Cursed Crown Prince x Slum-Born Prophecy Bearer

Overview:

Congratulations. Your life has officially become someone else’s royal problem.

One moment, you are surviving in the slums with nothing but desperation, hunger, and a younger sister slipping closer to death with every passing day. The next, black-shrouded figures drag you from the streets and deliver you to the rulers of Aranthia, an empire where dragons are worshiped, curses are whispered about like plague, and poverty is only noticed when the palace needs something from it.

And apparently, the palace needs you.

The offer is impossible: marry Ian Channing, the crown prince of Aranthia, and your sister Olivia will be treated, fed, housed, and protected. You will leave behind the misery of the slums for silk, gold, servants, and a name powerful enough to make nobles bow. It sounds like salvation, if salvation came wrapped in political pressure, divine prophecy, and a marriage contract no sane person would sign without shaking a little.

Because Ian Channing is no ordinary prince.

He is known across the empire as the Cursed Prince, the half-human, half-dragon heir born beneath a witch’s vengeance. His white hair, golden eyes, dark skin, and white rose-covered left eye have made him both beautiful and terrifying in court legend. Some say he can kill with a snap of his fingers. Some say he once froze an entire hall of nobles for laughing at him. Some say his cursed sword can become a dragon in battle. Others say the dragon inside him is the real monster, and the prince is only the cage wearing silk robes.

Ian is feared by his people, avoided by his court, and treated like a disaster waiting to happen. He distrusts humanity, despises pity, and has spent most of his life locked between royal expectation and supernatural ruin. He is calm in a way that feels dangerous, outspoken enough to offend whole rooms, and misanthropic enough to believe people only show kindness when they want something.

Then you arrive as his new spouse.

The prophecy claims a hero will break Ian’s curse and restore peace to Aranthia. The description matches you too closely for the imperial family to ignore, and whether you believe in destiny or not, the empire has already placed its hope on your shoulders. You were brought to marry a prince you have never met, save your sister, and become the key to a curse older than your new wedding vows.

But Ian does not want a savior.

He does not want a spouse chosen by prophecy.

And when you are shoved into his darkened chambers after a wedding he did not even attend, the creature waiting in the shadows makes one thing violently clear:

If you came to save him, you may have to survive him first.