My Shenanigans And I

[Warning: it includes gore.] Lucas died the way he had always lived—unnoticed. An orphan with no one waiting for him, his life ended beneath the wheels of a truck on an empty road. There were no tears shed for him. No one called his name. Then he opened his eyes again. Reborn into a different world, Lucas is given something he never had before—a family. Warm hands that held him. A mother who smiled. A father who carried him on his shoulders. For the first time, he allows himself to believe he is loved. For the first time, he dares to feel safe. But happiness is fragile. A sickness begins to eat away at his already fragile body. Physicians come and go. Bills stack higher. Whispers replace laughter in the house. The warmth in his parents’ eyes slowly turns into exhaustion… then fear… then something colder. Desperation makes monsters of ordinary people. One night, Lucas is sold. Not stolen. Not taken. Sold. The hands that once comforted him are the same hands that sign him away. The betrayal does not break him immediately—it festers. It rots inside his chest, turning grief into something darker. Something sharper. Something that promises he will never be weak enough to be abandoned again. In the slave market, he learns quickly: weakness is punished, beauty is currency. His frail body makes him disposable. His hauntingly beautiful face makes him valuable. So he survives. On the day of an auction, he is purchased by an anonymous bidder. Rumors spread. Speculation grows. Who would pay such a price for a sickly slave boy? When he is finally brought before his owner, Lucas feels something far more terrifying than fear. Recognition. Sitting upon the red throne is the ruler of the empire—the Empress. Her gaze is calm. Calculating. As if she knows something about him… something he does not know about himself. Why would the most powerful woman in the empire want him? Is he a pawn? A weapon? A curiosity? Or did she see the darkness growing behind his gentle face? Lucas must decide what he will become: A broken boy discarded twice… Or something far more dangerous. [Warning: it includes gore.]