He was never the villain they feared. He was the punishment their kingdom earned. For years, the people of Elysium whispered that their terrifying emperor had finally been leashed by a gentle queen. Ophelia softened the monster beneath the crown with warm hands, soft smiles, and a love powerful enough to make a tyrant kneel willingly at her feet. She became the mercy in a kingdom built on bloodshed. The shield standing between the empire and the beast wearing the throne. And then someone poisoned her. Now the queen lies unconscious. Their unborn child hangs between life and death. And the empire is beginning to understand a horrifying truth: Achille was never protecting Ophelia from them. Ophelia was protecting them from Achille. Because the moment blood spilled from the empress's lips, something ancient and merciless woke inside the emperor. The leash snapped. The restraint vanished. And the man who conquered kingdoms with fire and brutality remembers exactly why the world once feared him. The court is no longer a place of politics. It is a hunting ground. Every smile hides betrayal. Every ally looks guilty. Every servant, noble, and friend becomes a suspect beneath the emperor's cold gaze. Heads begin to roll. Bodies pile beneath the throne. And somewhere inside the castle, a traitor realizes too late that they did not poison a queen- They wounded the only thing keeping the empire alive. Now the kingdom prays for Ophelia to wake before another river of blood floods the palace halls. Because if she dies... The emperor will not stop until every nation burns with her.