The light that seeped through the wooden lattice windows painted long shadows across the chamber walls. Morning arrived too quickly. I barely slept.
Last night's accidental kiss still lingered like a forbidden echo, stealing sleep from my eyes and sense from my mind.
Why did he catch me like that? Why did he not flinch when our lips met?
And why… why did i not push him away?
I tightened my grip around the porcelain cup in my hand, staring at the faint swirl of steam rising from the tea. Across from me, at the main table, Prince Lucien sat—silent, unreadable.
But not distant.
That was what disturbed me the most.
For the past weeks, he was always cold, cruel, even. He barely looked at me unless to remind me i didn't belong. That i was nothing but a pawn in this treaty. A body to warm the sheets and calm the border.
But now… now he was looking.
I could feel his gaze on me. Sharp. Unyielding. As if i were a page he was reading for the first time.
He didn't speak, didn't ask anything, but his eyes kept sliding to mine when he thought i wouldn't notice.
I did.
And it unsettled me.
I shifted slightly on the cushioned bench in front of my small table, trying to act unaffected.
But i could feel the weight of his attention like a knife against my back.
From the other side of the room, his long sleeves draped over his elbows as he leaned forward, fingers brushing over the scroll in front of him.
Still glancing. Still watching.
What is this change? I asked myself. Was it because i almost died?
So i had to be poisoned for him to notice me?
The thought made my stomach churn.
I moved to stand, wanting to shake off the tension, but before i could even rise, Lucien stood as well.
I froze.
So did he.
His expression didn't change, but something passed in his eyes.
As if he'd been caught.
As if he realized i noticed the way he mirrored my every move.
I slowly sat back down, folding my hands in my lap. My face stayed still, but my mind was a storm.
A moment later, the doors creaked open.
"Your Highness," Elise bowed slightly, stepping into the room with a small tray. "Pardon the delay. I brought your meal."
Lucien didn't respond immediately. His gaze lingered on me one last time before he sat again and returned to his scrolls.
"Thank you, Elise," I said softly.
She placed the tray between us, enough food for two. For the second time… we were eating together again. Like husband and wife.
No guards. No Lady Mei. No Empress to sneer at me from a distance.
Just the two of us.
I swallowed the rising awkwardness in my throat and reached for a dumpling with my chopsticks.
I didn't look up. I didn't want to see if he was still watching me.
I already knew he was.
Just as i finished the last sip of tea, a familiar voice slithered into the chamber like an unwanted shadow.
"Your Highness," came the sweet, saccharine tone that made my fingers curl around the cup. "You have been ignoring me lately."
Lady Mei.
Dressed in lavender silk embroidered with phoenix feathers, she swept into the room like a wave of perfumed arrogance. Her hair was pinned high with silver combs, a single jade ornament dangling from her ear.
"I came to remind you of the poem recital with the scholars this afternoon," she said, stepping closer to Lucien's table, her voice gentle, but her eyes sharp.
Lucien didn't answer immediately.
Because he was looking at me.
Again.
His head didn't turn.
His body didn't shift. But his eyes, his cursed eyes moved away from Mei and onto me, like i was the only thing of interest in this chamber.
I lowered my gaze to the floor, feigning disinterest. But my pulse quickened.
"Lucien?" Mei asked again, her voice rising just slightly.
His gaze lingered on me another second before he blinked slowly and turned to her. "I'll consider it," he said flatly.
Displeasure curled at the corners of Mei's mouth.
Her eyes flicked to me, following his line of sight, and when she realized who he had been watching, her entire posture changed.
A smile still painted on her lips, but her shoulders tightened. Her jaw stiffened.
"I'll leave you to your business then," she said curtly.
No bow. No farewell.
Just a swish of fabric and the click of her heels against the stone.
"You know she's only pretending to be kind, don't you?" I said, my voice low, but sharp enough to cut through the tension.
I stood beside Lucien's table, glaring at him while he calmly sipped his tea as if i hadn't just accused one of his concubines of staging a false attack.
"She planned to stab herself," I continued, my nails digging into my palm. "She wanted me blamed for it. And you knew. You knew it all along."
"I know," Lucien replied, without hesitation.
The air left my lungs. "You knew?" My voice trembled, not from weakness, but from the sheer effort it took to suppress the rising fury in my chest. "Then why—why did you let them drag me out like a criminal? Why did you let them demand thirty flogging strokes? Why didn't you speak?"
Lucien set his teacup down with precision, eyes never leaving mine. "Because the command came from above."
The Emperor. The Empress.
Of course.
I took a step closer, fists clenched at my sides. "So that's it? You just follow whatever they say? Even if you know it could have killed me?"
He didn't answer.
"Answer me, Lucien!"
But he didn't.
Instead, without warning, he stood from his chair, closed the distance between us and kissed me.
It wasn't gentle.
It wasn't cruel.
It was desperate.
It was meant to silence.
His lips pressed against mine with a kind of controlled urgency, like a man who had finally reached the edge of something he'd been holding back for far too long.
My breath caught, my eyes widened, and my body froze in shock.
By the time i found the strength to push him away, his hand was already cupping the back of my neck.
He pulled away just enough to whisper, "Go back to your table, Seraphine. Don't say another word. I have much to do."
I stared at him.
Completely, utterly stunned.
And then i walked back to my seat, rigid, heart pounding, pulse ringing in my ears.
Not because of the kiss.
But because something was changing.
Something had already changed.
And i had no idea if i was ready for what it meant.
Or if i should even want it.