To them, she was the chosen piece of their new king, and that made her sacred.

"Weiwei..." Lin Wan whispered frantically in her mind, her fingers digging into the wood of the railing. "What... what is happening? Why are they bowing to me?"

Inside her brain, the digital interface buzzed weakly, the red error messages slowly clearing away as Cassian’s domain opened up just enough to let her system speak.

[Host... this is the ancient law of the high-tier beast bloodlines,] Weiwei explained, her digital voice sounding incredibly tense and strained. [The royal manticore brand is not just a tracking device. By burning his personal crest into your soul core, Prince Cassian has officially declared to the entire universe that you belong to his personal domain. In their eyes, you are the highest treasure of the throne. If anyone touches a single hair on your head, it is considered a direct declaration of war against the Sovereign himself. They are bowing to his power inside you.]

Lin Wan’s stomach twisted into a hard, painful knot. "It’s not respect, Weiwei. It’s a warning. They are bowing to the leash."

At the end of the line of warriors, the heavy front doors of the tavern stood wide open, revealing the dark, quiet street outside.

Standing right in the center of the muddy road was the imperial carriage.

It was a magnificent, terrifying vehicle, carved completely from a single block of rare, polished black obsidian stone that gleamed like dark water under the purple sky. The sides of the carriage were lined with intricate, glowing silver runes that hummed with a deep, magical vibration.

The vehicle did not possess wheels; instead, it floated perfectly three feet above the muddy ground, suspended by a thick cloud of dark, swirling shadow mist.

Harnessed to the front of the carriage were four massive shadow hounds—beasts the size of horses, with sleek black fur, long, sharp fangs, and eyes that burned like cold blue fire.

The beasts stood perfectly still, their dark paws melting into the shadows of the street, their cold breath rising into the damp air like white steam.

Cassian was already inside.

The carriage door, made of solid obsidian and lined with soft black silk, was wide open. Through the dark opening, Lin Wan could see the dim, luxurious interior.

She swallowed down the thick lump of fear in her throat, forcing her shaking legs to move forward. She walked down the center of the tavern room, passing between the two lines of bowed black-armored warriors. None of them moved. None of them lifted their eyes.

They remained frozen in their deep bows until she stepped over the threshold of the tavern door and out into the cold night air.

The dirty, greasy rain of the slums had completely stopped, but the ground was still covered in deep puddles of thick, black mud.

As Lin Wan approached the floating carriage, she paused, looking down at her old, worn boots. She didn’t want to step into that pristine, luxurious interior looking like a filthy kitchen maid.

Suddenly, a large, dark shadow fell over her.

Before she could even blink, Cassian appeared at the door of the carriage.

He didn’t say a word. He simply reached out with his massive, long-fingered hand, his strong grip wrapping effortlessly around her small waist.

With a single, gentle pull, he lifted her completely off the muddy ground, as if she weighed no more than a feather, and drew her straight into the carriage.

*Gasp.*

The obsidian door slammed shut behind her with a soft, heavy thud.

*Thud.*

The interior of the carriage was incredibly spacious, easily the size of a large bedroom. The walls were lined with the softest, thickest black silk that absorbed every sound from the outside world, creating a dead, suffocating silence.

The air inside was warm and carried the intoxicating, heavy scent of winter frost and dark ozone—the pure, undiluted scent of Cassian’s aura.

Lin Wan sat down quickly on the edge of the long, velvet-cushioned seat, keeping as much distance between herself and the prince as possible. She pressed her back against the side wall, her hands clutched tightly in her lap.

Cassian sat directly opposite her. His massive frame took up nearly the entire side of the carriage.

He had leaned his head back against the silk cushions, his long dark hair flowing over his broad shoulders, his magnificent crimson robes trailing across the floorboards.

His hands rested casually on his knees, his sharp, dark fingernails tapping a slow, lazy rhythm against the gold embroidery of his fabric.

*Tap.*

*Tap.*

His slitted golden eyes were half-closed, but through the dark slits, a sharp, molten light was fixed entirely on her. He looked incredibly relaxed, like a giant lion resting after a long, successful hunt.

With a soft, weightless lurch, the carriage began to move.

There was no bumping, no sound of wooden wheels grinding against stone. The vehicle glided through the air with absolute smoothness, rising higher and higher into the sky as it left the lower slums behind.

Lin Wan turned her head slightly, looking through the small, tinted glass window of the carriage door. Her breath hit the glass, creating a small circle of white mist.

Through the dark glass, she watched the lower sector shrink away. The narrow, dirty streets of the slums, the crooked wooden roofs of the taverns, and the tiny oil lamps of the poor quarters were all dissolving into the gray fog below.

The carriage was moving up the grand mountain, heading straight toward the middle rings, where the wealthy merchants and high lords lived in massive stone mansions lined with silver banners.

But the carriage did not stop there. It kept rising, cutting through the heavy layers of dark purple storm clouds until it reached the very peak of the imperial mountain.

Lin Wan’s eyes went completely wide as the inner citadel finally came into full view.

*Gasp!*

It was a city of pure gold and white marble, built on a scale that defied human imagination. Massive, towering palaces reached high into the upper heavens, their walls lined with glowing protective runes that flashed like stars.

Giant waterfalls of liquid spiritual energy cascaded down the sides of the white stone cliffs, glowing with a brilliant blue light that illuminated the entire peak.

But the beautiful city was completely scarred by war.

As the carriage glided over the grand golden highway leading to the main palace gates, Lin Wan could see the terrible remnants of the battle that had ended just hours ago.

The grand marble plazas were cracked and shattered, covered in deep craters from explosive spiritual attacks. Massive banners bearing the silver crests of the second and third princes had been torn down, shredded into rags, and left to burn in piles of black ash along the roads.

Thousands of high-tier beast soldiers, dressed in the silver armor of the royal guard, were kneeling in rows along the wide highway, their weapons dropped onto the stone, their faces pressed against the cold marble as Cassian’s carriage passed over them.

The entire peak of the world was silent, bleeding, and completely conquered.

This was the kingdom of the monster sitting across from her.

Lin Wan pulled her gaze away from the window, her body shivering violently as she looked back at Cassian. The sheer scale of his power was finally crashing down upon her.

He wasn’t just a strong warrior; he was an emperor who had just rewritten the fate of an entire world in six bloody days. And she was completely locked inside a small box with him.

Cassian noticed her gaze. The slow tapping of his fingers stopped.

*Stop.*

He slowly opened his golden eyes, the slitted pupils widening slightly as he stared at her pale, clean face. A small, deeply satisfied smile touched his handsome lips.

"The view from the top is very beautiful, is it not, my little master?" Cassian murmured, his deep voice smooth and raspy like silk over stone. "Everything you see out there... every palace, every soldier, every drop of spiritual energy... it all belongs to me now."

Lin Wan gripped the silk pouch in her pocket even tighter, her knuckles turning white. "It belongs to a monster," she whispered, her voice shaking but steady.

Cassian did not get angry. He simply leaned forward, his broad chest cutting off her view of the window, his golden eyes burning with a dark, terrifying amusement. "Perhaps," he whispered, his voice dropping into a low, possessive purr. "But remember this, Lin Wan... this monster belongs to you. You bought me. And a manticore always pays his debts, and I am a sovereign, all the more reason, I’ll pay of this debt."

The imperial carriage came to a soft, weightless halt inside the grand courtyard of the Supreme Sovereign Palace.

The obsidian door swung open with a quiet click, and the thick, freezing air of the mountain peak rushed inside, carrying the strong scent of burnt copper and fresh stone.