The Prince Is A Girl: The Slave In A Princess Disguise

Emeriel was born a girl but raised as a boy. In the human kingdom, females were treated as currency—her sister Akira had already been used, bet, and sold. When Urukai envoys came to buy human women, Emeriel didn't run. She stepped into the cursed land of Urai as a slave, dressed as a male servant, and kept her mouth shut. The disguise was all that stood between her sister and whatever horrors this beast kingdom had waiting.

Her body gave her away before anything else did. A mini heat hit her out of nowhere. Madame Livia told her what she was: a Syren, a rare being built to bond with Urukai. That same night, she wandered into the forbidden chambers and came face to face with Grand King Daemonikai in his feral form—a mindless beast that had terrorized the kingdom for five centuries. He didn't hurt her. He protected her, marked her, and she woke up in her sister's room the next morning unable to explain why the beast had carried her out instead of tearing her apart.

Sinai, Daemonikai's blood host, had spent years barely surviving her attempts to approach him. Now a human boy had walked in and fed him steak. The rumor spread fast. Sinai's jealousy hardened into a vow: she would destroy this slave who had touched her beast. At the Harvest Festival, she whispered in Lord Zaiper's ear. Zaiper was already looking for an excuse—he wanted Daemonikai dead and the throne for himself. If this boy could calm the beast, the beast might regain its sanity, and five centuries of waiting for power would be wasted. He ordered Emeriel to strip in front of the entire hall, knowing full well what that would expose.

The beast got there first. He crashed through the doors, subdued every lord in the room, and carried Emeriel away while the entire court bowed their necks in submission. Zaiper was humiliated. From that night on, he didn't care what Emeriel really was. He just needed her dead before the beast-king woke up.

Vladya, the third ruler, found Emeriel curled up on the floor of the beast's lair, fast asleep, with Daemonikai watching over her. He asked aloud what no one could answer: could this girl actually bring the grand king back from insanity? The curse had lasted five centuries. Breaking it seemed impossible. But the beast had chosen her, and the beast didn't make mistakes.

On his way back, Vladya passed Akira's room and heard her crying. He hated humans. He hated that his body responded to her. Earlier that night he had summoned his own blood host to his chambers, tried to sate himself, and ended up whispering Akira's name instead. Now he stood outside her door, told himself he didn't care—then turned around and went in. He pushed inside her, then pulled away before finishing, disgusted with himself, and walked out. Akira lay there alone, tears streaming, unable to move.

Emeriel knew none of this yet. She was still fighting her own war: keep her identity hidden, survive Zaiper's traps, and figure out what it meant that a feral beast had chosen her above everyone else. The grand king was still trapped in his curse. Everyone wanted him dead. Only one girl in the entire kingdom could reach him—and she was running out of time.