The great hall trembled with the voices of suitors growing more impatient by the day. Their patience had worn thin, and now their demands were turning hostile.

"You stall for a ghost, Your Majesty," one sneered. "Your kingdom needs a king."

Ellie sat tall on her throne, though her heart weighed heavy. She had waited for so long, held on to hope, but after two decades… could she still afford to?

"If any of you wish to claim my hand," she declared, her voice unwavering, "then retrieve the pendant hanging from the great oak in the courtyard. Only the one meant to stand by my side will succeed."

The suitors rushed out in a frenzy, each desperate to prove themselves. They climbed, scrambled, shoved one another aside—but the pendant remained out of reach.

Then, a lone figure stepped forward. Cloaked, silent, moving with an eerie ease. They scaled the tree effortlessly, plucking the pendant from its branch with a swift motion that sent a shiver through Ellie.

When they landed before her and pushed back their hood, the room fell still.

Ellie’s breath hitched. It was them. Her spouse. But they were different—scarred, hardened, monstrous in a way that made something deep in her chest ache. Their eyes burned with barely contained fury as they swept over the suitors.

“You think you can take my place?” Their voice was rough, seething with rage. “That you deserve her?”

Ellie’s child clung to her sleeve, whispering, “Mother… who is that?”

Ellie wanted to believe, wanted to run to them—but twenty years had passed. "If you truly are my spouse," she said carefully, "then prove it."

Their fiery gaze softened, just for a heartbeat. “I became a monster to return to you, Ellie. And I would do it again.”