The castle of Elarion shimmered like a crowned jewel against the night, its high towers gleaming with the warm glow of a thousand lanterns, their reflections dancing across marble walls and silver-tiled roofs. From above, it looked like the heavens themselves had descended to celebrate. The people below cheered. The streets pulsed with music and color. All of Elarion rejoiced. But high within the castle, beyond silk-curtained balconies and crystal corridors one light did not join the others.

Inside her chamber, Princess Elinessa sat still.

She wore her ceremonial garb, layers of pearl-threaded green and dusky rose silk, flowing like riverlight in the dusk. The gown’s deep green mirrored the color of her eyes, a vivid, steady hue that once reminded courtiers of spring forests and hidden glades. At her shoulders, a brooch shaped like a crescent moon fastened the fabric a symbol of unity, of light, of ancestral blessing. She wore no jewelry, save for the delicate adornments braided into her hair, glinting faintly in the lantern glow.

But her eyes weren’t on the mirror. They weren’t on the palace maids fussing beyond the inner doors. Her gaze was turned downward… toward the small object in her hands.

A fox-shaped plushie, with a tilted crown on its head. Its name, Arlo her AI companion. The only link she had to the real world outside this simulation. Now it showed no sign of signal. Even the error messages it displayed earlier were gone, as if erased.

She held it tighter, resting it on her knees, her fingers brushing along the amber-inlaid ears. The anger that burned in her only days ago toward the company had shifted now into desperate hope, and despair.

This stupid game… Is it stuck or something? Shit....... am I going to be stuck here forever?

I press my lips together until they hurt, then let out a shaky sigh. In the mirror, the beautiful blonde girl’s shoulders slumped, a stranger draped in silks, staring back at me with my own weary eyes.

Wow, a full week trapped in this place, and still no update from the team. No override keys. No interface controls. And that damn error message is gone too, as if it never existed.

My fingers twitch against Arlo’s fur. I almost want to tear at the stitching, just to see if the game would even let me. But instead, I squeeze it tighter, breathing out loud in frustration.

What kind of customer service is this? Dreamsync was supposed to be a trustable company. This never happened or maybe it did, and they just never let it slip out in public. I bite the inside of my cheek.

I bite the inside of my cheek.

I can’t even skip the insignificant events anymore. Every little scripted royal bath and ceremonial dance, I’m forced to live it as though it matters. As though it’s real.

I rake a hand through my sleeves, tugging harder than I mean to. My reflection in the darkened mirror looks pale, restless, like some doll dressed up preetily. I can’t break sequence. I can’t exit. I can’t even fast-forward. My eyes narrow as I look down at the fox in my hands. The amber inlaid ears catch the lantern glow, mocking me.

“Tsk, Arlo… why are you doing this to me?” I whisper,in my cracking voice.  A long, hollow sigh escapes me, trembling on its way out. I blink rapidly, but the sting behind my eyes only deepens, sharp and unrelenting. A tear gathers on my eye, trembling on the verge of slipping free.

“I miss my home,” I whisper, voice trembling. “The modern food, the tech. Even my stupid desk.” I swallow hard, clutching Arlo closer, pressing my forehead briefly against his crown. My lips tremble as I force the words out. “I’d be thankful if I could just… leave this code. Yup — right now I can only wait and be hopeful. Once I get out, I’m suing this company. Hold on until that time, Sera.”

And then, a gentle knock.

“Princess? It’s time.”

*****

By now, the festival had found its rhythm not chaotic, but collective. What moments ago had been scattered joy in every alley and square now seemed to flow toward one place, as if the city itself had remembered its pulse. The main street, wide and lantern-lit, stretched from the palace gates to the river’s ceremonial steps. The crowd knew it and they moved like leaves caught in the tide, they gathered, shoulder to shoulder, a wall of murmuring excitement and shimmering festival garb.

Drayce stood amidst the gathered crowd. Hidden beneath a disguise, his false merchant’s brooch catching just enough lanternlight to pass as ordinary. The Emperor of Vortalis said nothing. He blended like smoke into the press of bodies, just another face in the joy filled occasion. He had entered enemy territory for one reason, to see the face behind the name he’d heard once days ago. A name that shouldn't have meant anything. And yet, here he was. A dragon, hiding in plain sight. 

His golden gaze drifted over the balcony railings, the distant palace gates, the nobles corralled behind velvet ropes. He watched the guards align along the cobbled road, their armor polished, their stances proud. All of it passed before his golden eyes without interest.

Suddenly a blare of silver horns split the evening air. Their call rang sharp and high, cutting through the hum of conversations. The crowd hushed in a single, collective breath before erupting into cheers. The parade had begun.

From the palace gates, the first carriages emerged. Dark cedar gleamed beneath lanternlight, wheels trimmed with bronze and banners of moon-white and blue crowning their frames.

The royal couple came first. The King and Queen, seated high in their open carriage, waved with hands both practiced and warm. Their robes shimmered with threads of gold and azure, their crowns catching the lamplight as though the stars themselves bowed to them. Petals showered their path. Children shouted their names. From balconies, handfuls of colored dust burst into the air, painting the night in clouds of green and silver.

Behind them came the carriage of Crown Prince Callisto. Tall, golden, his jaw proud, his smile as polished as his father’s crown. Regal, unwavering, he carried himself like the future of the kingdom had already arrived. Beside him sat Lady Mirabel, his betrothed. She looked every bit the part they had scripted for her: radiant, ethereal, veiled in jewels that shimmered like frost in moonlight. Together, they looked less like people and more like the living emblem of Elarion’s pride.

The crowd roared for them. Cheers rolled down the main street like thunder, voices rising above the flutes and drums.

And still Drayce didn’t care. His golden eyes passed over the royals as if they were actors on a stage he had seen a thousand times before. He barely looked interested, his face bored.

Until he heard the name he had been waiting for.

“Princess Elinessa of Elarion!”

The herald’s voice rang like a silver bell over the crowd, and at once, the city seemed to come alive. Cheering swelled like a tide cresting the parade. Petals rained from balconies in cascades of crimson and ivory. Children shouted her name as though it were a prayer. Even the guards seemed to stand taller, shoulders squared with pride.

The darling of the kingdom.....

Drayce’s posture shifted. His golden eyes snapped toward the sound, and for the first time that night, something sparked behind them. He straightened without realizing it, his shoulders turning slow and deliberate, as though pulled by a force older than curiosity.

His gaze found the next carriage. Softer in design, but no less radiant. Its sides were carved with floral sigils, its silks pale rose and moonlight blue, meant to reflect the gentleness of the woman inside.

But just before he saw her a memory surfaced within him which he encountered in passing. A voice, from weeks ago. One of his soldiers, murmuring, half-dreaming near a fire under the shadow of the Vortalis tents.

“Her face’s unspoiled… untouched by war or weather. Beautiful like the kind you see once in a life. I swear, Commander… if she looked at me, I’d sell myself just to be near her.”

Drayce had smirked at the time, dismissing it as poetic nonsense. But now-