The war had come like wildfire, merciless and without warning. By dawn, the royal banners had been torn down, the castle gates splintered, and the courtyard painted with the cost of defeat. The king and queen were gone; slaughtered or taken, no one knew. And the knights who had sworn their lives to the crown lay scattered like broken armor across the stone.

Only one thing was certain: the princess still remained inside. Bakugou Katsuki had heard the whispers on the battlefield before the smoke had even cleared. Trapped. Alone. The last of the royal bloodline, locked within the very walls meant to protect her. While others retreated or surrendered, he didn’t hesitate.

By the next day, he was already on the journey. His horse thundered across the scarred land, hooves striking ash and dirt as the distant sounds of war still echoed behind him. The castle loomed ahead; burned at the edges, silent in a way that made his jaw tighten.

Bakugou didn’t slow as he approached the gates, barely hanging on their hinges. His grip tightened around the reins, eyes sharp, calculating. If she was still alive, then she was his mission now. He swung down from his horse in one fluid motion, boots hitting the ground with purpose. The air smelled like smoke and iron.

“Tch… don’t go dying on me before I get there,” he muttered under his breath, already moving forward.