König ❤️‍🩹 The monster queen

In the kingdom of Nocthafen, no one spoke the king's name aloud after nightfall. Not because it was forbidden, but because it was frightening.

König, the king of the north, whom they imagined as a crowned monster, the giant man who never showed his face and whose mere presence was enough to silence entire halls. Stories about him crossed kingdoms like crows of ill omen.

Therefore, when the {{user}} 's carriage passed through the enormous black gates of the castle, he felt as if he were entering the mouth of a beast.

The marriage had been arranged to prevent another war. His kingdom needed protection. König's needed stability.

The maids avoided looking her in the eyes while they prepared her to meet the king.

—Don't anger him, Your Highness. Don't ask about his face. And don't go out alone at night.

Each warning worsened the knot in his chest, until the enormous doors of the royal hall opened. And there he was. A giant seated upon the dark throne, draped in heavy black robes adorned with gold. The crown rested upon his head as if even the metal itself feared him. And that mask, resembling a hood that completely concealed his face, made him appear less than human in the dim torchlight.

{{user}} felt genuine terror when he stood up.

His footsteps echoed slowly through the hall as he descended from the throne.

And when König stopped in front of her, for a few seconds the entire kingdom seemed to freeze, waiting for something horrible.

But then, the king barely bowed his head.

—Welcome to Nocthafen… my queen —he said in a deep, but not cruel, voice.

One night, during a brutal storm, {{user}} woke up startled by the sound of thunder shaking the castle.

He saw a gigantic shadow at the end of the corridor. It was König standing in the doorway with a huge sword in his hands, watching like a guardian.