CHAPTER 102: FAKE MARRIAGE

The moon hung low and heavy in the sky, a sliver of polished bone against a canvas of deep, star-dusted violet. The streets of the dragonkin city were quiet now, the earlier, boisterous energy of the market having given way to a silent, watchful peace. My footsteps were the only sound as I made my way through the sleeping city, the weight of Yumi, now fast asleep in my arms, a strange, comforting anchor in the storm of my own thoughts.

I stopped before a modest but elegant mansion, its walls carved from the same dark, volcanic stone as the surrounding mountains, its windows glowing with a soft, warm light. This was it. The home of the girl whose fate was now inexplicably, and irrevocably, tied to my own.

I knocked.

The door opened a moment later, revealing the tall, regal figure of Christina’s father. His face, which had been a mask of profound, soul-deep sorrow in the garden, was now etched with a weary, guarded suspicion. His eyes, the color of a summer sky, widened in surprise as he saw me, and then widened even further as he saw the small, sleeping child in my arms.

"Hi," I said, my voice a low, quiet murmur. "My name is... ah, never mind. I can’t come up with a made-up name on the spot, so let’s just leave it." I gestured with my head toward the sleeping Yumi. "She’s exhausted."

We were still standing on the doorstep, a strange, silent tableau in the cool night air. "You may be wondering many things," I continued, my voice a low, steady murmur that was designed to both soothe and command. "So why don’t we sit inside and talk?"

He hesitated for a long, tense moment, his gaze shifting from me to Yumi, his mind clearly a battlefield of conflicting emotions. Then, with a slow, weary sigh of resignation, he stepped aside and welcomed me into his home.

I was sitting face to face with him in a large, elegantly furnished drawing room, the only sound the gentle crackle of the fire in the hearth. "Can you call your daughter?" I asked, my voice a quiet, respectful murmur. "The whole thing is about her, after all."

Her father called her, and she came a moment later, her own mother, a woman with the same silvery-white hair and a face etched with a quiet, dignified sorrow, at her side.

"Umm... miss," I said, my voice a little softer now as I stood and gently transferred the sleeping Yumi into her mother’s arms. "Can you please place this child in your bedroom?"

She looked at me, her own eyes wide with a mixture of confusion and a dawning, unwilling trust, and then she nodded, her own arms wrapping around Yumi’s small, warm body with a gentle, maternal care.

She left, and I turned my attention back to Christina and her father. "So," I said, my voice a low, serious murmur as I sat back down. "As we are low on time, I will say it directly. I am here to help you."

His father’s eyes narrowed. "Help us? How?"

"I know your situation," I said, my gaze fixed on him, my own eyes a calm, unreadable pool of shadow. "This marriage thing. And your daughter, who will soon be forced to suffer a living hell. I am here to fix all of this."

Christina’s own eyes, which had been so full of a quiet, unyielding sadness, now lit with a fragile, hopeful light. "How?" she whispered, her voice a barely audible breath.

"I have a plan," I said, my voice a low, confident murmur. "But the main part, the most important part, is that you have to follow it. Without question."

Her father’s expression hardened. "What is this plan?" he asked, his voice a low, dangerous growl. "And who are you, really? Are you an anti-nationalist, a member of the rebellion, here to cause disaster in the kingdom? If that is so, then please, leave my house at once."

I laughed, a genuine, unrestrained sound that seemed to surprise even me. "An anti-nationalist, you say? Haha. Well, that’s a new one. Is that what you call your savior?" I leaned forward, my own expression turning serious once more. "Anyway, I will get to the point. If my plan succeeds, you and your family will continue to live just as you have before. But if it fails... then your daughter will have to face the same situation she is in now. There are no drawbacks. No risks. Only a single, desperate chance at freedom."

Her father stood from the couch, his own face a mask of grim, determined resolve. "Tell me your plan."

"A fake marriage," I said, the words a quiet, simple statement in the tense, silent room.

"What are you saying?" he breathed, his own voice a mixture of shock and a dawning, horrified disbelief. "A fake... what? Are you serious?"

"I am," I replied, my own voice a calm, steady murmur. "According to the ancient traditions of this kingdom, a woman who has already been married cannot be forced to marry someone else. And if she is already married, Leon, the Knight Commander’s arrogant, spoiled son, will never come for her."

"You really are stupid," her father whispered, his own face pale with a new, dawning terror. "Once they know she is married, they will burn us all alive in front of everyone for this insult."

"I will make sure they won’t do that," I said, my own voice a quiet, unbreakable vow. "Trust me."

"Trust you?" he shot back, his own voice a mixture of desperation and a raw, ragged hope. "A stranger who appears in my garden in the middle of the night? And what are you after? What do you want in return for this... this suicidal act of charity?"

"Nothing," I said, my own voice a low, honest murmur. "I know you are shocked, but that is how things are. Just think of it as me following the orders of some... gods." No, I thought to myself, a cold, humorless smile touching my lips. Not a god. A devil. Or something far, far greater than that.

Christina, who had been listening to our exchange with a quiet, solemn intensity, finally broke the silence. "I don’t get it," she said, her own voice a mixture of confusion and a dawning, unwilling hope. "And what about the marriage? Who will I find to marry me in such a short time? And that too, for a suicidal mission like this?"

"Don’t worry," I said, my gaze fixed on her, my own eyes a calm, unreadable pool of shadow. "I will."

"Why?" she whispered, her own voice a fragile, trembling thing. "Why would you go to such lengths? You are confusing me."

"Don’t worry," I said, my own voice a low, reassuring murmur as I stood to leave. "Just wait for tomorrow. You will understand everything then. Just... play along." I walked toward the door, then paused, a slow, arrogant smile touching my lips. "Oh, and by the way," I said, my voice a low, confident purr. "Yumi and I will be staying here for quite some time. So I will be in your care... my wife, my father-in-law, and my mother-in-law."

The silence that followed was absolute, a profound, shocked stillness that was broken only by the sound of my own soft, confident footsteps as I walked out into the cool, dark night. The game had been set. The pieces were in motion. And the Dragon Kingdom, whether it knew it or not, was about to be turned on its head.