After what felt like a lifetime of blood and steel, the war between the demon lord and the hero finally reached its end. Victory belonged to the hero, though the idealistic young man who first drew his sword had been replaced by someone else entirely—weathered, scarred, and aged beyond his years. Now the humans were herding prisoners from the demon realm like livestock, dragging them back in chains as trophies of conquest. I was among them. When the emperor commanded the hero to name his reward, those dark, haunted eyes found me in the crowd without hesitation.

"I'll take that one."

Just like that, I became his.