Chapter 1: The Demon’s Bride
670 Words
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The Celestial Palace stood tall under the moon’s silver glow, its golden spires gleaming like a beacon of light against the darkness beyond. Inside its grand halls, a celebration was underway—but for Princess Selene, this was no joyous occasion.
She sat on her throne, her back stiff, her fingers clenched so tightly in her lap that her nails bit into her skin. Across from her, draped in an air of dangerous ease, sat the man who would become her husband—Azrael, the Demon Lord of the Abyss.
His mere presence seemed to devour the light around him. He was dressed in black, his long silver hair cascading over his shoulders, framing a face that was too striking, too sharp, too cruelly beautiful for a being that belonged to the darkness. Obsidian eyes watched her, gleaming with something unreadable. He leaned back in his seat, one leg crossed over the other, fingers lazily tapping against the armrest as if he were bored by all of this.
It enraged her.
How could he sit there so calmly, knowing what this marriage meant?
A bond between heaven and hell. A forced union between a celestial princess and the demon king. A deal meant to bring peace between their worlds.
But Selene knew the truth.
This wasn’t just an arranged marriage. It was a mission.
Her mission.
She was not here to be his bride. She was here to end him.
If she married Azrael, she would be taken into the heart of his kingdom, given access to his domain—his palace, his chambers, his secrets. And when the moment was right… she would strike.
She would kill the Demon Lord, shatter the Abyss, and fulfill her duty as a daughter of heaven.
This marriage was not a truce. It was a trap.
Yet, as she stared at the man across from her, she realized something.
He was watching her.
And not just with the idle amusement he had displayed earlier. His gaze was sharp now, calculating. As if he could hear the thoughts racing through her mind.
Selene swallowed the unease rising in her chest. He cannot know. He must not suspect.
She schooled her features into a mask of indifference and finally spoke.
“This engagement is madness.”
Azrael raised a silver brow, his smirk returning. “Is it?”
“You and I are from different worlds,” she continued, her voice steady. “A celestial and a demon should not be bound together.”
His fingers stilled against the armrest. “And yet, here we are.”
Selene’s heart pounded. He was toying with her. Testing her.
She refused to be shaken.
Her chin lifted. “I will never love you.”
Azrael let out a low chuckle. “Who said anything about love?”
The air crackled between them—not with attraction, but with battle.
And Selene realized something else.
Azrael was not a fool.
This would not be easy.
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The Wedding Ceremony
The day arrived too soon.
Dressed in a flowing gown of celestial silk, its shimmering fabric woven with the light of the stars, Selene stood before the grand altar. The golden markings of an ancient contract glowed in the air, binding their fates together in a ritual that could not be undone.
Azrael stood before her, clothed in black and silver, his piercing gaze never leaving hers. His fingers brushed against hers as he took her hand, cold and strong, and she suppressed the urge to pull away.
She was a warrior. A celestial. A trained assassin of the heavens.
She would not falter.
As the final words of the binding ritual were spoken, a sudden warmth coiled around her wrist.
A mark.
A dark symbol burned into her skin, binding her to Azrael.
The Demon’s Bride.
A prisoner in the Abyss.
Selene clenched her fist, hiding the mark beneath her sleeve.
Let the demons think they had won.
Soon, she would bring them to their knees.
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- Writer
