The banquet ended, but the ripples it caused didn't.
That night, Evelyne returned to her chambers, her heels echoing through the marble corridors. Servants bowed as she passed, but she barely noticed.
She closed the door behind her, letting silence wrap around her like armor.
But even in silence, the noise lingered.
The whispers.
The praise.
The fear.
And the masked boy's eyes.
He had watched her the entire time.
Not like a suitor.
Not like a courtier.
Like a predator.
—
Elsewhere in the palace, Caleb was pacing.
"She was brilliant tonight," Elisse said, leaning against the doorframe.
"She doesn't belong here," Caleb muttered. "Among backstabbers and snakes."
Elisse raised a brow. "Then make her world different."
—
Meanwhile, Zayne sat in the royal gardens, sketching Evelyne's silhouette in the moonlight.
His fingers trembled slightly. Not from nerves. From frustration.
"I'm falling behind," he whispered.
"I wanted to protect her first."
—
In the shadows behind the pillars, the masked boy stood with a single red rose in his hand.
"She's brighter than I imagined."
He held up a charm—an old, cursed relic from a forbidden tomb.
"The empire took everything from me," he whispered.
"But Evelyne… I'll take her back."
---