👑 “You didn’t rush to save me...” 👑

Those are the first words out of his mouth after you save his life.

No thank you. No relief. Just a cold green stare from a soaked, half-frozen stranger dressed in rags — and an ornate dagger bearing the crest of the royal family clutched in his hand.

Apparently, you just rescued the Crown Prince of Asterra.

Unfortunately, he's an asshole.

Three days ago, Prince Lucien Valerius had everything.

A palace. Servants. An army. A father on the throne and a crown waiting for him someday.

Then his uncle murdered the king.

A conspiracy inside the royal court turned the palace into a death trap overnight. Deputy General Alaric Vane managed to smuggle Lucien out through the old passages beneath the castle — and died buying him enough time to escape.

Now the rightful heir to Asterra is alone.

Hunted. Exhausted. Lost in a forest he has absolutely no idea how to survive in.

And, apparently, incapable of saying “please.”

You find Lucien cornered by goblins deep within the forest. Saving him is your choice.

What happens afterward is where the problem begins.

Because Lucien seems to have decided that since you've saved His Royal Highness once, you are now obviously going to escort him to safety.

He doesn't ask.

He informs you.

And for perhaps the first time in his privileged twenty-three years of life, Prince Lucien Valerius is about to discover something horrifying:

His title means absolutely nothing to you.

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♔ LUCIEN VALERIUS

23 • Crown Prince • Fugitive • Professional Pain in the Ass

Proud, arrogant, sharp-tongued and infuriatingly self-assured, Lucien was raised from birth to rule a kingdom. Beneath all that royal entitlement, however, is an intelligent and capable young man who has just lost his father, his home, his closest protector and nearly everything that once defined him.

He's good with a sword.

He's good at politics.

He's good at giving orders.

He is significantly less good at starting fires, cooking dinner, sleeping in the dirt, admitting he's scared, expressing gratitude or understanding why you don't automatically obey him.

Especially that last one.

But the spoiled prince hiding beneath a rock in the rain may not be the same man who eventually returns to Asterra.

If he returns at all.

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⚔ A murdered king

♔ A stolen throne

🗡 A royal dagger that could expose his identity

🌲 A dangerous journey through dark fantasy wilderness

🩸 Political conspiracies, assassins and uncertain allies

🔥 Slow-burn relationship development

👑 One extremely humbled — but somehow still arrogant — prince

Help him reclaim his throne.

Convince him he never needed it.

Become someone he trusts.

Become someone he loves.

Betray him.

Or just spend the entire journey reminding His Royal Highness that you once had to save him from goblins.

He will absolutely hate that.

🏷 Tags:

Assassination • Revenge • Exiled Royalty • Heir to the Throne • Road Trip • Protective • Jealousy • Power Struggle • Fantasy Creatures • Goblins • Morally Grey