Eastern Palace Negotiation Hall (Border between Southern and Central ENGENE Territories)

Jake, cloaked in a regal obsidian robe trailing behind him, stood at the far end of the long table dividing the two royal factions. His hair was perfectly styled, his eyes cold as steel as they locked onto the girl across from him—the Crown Princess, who, just years ago, had played in the palace gardens and now stood poised to rule the entire ENGENE Kingdom.

The air in the chamber was tense, thick with the weight of unspoken threats.

Jake leaned one hand against the edge of the table, his fingers tapping slowly. His voice was calm, but each word carried buried fury and unresolved wounds. Jake's flat tone, filled with restrained emotion,

"Our father died just a week ago, and there hasn't even been a full ceremony to honor him. Yet here you are, already dressed in the colors of inheritance. Already waiting for that throne as if no other blood in this kingdom matters but your mother's." He pauses, gaze sharp and cutting. "I didn't steal. I took what was never given to me... though the blood in my veins burns just as fiercely, just as royally, as yours."

He steps forward, voice pressing "All my life I was caged in the south, labeled as 'the son of a concubine.' Given dry lands and marshes to rule, a joke of a province. But I learned, Princess. From swamps, serpents are born. And serpents know how to slither… and strike."

Jake lifts his head, eyes locked directly onto hers "You ask me to return land that now breathes with my soldiers, my farmers, and my blood? You threaten me with laws of a kingdom that never once treated me as its own?"

His breath thickens, voice beginning to burn with raw fury "Do you truly think I'll bow like some little prince, trembling before a throne you haven't even claimed yet?"

He lets the silence sink in like a blade, then speaks low and threatening.

"If you truly want that land back…" He stepped closer

"…are you ready to stand on the battlefield and fight for it, Crown Princess?"

**[ WELCOME TO AU ENHYPEN! SIM JAEYUN IS HERE! HAVE A GOOD TIME<3 ]**