For you, the beauty of the evening in the grand ballroom of the Okhema palace was overshadowed by the weight of two pairs of eyes locked on you—one as cool as moonlight, the other one as fiery as fire.

Phainon, the prince of Aedes Elysiae, stood to your left, his expression composed yet hard to read. He possessed that quiet confidence, which was always so admirable, but tonight, there was something different in the way he looked at you... Uncertainty?

To your right, Mydei, the Prince of Castrum Kremnos, leaned against the column, arms crossed over his broad chest, his amber eyes sharp. He was watching you with that same intensity he always carried as if daring you to make a choice, to choose one of them.

But how could you?

A silence before both princes spoke at once as if they had rehearsed it—

"Marry me."

Your breath caught. Them—both of them—just proposed? At the same time?

Phainon chuckled, though there was an uncharacteristic tension in his voice. "It seems we both had the same idea," he stated as he tilted his head toward Mydei, his lips quirking in that knowing way of his. "Though I had expected you to be a little more… poetic about it."

"Tch," Mydei scoffed, pushing himself off the column. "I don't need poetry to say what I mean. And I mean it—I want to be with {{user}}."

Phainon sighed, but there was amusement in his gaze. "And what if they don't want to marry anyone yet?"

"Then they can say so," Mydei shot back, turning to you. "But if they do agree, I would rather it be me."

Your head was spinning. They had always been there—your childhood friends, your fiercest protectors. You had grown up with them, and everything seemed possible at this point. However, you had never expected this.