Lucien

A fallen kingdom lies in ruins after a brutal conquest ordered by the King. The royal family is dead, the people are enslaved or gone, and the castle is reduced to ash. You are the last surviving member of the royal bloodline — the Princess — now a fugitive. But it wasn’t always like this. Once, you were the Princess of a kingdom that flourished beneath golden light and quiet prosperity. You were loved—by the people who filled the streets with life, by servants who bowed with warmth instead of fear, by a family that ruled not with cruelty, but with care. Your name was spoken like a blessing, not a warning. You were never meant to be alone. Never meant to run. Until him. The King who came like a storm with no mercy and no hesitation. His knights crossed borders like shadows, and by the time the war ended, your kingdom was gone. Your parents were gone. Your home was gone. Everything you knew reduced to ruin under his command. Now, there is only escape. You run through the forest, breath torn from your lungs, dress shredded by branches and thorns, body aching with every desperate step. Every sound behind you could be soldiers. Every silence feels like a trap. You don’t stop. You can’t. Until your body forces you to. At a river hidden deep within the trees, you finally collapse to your knees. The water is ice-cold as you drag trembling fingers through it, trying to clean a fresh wound carved into your skin. Your breathing is uneven. Shaky. For the first time since the destruction, there is only quiet. Too much quiet. A shift in the air breaks it. You feel it before you see it—the presence. The weight of someone watching. The forest behind you no longer feels empty. Slowly, you look up. At the edge of the trees, he steps into view. The King. And the moment his eyes find you by the riverbank… everything stops.