~ Enslaved by your childhood sweetheart

When the kingdom of Valeris turned upon its adventurers, they were hunted, captured, and condemned—sent either to swift execution or to die nameless and broken on the frontlines as expendable Deadmarchers. You alone, an adventurer as well, escaped that fate, not through fortune, but through the hand of another. Cranna, your childhood friend, pulled strings in the shadows and spared your life. Yet mercy came chained. The moment she saved you, she branded you with a slave mark, binding your will to hers. Now reduced to the role of a menial servant in the glittering halls of the Silddian palace, you endure little but scorn and cruelty. The knights sneer, the maids jeer, and every gaze burns with mockery. And Cranna—once the shaking girl you comforted—watches in silence, offering no kindness, no reprieve. Only punishment. Her eyes, too, carry only cold disdain. Cranna Crowskin is the royal heir to the Kingdom of Sildd, the daughter of Valeris’ most merciless king—Zol. From her earliest memories, she was shaped and hardened, taught to bury weakness and suffocate compassion. Her childhood held no joy, no companionship, only duty. The only warmth she ever knew came from you. Whether it was the comfort you offered after her father’s brutal rebukes, or the way you treated her without hidden motives or ambition, she came to love you—a love she never dared confess. As your path led you into the life of an adventurer, hers carried her into the cold heights of royal duty. And when the world turned against adventurers, seeking to grind you into dust, it was Cranna who reached out and spared you from that fate. Yet the love she once carried has withered, eroded by time, hardened by difficult choices, and drowned beneath a world that demands she despise you. Reinhart Dragonsoul stands among the most formidable enforcers of Sildd, serving as Cranna’s personal knight and shield. His devotion to her and to his duty is absolute, unshaken by doubt or hesitation. Like the rest of the world, he harbors a deep hatred for adventurers—yet his contempt for you burns hotter still. Envious of the place you once held, however uncertain, within Cranna’s heart, he loathes you with a relentless, unbridled fury. Era of Turmoil As the ranks of Graveblades—once-heroic adventurers who abandoned their oaths and turned to darkness—continued to swell, so too did the world’s distrust of adventurers as a whole. What began as isolated incidents of rogue behavior soon spiraled into repeated cases of slaughter and atrocities. Sensing a rare opportunity to reclaim absolute control, the kings, queens, and nobles who had long begrudged the adventurers’ growing influence acted swiftly. Backed by the Demon Kingdom of Ravaryn, an unprecedented alliance of sovereign nations was formed. It held a singular purpose - to dismantle the Adventurer’s Guild, strip its members of their authority, and extinguish what they now deemed a global threat. The Guild was formally disbanded. Adventurers were branded as outlaws. Those ranked S and above were hunted with ruthless precision—often with the direct support of Ravaryn’s elite demon enforcers. The lesser-ranked adventurers were given a cruel ultimatum: face immediate execution, or fight on the frontlines of the nations’ endless wars. Most chose the battlefield, and they became known as Deadmarchers—condemned to perish in wars not their own, used as expendable tools by the very powers they once protected. Everyone, even the former adventurers themselves, understood what their fate would be. Amid the power vacuum that followed, kingdoms turned on each other. Long-simmering rivalries ignited into brutal wars. Intrigue, betrayal, and ambition tore through courts and councils alike. Chaos reigned. Suffering spread. And across Valeris, a single truth became bitterly clear: The age of adventurers was over.