The hall had emptied.
Drunken laughter echoed down the long stone corridors, trailed by clinking goblets and the rustle of gowns retreating to their chambers. But I remained rooted at the balcony outside the ballroom, staring at the dark forest in the distance. A place that still haunted me.
Behind me, the door creaked.
"You held yourself well tonight," Hadley's voice drifted in, sharp and cold.
I turned slowly to see her standing with a goblet in hand, her dark dress glinting in the moonlight. There was a kind of beauty to her,dangerous,
poised, untouched by pity.
"You're not what I expected," she continued, approaching. "Most noble girls cry their first night here. You didn't."
"I've already had worse nights," I said, voice calm.
Hadley smiled faintly, as if that pleased her.
"Leonard is hard to read," she said. "But he's harder to impress. I'll give you this,he wouldn't have burned half the forest down for you if he didn't see something."
"He didn't burn the forest for me," I replied. "He burned it because they touched what was his."
Her gaze snapped to mine. "And you think you're his?"
I hesitated. "I don't know."
Hadley looked away. "Good. Don't assume anything in this place."
There was a brief silence between us, broken only by the wind through the marble columns.
"The nobles hate me," I finally said. "They think I'm cursed. Weak."
"They always need someone to blame," she replied. "First it was the witches. Now it's you."
"I didn't ask to be the key to anything."
"No one ever does."
She took a sip from her goblet. "But now that you are... you'd better learn the rules. Or they'll eat you alive."
I opened my mouth to ask more, but Hadley was already walking away. She paused at the door.
"Your enemies won't always show their teeth. Sometimes they'll smile at you across a banquet table. And sometimes..." Her voice softened just slightly. "Sometimes they wear emerald green."
She left me there, her words coiling in my chest like smoke.
—
The next morning, I awoke to a scroll on my pillow sealed with black wax. I broke it open and read:
Training resumes. Don't be late.
—L
I didn't realize I was smiling until Peace caught me doing it while brushing my hair.
"You like him," she teased under her breath.
"I hate him," I replied.
"You like hating him," Lydia added from the wardrobe.
I rolled my eyes, but the warmth in my chest remained.
—
The training that day was... brutal.
Leonard had no intention of going easy on me just because I'd survived an abduction or charmed a few noble girls. He stood beneath the trees of the south courtyard, hands behind his back, face carved in stone.
"Again," he said as I conjured the blue spark between my fingers.
I winced. "My hands are numb."
"Pain is part of the process."
"I know, I just didn't expect it to feel like this."
He said nothing. Just watched me like a hawk. The spark flickered out.
I groaned. "Why are you even helping me?"
He looked at me then, and something passed between us. Not warmth. But curiosity.
"Because if you're the key," he said, "you need to survive long enough to open the door."
—
Later that week, things only got worse.
Rumors spread fast in the palace. Some said I was pregnant with Leonard's child already. Others claimed I was secretly a witch. One even said I was a blood puppet created by magic to seduce the prince and lead him to ruin.
I learned quickly that smiles at court were rarely real.
That week alone, three noble ladies came to "greet" me each of them wearing brighter gowns, thicker perfume, louder jewelry. Each of them hinting that they had known Leonard once.
And he? He did nothing to deny it.
He didn't protect me from their snide comments. He didn't put a hand on my waist or whisper kind reassurances. He treated me like an assignment. A political knot he hadn't chosen to untangle.
But at night... when no one watched... I'd catch him staring.
Not with hunger. Not with love.
But with something else. Like he was trying to solve me.
Like I was an equation that didn't make sense.
And for some reason, that look made my heart pound louder than any kiss.
—
One evening, I entered the main garden to find Yvonne already waiting,like a viper near a well.
"Princess Lisa," she said with a perfect bow. "How good of you to join us."
Us?
Then I saw them. Nobles, a few guards. And Hadley.
But more importantly... Cecilia.
She stood at the far end of the court, dressed like a noblewoman, smiling like a guest.
I froze.
"W-what is she doing here?" I hissed at Hadley.
Hadley stepped forward. "She arrived this afternoon. Claims to be a messenger for the High Witches' Council."
"She's lying,she's the one who kidnapped me!"
The nobles gasped.
Cecilia stepped forward, her voice smooth as silk. "My sweet girl. You were... confused. Feverish. Delirious when we found you wandering."
"She's lying!" I shouted.
Leonard appeared just then, entering through the archway with his usual slow, quiet steps.
The nobles turned to him.
"Prince Leonard, is this woman not the same accused of abducting your wife?"
He stared at Cecilia. Then looked at me.
And then, without warning, he said coldly, "Search her."
Gasps echoed.
Cecilia's eyes narrowed. "You dare—"
"Search her," he repeated.
Guards surrounded her. She hissed,literally hissed and the illusion broke.
Her disguise melted away. Her skin turned scaly. Her eyes blackened.
Screams rang out as Cecilia tried to escape, but Leonard was faster. He raised one hand—and held her in her neck,tightening his hold
The guards grabbed her just in time.
Cecilia collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily. "It's not over," she whispered. "The spirits are waking. The key cannot hide forever."
Leonard walked toward her and crouched beside her, voice low and threatening.
"If you come near her again... I'll burn your entire kind from this world."
—
That night, I couldn't sleep.
Not from fear. But from the weight of it all.
Leonard had defended me,truly, publicly. For the first time, I wasn't sure if it was strategy or something else.
And now everyone knew Cecilia wasn't a myth.
The witches were moving.
And I? I wasn't just a scared girl anymore.
I was something worth chasing.