Page 70 of Billionaire Dragon King’s Rejected Mate

A murmur rippled through the group. The guards stared at him, some in shock, others in something like fear. One of them took a half-step back.

Chance drew in a breath. “I am your king now.”

The words felt strange in his mouth, but right,

Then one guard who was older and scarred with eyes shadowed with years of loyalty to a tyrant slowly lowered to one knee. One by one, the others followed.

Chance exhaled slowly as the reality settled in. He felt Randi’s presence behind him. Across the cave, Sven stood with Bryn at his side and a huge smile across his face.

Chance glanced at the guards. “Stand,” he said, his voice quieter now. “We have a kingdom to rebuild.”

By the time they returned to the castle in Noriveille, word had already spread faster than any official announcement could contain. It was carried on voices and screens and whispers that built into something undeniable.

The people gathered and filled the streets, the courtyards, every space that could hold them. Their faces turned toward the castle balcony as Chance stepped forward, the weight of everything settling across his shoulders but not as a burden, but as something earned. He was no longer just the son who had returned, but the king who had claimed his place.

Randi stood just behind him, and Chance reached back and took her hand in his.

“For too long,” he began, his voice carrying across the crowd, “this kingdom has been ruled by fear and cruelty. My father ruled with the belief that power must come at the cost of compassion.”

The crowd stilled as they listened.

“That ends today,” he continued. “Because strength is not found in cruelty, and loyalty cannot be built through fear. From this moment forward, Noriveille will be a kingdom defined not by what it takes, but by what it protects.”

Randi squeezed his hand.

“Mercy is not weakness,” Chance said, his voice firm and unwavering. “It is strength.”

A collective cheer rose through the crowd. The response built slowly before rising into something undeniable.

Hope.

Randi hugged him from behind. He turned and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s done.”

“The people are lucky to have you.” She kissed him gently.

The coronation that followed was not what he had imagined as a child. It wasn’t filled with the grandeur or rigid expectation that came from generations of royalty. It was something more grounded and shaped by everything that had led him there.

And when the moment came, when Sven did the honors and brought the crown forward, Chance did something no one expected.

He stepped away and walked toward Randi.

She stood just beyond the formal line of dignitaries and province kings, her presence somehow both out of place and exactly where she was meant to be. Her eyes locked on his as he closed the distance between them.

Chance dropped to one knee. “Before I take the throne,” he started, his voice loud enough to be heard even though the words were meant for her, “there’s something more important I need to ask.”

Randi’s eyes teared up in a way that made something in his chest tighten.

“I don’t know what this looks like yet,” he continued, honest in a way he had never allowed himself to be before. “I don’t know how we make two worlds fit into one life, or what we’ll have to sacrifice to make it work.”

An almost self-conscious smile touched his lips.

“But I do know that I don’t want to do any of it without you.”

The silence that followed felt infinite.

“Randi,” he said, softer now, though no less certain, “will you marry me?”

Chapter 28