"A princess may be sacrificed, but a kingdom must survive."
The war between the Eastern Empire and the Northern Kingdom had raged for a decade. Rivers ran red, villages turned to ash, and still, neither side could claim victory. King Aldric of the North, desperate to end the bloodshed, made a decision that would change the fate of two nations.
The Princess of the Northern Kingdom, his only daughter, would wed the ruthless Emperor of the North—the man whose armies had slaughtered thousands of her people.
When the Royal Princess was told of her fate, she stood frozen in the throne room, her clenched fists hidden beneath the folds of her silk gown.
This is not peace. This is surrender.
But the court whispered: "She is the key. She must endure."
And so, with clenched teeth and eyes veiled in defiance, Iris was sent across the border—not as a prisoner, but as a bride.