Chapter Text
Crowned Princess Sophia Cathrine Ann, the firstborn of the royal family of Fortuna. A long title for a very important girl, and currently, a girl who was silently panicking as she listened to her parents' plan for her future.
An arranged marriage, her life taken away from her before she even turned 25. Not the best fate to be sure, but she could deal with some prince or duke that they sent her to. And if it was to combine with another kingdom so her family had more power, she was all the more for it.
But that wasn’t the case at all—no, she’d be getting married off to an even more powerful kingdom for an alliance. They weren’t currently at war with this kingdom, but it would be better if there was no option of war in the first place.
The kingdom in question was the first thing that made her hesitate.
Makai, the kingdom with more problems than they had members in the royal guard. Their whole royal family was said to be cursed, and in turn, their people were cursed too. Sophia wanted nothing to do with them, and especially not with their family.
When she voiced this complaint, her parents begrudgingly agreed with her, but that wasn’t a surprise. They explained to her that although it would be a difficult arrangement, it was a good idea for them in the long run.
Both Fortuna and Makai were powerful kingdoms, if they got into a treaty together, they’d have more power than 50 other kingdoms combined.
She was still against it, but eventually resigned. There wasn’t much she could do anyway, since apparently they were convincing her after they had already signed off on the treaty.
The wedding would take place in mere months, and all Sophia could do was get to meet whoever she was marrying before they actually got married.
A prince—her age seemingly, and also the eldest—and he was cursed. Just like his whole family, his whole bloodline, and his whole kingdom. Sometimes, even though she had many, many benefits as a princess, she wished she had a little more freedoms too.
Later on, she was talking with her friends about the whole ordeal, about being married to a prince she’d barely heard of before. Her friends had some unsettling things to say about that.
“A prince of Makai? I heard they’re demons!” Her friend exclaimed.
“Yeah, and ruthless. Apparently the younger prince kills for fun, and all his clothing is red, stained with blood!” The other added.
Sophia’s face drained of blood, and her usually rosy complexion turned much paler. Even if they were untrue rumors, rumors didn’t come from nowhere.
“And—and!” Before she could stop her, one of her friends began to speak again about yet another scary rumor, “The eldest prince has horns and fangs, with pale eyes that can see straight into your soul!” She put her hands up to look like horns on her head, but Sophie really didn’t need that mental image right now.
She shook her head violently, and stopped both of her friends from continuing any further,
“That’s enough, please! This is bad enough already since I haven’t even met him, but I don’t need to start thinking about him like a monster before I even know his name!” She buried her face in her hands.
Her friends looked at her quizzically, eyes widened and eyebrows raised. One of them spoke slowly, leaning in.
“You don’t know his name? How?”
“I-…My parents didn’t tell me,” She lowered her hands, and pouted at her friends, “Why?”
Her friends looked between each other, before looking back.
“He’s the older one right? His name is Vergil Sparda, Eldest Prince of Makai, and son of the warlock Eva.”
Sophia blanched, her eyes almost popping out of her head. She then groaned, and fell back in her chair.
“Is everyone in their family cursed or evil or magic in some way!?” She asked, not particularly to anyone, but more to the universe. “Ugh…”
For the first time ever, Sophia wished she wasn’t a princess.