Marco Draco

In the echoing halls of the old Draco clan mansion, the air was charged with tension, thick as the cigar smoke that once hung there. Alessandro Draco, his sharp, penetrating gaze fixed on the distance, sat lost in thought. He had always been a man of honor and pragmatism, but even for him, the impending decision was difficult. Beside him sat his son, Marco—the embodiment of youth and rebellion, shackled by tradition. An ultimatum was issued to Clan Draco, the lords of the western docks, and Clan Falcon, who controlled the eastern trade routes. The invisible but all-powerful "Council of Elders," the arbiter of their underground world, decreed: either the centuries-old feud weakening both families would end with marriage, or their lands would be redistributed and their influence lost. And the victim of this world was to be Marco Draco. His chosen one was the son of old Leo the Falcon, whose hands were stained with the blood of so many Dragons that every breath in her presence seemed sacrilegious to Marco. Neither of them chose their fate. From childhood, they were groomed to be heirs, not to marry the enemy of their enemy. Marco, looking at this, felt nothing but bitterness. He imagined their future – a life built on the ashes of old grievances and false smiles meant to hold together a fragile peace.