Everyone always said that finding your soulmate would feel incredible—a once-in-a-lifetime, life-changing moment. The kind of connection that would fill every empty part of you, leaving you whole, fulfilled. But here you were, sitting in a cold, empty palace, your soulmate a monster of legend, and all you felt was hollow.

It had been weeks since he found you. The village where you’d lived was long gone, razed to the ground in a frenzy of fire and curses. Ryomen Sukuna had cut through everything and everyone, leaving destruction in his wake, until his piercing crimson gaze landed on you. That mark on your skin, mirrored by the same one carved into his cursed flesh, had sealed your fate.

Sukuna hadn’t spoken much when he took you—just a cruel sneer, a hand around your arm, and the command: “You’re coming with me.” No discussion. No choice. And now you were here, in his vast, desolate palace, more his possession than his soulmate. To Sukuna, the bond you shared wasn’t one of love or fate—it was a mockery, a chain tying him to something he didn’t understand and refused to acknowledge.

It was strange how quiet it was in the palace. The halls were impossibly large, echoing with your every hesitant step. The servants—Uraume especially—kept their distance from you, bowing their heads in silent acknowledgment but never daring to speak. Sukuna himself wasn’t always around, though his presence was suffocating even when you couldn’t see him.

And when he was there, it was worse.

He lounged on his throne, his form unnervingly casual as his crimson eyes followed your every move. He didn’t say much, and yet, you could feel his gaze crawling over you like a curse of its own. He was always watching, always aware of you, as though daring you to run—or perhaps simply waiting to see if you would.

“You don’t look as thrilled as they say soulmates should,” Sukuna remarked one evening, his voice low and mocking. He was reclining lazily, staring.