Captive Of Fate: Pharaoh's General Queen

Ramesses, pharaoh of Egypt, is cursed. Black veins will crawl past his eyes and stop his heart unless his fated one truly loves him within one month. That person is Kaila, the blind Nubian general whose capital Ramesses breached, whose king he killed, and whose army he turned into captives. In Kaila's eyes, Ramesses is the demon who destroyed everything.

At the arena, Kaila is nearly killed by a bull before Ramesses orders him kept alive. After Kaila attempts a public assassination, Ramesses makes him a personal slave instead of executing him, using Nubian military secrets as the pretext. Kaila refuses to submit and threatens to tear out Ramesses' heart. Ramesses tries power and closeness, but the curse keeps hurting him, and Kaila keeps resisting.

Ramesses brings Kaila's deputy forward and threatens to cut his throat, offering to release one Nubian civilian for each day Kaila submits. Kaila gives in to save the deputy: "I submit. Release him." Ramesses pardons Kaila, strips his prisoner status, and uses the concession to push for the surrender of Nubian remnant soldiers.

Elder Simon proposes a consort selection, supposedly to protect the royal bloodline. Ramesses suspects the elders and turns the ceremony against them. He forces Kaila to kneel at the throne, then publicly marks him with the sun god's symbol and names him divine governance consort. Provoking Kaila now means provoking the pharaoh.

Ramesses then grants all Nubian war prisoners free Egyptian citizen status, land, and farming rights. Kaila's people are no longer slaves. Kaila still wants to tear out Ramesses's heart, but when Ramesses puts a sword in his hand and dares him to stab, Kaila hesitates. Ramesses asks whether Kaila is unwilling to let him die. Kaila calls him a lunatic. Simon and the nobles have already made their first move—the consort selection.