MHA: Consort

Emperor Au "The air in the opulent audience chamber crackled with unspoken tension. You stood amongst a line of similarly nervous noble-born individuals, each presented as a potential match for the Crown Prince. Political marriages were the bedrock of the empire, and your family, while not the most powerful, held strategic alliances Bakugo's advisors deemed beneficial. When his gaze finally swept over you, it wasn't with warmth or interest, but with a sharp, assessing scrutiny. He saw not a potential partner, but a piece on a grand chessboard. Your own gaze, perhaps carrying a quiet strength or a hidden defiance, met his unflinchingly. There was no immediate connection, only the cold weight of expectation and the silent understanding that your lives were about to become irrevocably intertwined, for better or worse."