Cairen woke up with a disorienting sensation of not knowing where he was. Daylight filtered through an elegantly carved window, illuminating a room that wasn't his.
For a brief and terrible moment, his memory began to return, until a soft voice, laced with curiosity, cut through the air.
"You're finally awake." The voice sounded.
'Damn Ling.'
Instinct took over before the thought could fully form. Cairen threw himself off the bed, and in the same fluid motion, a dark, cutting chain shot from the palm of his hand.
The shackles flew at high speed toward the voice.
Princess Ling, seated gracefully in an elegant chair across the room, showed only a flicker of surprise, nothing more.
Instead of dodging, her fist closed swiftly, wrapped in a silver and golden glow. The fist and the chain collided in midair.
A deafening impact rang out, the kind that made ears ache. It was a stalemate.
The chain hissed, trying to pierce through the protective glow surrounding the princess's fist, but it couldn't advance.
The surprise in Ling's eyes turned into interest, while Cairen's was pure disbelief, his chain had been stopped with just a single punch.
She slowly relaxed her hand, and Cairen's chain recoiled, retracting back into his palm before disappearing into his body.
"Your bloodline ability is quite… interesting, I'd say." Ling remarked, her tone a mixture of admiration and analysis, as though he were some rare specimen.
Cairen stood at the center of the room, heart pounding in his chest, saying nothing.
His voice came out hoarse, laced with suspicion.
"What the hell are you doing in my room, hiding in the dark like a ghost first thing in the morning?"
A playful smile curled on her lips.
"Morning? It's already late," she corrected, standing up slowly.
"I came to wake you, but… you looked so cute sleeping that I felt pity. I decided to just watch you until you woke up naturally."
Cairen stared at her completely, his expression hardening.
Cute? Pity? Those were the words of someone who had tried to kill him? Even if indirectly?
Looking into her eyes, he saw no affection, not even genuine attraction, just cold calculation, as though she knew exactly what she was doing.
He didn't say a word, but the thought echoed in his mind with conviction.
'This princess is completely insane!'
Ling's small smile remained unshaken before his murderous glare.
She rose gracefully from the chair, straightening her dress.
"Oh, where are my manners?" she suddenly said in a soft voice that contrasted sharply with the tension in the room.
"I should introduce myself properly. I am Ling Xiyue, first princess of the Rhyne Kingdom. The one who carries the bloodline and descends from the kingdom's ancestral beast… and your fiancée, from now on."
A chill ran down Cairen's spine. The way she said it, with such absolute conviction, devoid of any real emotion, was terrifying.
He took a deep breath, forcing the anger to recede just enough for reason to speak.
"What do you mean by that?" His voice came out steadier than he expected.
"What are you really planning?"
Ling sighed, a theatrical sound of patience.
"Shall we start with proper introductions first? I already did mine. Now it's your turn."
Cairen's irritation simmered inside him, but he swallowed it down. He had no choice, not here.
"Cairen Veyrith."
"Veyrith… quite a strange name, I see. Anyway." She waved a hand lightly through her hair.
"I can see the hostility you hold toward me. I suppose it's because of my brothers." Her silver eyes watched Cairen closely, studying every micro-expression.
"Well… I didn't order them to do anything. They acted on their own and ended up dying because of it. So, it's all fine, isn't it?"
Cairen frowned even more deeply. The coldness with which she spoke of her brothers' deaths was disturbing.
Seeing that he didn't seem to care much, she suddenly exclaimed.
"Ah!" She said, as if struck by realization.
"It's because of… that girl who was with you? The talkative one who wouldn't stop speaking? She ended up dying in the inheritance, didn't she? I truly feel sorry." She said, placing a hand over her mouth, though her eyes didn't match the gesture, they stayed fixed on Cairen.
"My brothers were quite obsessed… so you did me a favor by killing them."
'Favor?' The word echoed in Cairen's mind.
He clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palms, leaving red marks. The urge to attack again with his chains, upon seeing that small smile on her face, was immense.
But the constant, crushing pressure of the old royal guardian outside the door was a vivid reminder.
Attacking would be suicide. He swallowed his rage.
"What's your goal?" he asked again, his words coming out slowly.
Ling's smile widened, becoming more genuine, but in a way that felt wrong.
A truly unsettling smile.