"I am Yuuta Konuari. I will prove to you that I am worthy of my wife."
The words hung in the air between them, fragile and dangerous, a declaration of war from a being who had no weapons, no power, no army.
A mouse standing before a lion, declaring that it would not be eaten.
The silence that followed was absolute, so thick that Yuuta could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears, could feel the blood rushing through his veins, could sense every breath he took as if it might be his last.
Isvarn looked at him.
Really looked at him.
Not at the weak human he had dismissed, not at the pathetic creature who had vomited under the weight of his aura, not at the unworthy mate who had dared to love his queen.
At him.
At Yuuta.
At the man standing before him, trembling but not breaking, afraid but not running.
For the first time, Isvarn saw something in the human's eyes that made him pause.
Then Isvarn laughed.
