Beast Gacha System: All Mine

Magnus truly thought Ivy’s plan would hold. That this cold, controlled Emperor, would eventually lose his heart entirely to her, the way Magnus himself had lost his long ago.

The plan had been meticulous and the execution flawless. They had cornered him, seduced him, drawn him to the edge and pushed him over.

And yet now, standing here, Magnus realized he had underestimated Damon Iondora’s capacity for control. The man had not broken and instead, he had calmly laid his weakness bare before the woman he intended to marry.

He had handed her the knife and bared his throat, all to ensure the stability of his own cage. That marriage would last, and the Empress would have too much control over the Emperor, because Damon let her.

If this was the kind of Emperor they were dealing with, a man who would rather chain himself to a loveless marriage than risk the fire of love, then Ivy’s plan would never work.

She would never own him, not the way she wanted. Not the way Magnus wanted for her.

Of all things, why would their target be such an Emperor?

So...

"Don’t marry that woman," Magnus said, voice low. "Marry Ivy. I’ll break off my engagement with her."

He wouldn’t want to let him go.

"I’ll never appear in Ivy’s life or yours anymore, if you want," the crow continued, his red eyes steady despite the storm inside him.

Damon froze. For a long moment, he simply stared at Magnus. Then, slowly, his expression twisted.

"What the fuck are you trying to say?" he hissed. Anger flared in his violet eyes.

"We can’t let you go, Damon," Magnus said. "No. I. Me. I can’t let you go."

Damon frowned. "You—"

"Ivy loves you," Magnus interrupted. "She might say and act like it’s a hard line, that because you don’t want to love her back, she’ll never love you in turn. But that’s not true. Ivy has loved you since the start."

Damon fell silent. His breath slowed. He shook his head, his frown deepening into something more complicated. "That doesn’t matter anymore."

"Because you also love her, don’t you?" Magnus asked quietly.

Damon glared at him. "If you already know, then let it go—"

"Human kingdom successors who marry and bond with a beast are no longer allowed to sit on the throne," Magnus said, and this time, Damon flinched.

Silence swallowed them whole, dragging them into its cold, dark belly.

It was... the oldest law in the continent. Human princes or princesses who married and bonded with a beast were stripped of their claim to any throne, no matter what.

It was the agreement of all human nations, an oath carved by none other than the founder of Iondora and the Dragon Lord of that era.

This world had once been ruled by beast lords.

The only way for humans to build nations of their own had been to secure an agreement with the lords of lords.

Dragons.

And those humans had created a rule that prevented any beast from ever taking over a human nation again.

Since marrying a beast and bearing their children would mean giving birth to beast children, the human bloodline would be severed, and the throne... would eventually return to beast rule.

"Your Majesty, do you know why Ivy was still a virgin when we did it?" Magnus asked.

Damon’s eyes flickered. "Did you..."

"Ivy told me Isla is going to be queen, so she is allowed to marry me," Magnus said. "But it never sat right with me."

Damon couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

"A woman like Ivy, not sitting on the throne?" Magnus sneered. "No matter how great her sister Isla is, do you think that makes sense?"

"Isla is as wonderful as Ivy is," Damon warned with a hiss.

"Call me biased, but that’s how I feel," Magnus said. "Ivy, of all people, should sit on the throne."

Which meant...

"She can’t marry a beast like me."

The silence that followed felt tangible. It had weight, texture... teeth, so to speak. It coiled in the corners of the inn room like smoke too thick to breathe, blackening the spaces between the firelight and the shadows until the boundaries of the chamber seemed to fold inward.

The oil lamp guttered, choked, as though even the flame understood it was not welcome in the space between these two men.

"Liar."

Damon’s voice cut through the silence.

Magnus flinched. His red eyes widened, genuine surprise flickering across his face. Of all the things he had expected, this was not one of them.

"How did you know?" The crow was actually startled now. He had woven the lie carefully, layered it with enough truth to make it believable. And yet this man had seen through it.

"Ivy won’t ever fall in love with a man who says things like that about Isla and means it," Damon said, and recognition bloomed in Magnus’s eyes.

The crow smiled, and this time the smile was gentler, almost fond. "Fuck this. Now I understand why she loves you."

Damon narrowed his eyes, still not believing that. But he realized something.

Perhaps, the ruthlessness in his decision and the way he framed his reasons were for Damon to not feel guilty of taking Ivy away from him. Magnus deliberately made himself seem bad and unworthy of Ivy.

"I was mixing some truths with lies, but I still couldn’t deceive you. Ah, I can’t believe this." Magnus sighed and dropped onto the bed, sprawling like he belonged there. Like he hadn’t just offered to abandon the woman he loved for the sake of a man he barely knew.

Mixing some truths...?

"What truth?" Damon asked.

"That I want Ivy to sit on the throne," Magnus answered. "But at the same time, I also can’t let go of her."

"Is that why you want me to marry her instead?" Damon asked, the shock of it still settling into his bones.

"Yes. And let me be a consort on the side." Magnus sat up slowly, then rose to his feet. He crossed the room in two strides and stopped close, so close that Damon could have killed him with a flick of a blade.

The crow’s presence was overwhelming, his white-feathered hair gleaming in the dim light, his red eyes unblinking.

"Ivy didn’t know I came here to meet you," Magnus said. "I just want her to be happy. That’s the whole reason I’m alive, Your Majesty."

Damon frowned, studying the man before him. "Even if you think you’d never bear children with her?"

"I’d even let you enter me from behind if it means seeing her excited," Magnus answered without hesitation.

"For fuck’s sake, man." Damon looked away, pressing his palm to his forehead in exasperation. "Where the fuck did she find you?"

Magnus smiled.

"You don’t get it, do you?" He leaned in, caging Damon with both hands on the armrests of his chair. The man was absurdly handsome, and his pure white feathered hair made him look like something fallen from the heavens.

"In our previous life, I broke her heart to pieces, and fucking died, leaving her alone," Magnus said.

He caught Damon’s chin between his fingers, forcing the Emperor to meet his gaze.

"And she still wants me in this life?" He scoffed, the sound rough and self-deprecating. "That kind of woman... even fucking another man with her is a cheap price to pay."

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