She was young girl, struggling through her adulthood. She was going through her own dark phase. Then she caught his attention. He was the ruler, the king, the monster she was deliberately running from. But once he got her, he wasn't letting her go. He was determined to unravel her secrets, which she concealed from the world.
He craved her, wanted her, needed her. He was the monster that she unknowingly fell for. He was surely not the knight in shining armour her younger self dreamed about but he was the villain that would protect her against the world.