightened.
Joshua gave her fingers a small, steady squeeze before he let go.
"I'll return," he whispered. "I give you my word."
Her lips parted—she wanted to say more, needed to—
But the light erupted upward.
"Joshua!!" she cried.
The throne hall vanished in a burst of blinding magic.
The ancient pact demanded a royal be sent to the Demon Realm every generation.
This time, it had chosen him.
Joshua felt the world begin to change. Sound and color vanished, then gravity, until only the blue glow of magic remained. His fingers slipped through the last traces of Elara's warmth as the world unraveled.
The marble floor disappeared from beneath his boots.
Then—
SLAM—
His body crashed into cold stone, air escaping his lungs in one violent exhale. He staggered, bringing himself to one knee as the blue mana faded around him.
His vision steadied enough to register where he now stood: A colossal chamber of black stone, lined with towering obsidian pillars.
This… isn't what the elders described.
A warm scent hit him—herbs, clean stone, a hint of fresh wood.
Chains clanked around Joshua as he stood there.
Dozens of eyes—red, gold, silver—focused on him from the darkness. Demons lined the room, their forms just shadows. Each one held a weapon and wore armor while kneeling before an unseen presence hidden in the dark.
"So, this is the offering the humans dared send us."
All the demons were kneeling to him.
So this is the king.
The voice was calculated and commanding. A figure stepped forward from the shadows. While Joshua was taller than most men, the demon still loomed a head higher than him. His skin shone with an obsidian sheen, and a jagged scar cut down his jaw.
His eyes, cold and ember-bright, narrowed as he sized up the prince.
"It seems like they sent someone far too young this time," the demon murmured. "How disappointing." The demon's lip curled, as though Joshua was something he'd scrape off his boot.
Joshua straightened his posture, brushing the dust from his cloak. He forced his expression calm.
"I am Prince Joshua Vale," he said evenly. "Third prince of the Human Kingdom Arial.
I'm here under peace. And I won't be deterred by anyone. Not even you."
A low rumble rolled through the chamber.
At first it sounded like a growl or thunder, but Joshua quickly realized It was laughter.
Great. A room full of demons, and the first one I speak to thinks I'm a joke.
"Peace?" the demon repeated, lips curling. "Don't speak as if your title means anything here."
The demon king flicked his hand, all the kneeling demons rising as one, armor and weapons clinking.
The prince responded in kind, knuckles white from gripping the hilt of his sword.
"Enough."
The room froze.
The armored demons lowered their heads instantly. Even the demon towering over him stiffened, the arrogance draining from his posture in a second.
"Daughter. Look at him. Barely a man wrapped in royal cloth. Too soft and far too fragile. This human isn't fit to stand in your shadow, much less take your hand." The king's eyes flicked toward the prince menacingly.
"Say the word, and his corpse goes back to the humans as our answer."
"Father. Wait."
Joshua looked up, and his breath caught.
A woman descended from a staircase and into the room. Her presence felt powerful and oppressive. Her black horns curved upward and then back. Her scarlet eyes burned bright enough to cast shadows when she blinked. She wore a cloak of black silk, embedded with traces of red mana. Long blood-red hair trailed behind her every step.
She examined him—his posture, his clothes, the way he stood even while outnumbered fifty to one. She noted every detail.
"So," she said quietly, "this is the human prince. The man the kingdom threw away to protect their hides. He has some courage at least."
Joshua matched her eyes with his own. "And you are?"
The smallest of smirks appeared on her face.
Every instinct is screaming at me to be careful around this woman, Joshua thought, taking care to hold himself together.
"I am Princess Lysandra of the Demon Realm," she said. "Your betrothed."
Joshua's chest tightened, but he couldn't show even a hint of weakness. Standing tall, he brought his hand up to her unfaltering. "I'm honored to finally meet you."
Her expression didn't soften as she brought her hand to shake his. "Prince Joshua Vale," she said tilting her head.
"Welcome to the Demon Palace. From this moment on, your life belongs to me."