The Thorned Crown: Duty Demands His Blood. Love Demands His Heart (The Last Eunuch Series, #6)

Solferon descends into chaos. The emperor is missing, the Church blames Aeren for the collapse of the Sanctum ritual, and nobles compete for the empty throne. While the kingdom fractures, Aeren faces a truth more destabilizing than exile or betrayal-he was born to be a prince of Lyselle, not a eunuch of Solferon. The life he thought was stolen becomes impossible to ignore when the king of Lyselle declares him the kingdom's rightful successor. In one announcement, Aeren gains everything he was denied: power, freedom, a future. Yet receiving what he once could not even imagine forces him to confront the question he never learned to ask: What does he want for himself? Life in Lyselle is built on gentle expectations, not obedience. He is dressed in royal fabrics, given lessons in diplomacy, placed into councils where people listen when he speaks. It should feel like liberation. Instead, Aeren feels like an intruder wearing someone else's crown. Prince Adrien urges him to embrace this new destiny, offering support and a chance to rebuild a life without blood or fear. Aeren tries to follow the path laid before him, but every comfort of Lyselle highlights what he left behind. Freedom does not stop the way his thoughts return to Irenus. Safety does not silence the echo of a vow spoken in a throne room. Aeren has everything he once dreamed of-and none of it feels like home. Meanwhile, Irenus has not given up. Determined to reclaim his throne and protect Aeren from becoming a political prize, he returns to Solferon alone. The empire he once ruled now turns against him. The council accuses him of abandoning the people. The Church pushes a false ruler onto the throne. With no army loyal to him and no power except his own resolve, Irenus prepares to face the empire without the man who once stood beside him. Every choice he makes reveals the truth he refuses to say aloud: he would rather lose the empire than lose Aeren again. When war threatens to cross the border, Lyselle proposes a brutal solution-Aeren can secure peace and protect Irenus by accepting the Thorned Crown, a symbolic marriage binding him to Adrien and cementing Lyselle's sovereignty. It would protect the empire from invasion, save Irenus from being overthrown, and give Aeren a future untouched by fear. The price is simple: he must give up the emperor and the forbidden love that has defined his life. Aeren's duty to a kingdom he never chose clashes with a devotion he never permitted himself to feel. The Thorned Crown is not only a symbol of power-it is a chain. Aeren stands before the coronation altar, crown of thorns in hand, knowing that whatever choice he makes will break a kingdom or break a heart. If he accepts the crown, he saves thousands. If he refuses, he betrays the kingdom that offered him the life he always wanted. And if he returns to Irenus, he walks back into a world that has only ever demanded his silence. Aeren was shaped by obedience. Now he must choose the life he wants-even if it costs everything.