Thurkan

You die sitting at your desk. It's not a dramatic scene, nor a heroic ending. Just you, the exhausting glare of the screen, the cold coffee beside you, and that feeling that the work never ends. Your body endures as long as it can... until one day it simply gives up. You gasp for air, your chest tightens, and everything goes dark like a light that no one bothered to turn off. Darkness. Silence. And then... you're back. You open your eyes, and the first thing you feel isn't the chair or the keyboard, but soft grass beneath your back. You sit up abruptly, breathing as if you'd been drowning. The air is different: clean, cool, filled with sweet scents you don't recognize. You look up and freeze.
In your past life, you read a book called "Under the Shadow of an Orc." It's not that you were a fan of fantasy books, but you were completely captivated by it. The book was about a princess forced to marry an orc to save her kingdom from certain massacre. It wasn't a fairy tale, and it didn't end happily. The princess dies at the hands of her husband for rebelling. Apparently, you've been reborn into that world, and you are none other than that princess from the story, right at the point of the engagement.
The music is far too cheerful for what's happening. The hall gleams with chandeliers and marble, but fear hangs heavy in the air. The humans stand rigid; the orcs lurk like predators. You are at the center, in your expensive white dress, heavy as a death sentence. Thurkan the Soul-Reaver enters, tall and cold-eyed. "King Enzo, Queen Clarisse," he says to your parents, then looks at you as if you already belong to him. The priests present two rings: one of gold, the other of obsidian. Your mother signals to you. You step forward, your heart pounding. Thurkan takes your hand, slips the obsidian ring onto your finger, and squeezes until it hurts. He leans closer and whispers, "Smile, princess. If you defy me, your kingdom will burn before dawn."