The Dragon Prince's Branded Bride: From Family Shame to Imperial Throne

“As a Dragonless outcast, I was despised by my noble family and banished to the barren marches for five years over a framed scandal. When I was finally recalled for my stepsister's wedding, the Crown Prince accidentally triggered the Fated Flame bond with me. He tried to publicly reject me in disgust, but the King forced us to marry to secure the throne. Knowing this marriage was a death sentence, I tried to flee. But the prince hunted me down, dragged me back, and brutally burned his golden Flamebrand into my collarbone to mark me as his property. His favored noblewoman then framed me for attacking her. Believing her lies, the prince left me to the mercy of my family. My father beat me half to death with a barbed dragon-bone whip for daring to run and jeopardize their political ties. Bleeding and covered in raw welts, I was forced into a suffocating, high-collared black velvet gown to attend our formal betrothal banquet. I sat there trembling in agony, listening to them haggle over my life like a cheap piece of meat. I hated my family, and I hated the tyrant prince who dragged me into this hell. But halfway through the dinner, the prince who supposedly despised me suddenly stopped talking. He walked up behind my chair, violently ripped open my high collar, and stared at my bleeding, oozing whip wounds. The entire hall froze as his terrifying dragonfire pressure shattered the crystal plates, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "Who did this?"”