Substitute Marriage: Taming The Disabled Dragon Lord

Aislinn POV:

"You will marry Gideon Carlisle."

These words, spoken in my mother Lady Sterling's syrupy, theatrical tone, hung in the air of the stuffy drawing-room. I sat on a cold, carved wooden chair, my hands folded in my lap.

Across from me, Lady Sterling, a woman whose entire existence was a performance, looked at me with what she probably thought was gentle sympathy.

"It is a great honor, Aislinn. You will become a lord's lady."

Honor?

The Gideon Carlisle she spoke of was a Dragon Lord, the Regent of this kingdom, a former god of war. He was said to have had half his face melted away by enemy dragonfire in a fierce battle, and his legs had been crushed and permanently broken as well. The wounds of war had made him brutally violent. It was said that he once tore apart a spy who broke into his home with his bare hands, without even shifting into his dragon form. That was certainly an exaggeration, but it was enough to show how terrifying he was in the eyes of the world.

This was no honor. It was practically murder.

I kept my head bowed, my gaze fixed on the worn linen of my dress, then flicked it toward the hem of her magnificent silk gown. Gold thread formed the griffin crest of House Sterling, a symbol of the nobility I had never truly belonged to. The contrast made a bitter, mocking smile flicker across my lips for a brief moment.

She had no idea that her daughter was no longer the helpless, obedient, abandoned girl she used to be.

In this land called Eldoria, dragons are everywhere, and those who have awakened their power can transform into dragons. Yet they had cast me aside to the countryside for years, simply because I was a "worthless" one who couldn't shift.

But fortunately, that exile had taught me how to survive on the borderlands. I learned medicine, and I learned how to handle hypocrites like them-people who glittered on the outside but were hollow within.

In my mind, I was already weaving plans of revenge against the two people in this room who called themselves my parents.

"Your sister, Imogen, is destined for a greater match," Lady Sterling continued, her voice laced with feigned regret. "She is determined to marry Crown Prince Tristan. We cannot waste her on a... cripple."

My father, Lord Marcus Sterling, cleared his throat. "It is the King's will. It is your duty and your honor."

I could feel their eyes on me, assessing me like a piece of livestock.

Slowly, I lifted my head, meeting their expectant gazes.

"What do I get?" I asked, my voice a soft whisper.

The question landed in the silent room like a stone. They stared, stunned. Lady Sterling's smile froze, cracking at the edges.

Lord Sterling's face darkened. "You ungrateful whelp! The family has raised you. This is how you repay us?"

"Raised? What exactly did you raise me for? Leaving me in the countryside, ignored and forgotten? You only brought me back to take Imogen's place in this marriage." I said, my voice gaining strength. I stood up, looking him directly in the eye. "Repayment can be a willing sacrifice, or it can be a transaction. If Imogen's marriage is worth the entire family's future, then my value as her replacement must also have a number."

The room fell into a dead silence. Shock, then fury, flashed across Lord Sterling's face.

He slammed his hand on the table. The imitation dragon crystal paperweight jumped. "Insolence! You dare bargain with us?"

I walked to the window, turning my back to them. "I'm not bargaining. I'm stating a fact. You need me to go to the wedding altar willingly, not tied and gagged. In front of a man as notoriously volatile as Gideon Carlisle, are you certain you want to risk what a resentful bride might say? Or do?"

I glanced over my shoulder. His face was a mottled shade of purple. He knew I was right. He couldn't afford Gideon Carlisle's wrath.

"What do you want?" he asked.

I turned back, a small, cold smile on my face. "I need money. A lot of money."

Lady Sterling shrieked. "You're mad! Stop making such outrageous demands!"

I ignored her, my eyes locked on Lord Sterling. "Two hundred thousand gold marks. To buy my life, and to buy your family's peace of mind."

He gasped. The sound was wet and choked. The fat on his body seemed to tremble. That was nearly five years of his entire territory's revenue.

"The funds must be delivered to me before the wedding, in the form of a certified voucher from the Golden Lion, the kingdom's largest bank," I continued, pressing my advantage. "Otherwise, I will tell everyone at the wedding that I was sold to the Dragon lord."

His breathing grew heavy, a rasping sound in the quiet room. He stared at me, truly seeing me for the first time, not as a ward, but as an adversary.

"Consider it, Father," I said, the title a drop of poison on my tongue. "You can solve this with money, or you can gamble your family's reputation on whether a 'crippled tyrant' will take his wedding night frustrations out on you."

After a long, suffocating silence, he slumped into his chair, defeated.

"Fine," he hissed through clenched teeth. "I'll give it to you."

"A pleasure doing business with you," I said, and for the first time, my smile was genuine. Not at them, of course, but at the money I was about to get.

I turned to leave. As my hand touched the doorknob, his venomous voice followed me. "Don't forget who you are, Aislinn. You will always be a Sterling. Don't think you're free."

I didn't look back.

"From the moment I take his name," I said softly, "I will only be Gideon Carlisle's wife."