Black Chain - By 유세라 (7/10)
How toxic can it get? This author accepted that challenge. Imagine being The Woman of Destiny. You’re perfect. You’re the ideal Empress. You’re soul mates with the Black Dragon Emperor. Everyone respects you...except your husband? He defys tradition. He doesn't marry you as imperial law dictates. He uses you for 14 years, and you live in shame without the title of Empress. You decide to die. He brings you back. The depth of his evil is unreal.
Solana was a low level government employee when she woke up the black dragon. Akelans is the destined next Emperor. The nation is ruled by dragons. Only one can be awake at a time. During the shift change there are two dragons up doing the dying/crowning ceremony and stuff. It's a harmonious cycle. No tyrant dragon stays in power, and the Emperor gets a loving human partner. Each dragon has a destined companion that they love and live and die for....literally! Every dragon that awakens gives up immortality to age gracefully with his companion. It's a little bit toxic but hey it prevents dragon tyranny and the system works.
It's actually a pretty great system.
Akelans frigging sucks. His companion, Solana, is lowborn but faultless. She's graceful and pretty and patient. Akelans does love her, but he's frigging pathetic. He refuses to give her the title of Empress because he believes foolish rumors about her....but let's be real he's just insecure about being in love. He's bitter about the human/companion deal. He's bitter about having a weakness and he'd rather be a dragon tyrant without any limitations.
Everybody suffers under his rule. Chaos grows when he refuses to accept his Empress of Destiny. Snakes flow into the castle. More rumors do too. Poor Solana is hopelessly in love with him. She waits for him. She adores him. She can see he's a great Emperor. He's just a little too ruthless.
She begs and cries and still he does not accept her as his mate.
She begins to age.
He stays handsome and perfect.
At the age of 37 Solana decides to kill herself. Why? She gets a gift from the Emperor. A silk noose. It's a lie. One of the snakes sent her the gift. Solana cries. The Emperor has dismissed her. Rejected her for the last time. He doesn't want to listen to her whine about destiny or love anymore.
He thinks she's pathetic.
Solana is mentally exhausted. She's tired of being rejected. It's hard for her to hold her head high in the castle, because everybody knows her destined mate doesn't want her.
She decides to die to escape her life of shame.
She regrets living for him.
She regrets letting him abuse her.
After she dies he immediately goes nuts. He ends the world and he turns back time.
Solana doesn't forget. She remembers her 14 years of shame when she wakes up next to the Dragon Pond.
She chooses death four times.
He keeps bringing her back.
He thinks he loves her now.
How convenient!
He'll do anything!
He just bosses her around like always, but he's in love this time so it's ok!
The current Empress, Lowella, calls him out on his crap. Lowella protects Solana from him, and she refuses to crown Akelans. Akelans broke the rules when he used time magic. The dragons sleep in order to keep the world in harmony. Time magic is too cruel. It always has unintended consequences. A dragon must be thoughtful, careful, and restrained.
Akelans is none of those things.
Solana eventually realizes it's him.
It's not some cosmic fate.
No.
A terrible monster has trapped her within a fantasy. He toyed with her for 14 damn years, but why does it matter? He doesn't care about the rules. He can turn back time. He can give up his crown. He can ignore his duties to love her. Its all her fault, you see.
He always loved her too much.
He was scared of his feelings.
Usually dragons mellow out when they're in love but no...Akelans just had to be different. He didn't accept her as his mate because he'd break the cycle. Or some other excuse I don't know...
Solana isn't buying it.
She doesn't dream of true loves kiss anymore.
She faints when she figures it out. There is no grand destiny. Only a mad and unreasonable and possessive monster.
Akelans assumes she's dying again and he raves like a lunatic. He promises he can keep doing this forever, until she loves him.
What a nightmare.
