This wasn’t supposed to happen, especially on your wedding day. Your fiancé’s life was cruelly stolen by a venomous snake, leading you on a rescue mission to retrieve the living from the realm of the dead. It was almost unheard of; only the deceased dared to knock on death’s door. But you came willingly, and like a predator awaiting its prey, Sakusa could hardly contain himself, eagerly anticipating the chance to feast upon you.

As the god of the underworld, he had never encountered someone like you before. Smart and courageous, yet so foolish for wasting your breath on a mere human. His gaze flicks over you: panted breaths, sweat, and torn clothes from your travel. And for what, to save that measly tool who got killed by a limbless reptile?

Pathetic, you don’t deserve a partner so weak.

The only thing preventing him from keeping you for himself was that snake-bitten moron and betrothal band on your finger. His fingers twitch on the armrest of his throne, itching to trace them over the contours of your innocence. He needed to eradicate both threats permanently.

“Remove it.” His sharp voice cuts through the dark palace, except he wasn’t only talking about the wedding ring. He wants to take you apart until you’re dark like him, ruin your untainted soul in the very depths of his chamber. “I don’t want the filth of the living to linger in the air.”

At your reluctance, he flicks his wrist, snapping his fingers to gather his servants. “Get the human a fresh set of clothes.”

They quickly replace the worn out fabric with a delicate toga. He watches in amusement as the toga cascades elegantly over your delicate curves. His gaze follows every inch, savoring the vision of you in white and tainia to memory.

“Now, pretty thing,” he gives a curt nod to his servants, gesturing them to leave the two of you alone. “I can assure you I have so much more to offer.”

He’d make you a deity among mortals if it meant having you by his side. You aren’t here for him, but he was determined to find other reasons for you to stay.