The high-end shopping district of Serynthia buzzed with its usual glamor—glass storefronts, sleek fashion displays, and too many paparazzi lingering like flies around the rich.
It was the perfect place to pretend they were just a family.
Alina wore oversized sunglasses, a silk trench, and subtle black heels that made her presence commanding, not loud. Riven and Auron walked at her sides, dressed simply, but sharp. They didn't need to wear crowns.
They were royalty. By blood, if not by choice.
Kaelir trailed slightly behind, still adjusting to the strange sensation of not walking with guards. He'd insisted on joining them after Alina suggested the boys needed "normalcy."
She hadn't told him why she picked this day.
Or that she knew someone would strike.
---
They entered a toy store—bright, extravagant, lined with gleaming shelves and impossible noise.
Kaelir was clearly out of his depth.
"What is this chaos?" he muttered.
Alina smirked. "It's called childhood."
Auron tugged Kaelir's sleeve gently. "Can I get this?"
It was the first time he'd asked for anything. Kaelir's heart jolted.
"You can have the whole aisle."
Auron giggled. "You sound like a cartoon villain."
Kaelir gave a tight, awkward smile. "I'll work on that."
For a moment, they looked like any other family.
Until the sound of shattering glass cracked the illusion in half.
Bang.
A shot.
Then another.
Screams.
Chaos erupted as the front of the store exploded into glass and panic. People ran in all directions. Security rushed forward. Alina was already moving—fast, smooth, practiced.
"Get down!" she shouted, pulling Riven behind a display.
But Auron froze, eyes wide as a man in black raised a pistol in the smoke-filled doorway.
Kaelir didn't hesitate.
He threw himself forward, grabbing Auron and spinning just as the shot went off—
Bang.
The bullet missed Auron.
But it clipped Kaelir's shoulder.
He grunted, falling hard, shielding Auron with his body as the shooter fled.
Alina pulled a knife from her boot—sleek, hidden, lethal—and chased after him without hesitation.
---
Minutes Later
The attacker was gone.
But the damage was done.
Kaelir sat slumped against the toy store wall, blood soaking through his shirt, jaw clenched as medical agents moved in.
Auron sat beside him, silent, pale.
"I'm fine," Kaelir growled. "Just a graze."
Alina didn't speak. She knelt beside him, inspecting the wound.
"This was a message," she muttered. "Not an assassination."
Kaelir nodded grimly. "They didn't want me dead. They wanted you shaken."
She looked at him.
Her eyes weren't angry.
They were terrified.
"You could've died."
He shrugged. "I didn't."
"You jumped in front of him," she whispered.
"Of course I did."
Silence.
Auron looked up at him, small voice trembling. "You got shot. For me."
Kaelir winced as he smiled. "I guess that makes me your favorite now."
Auron burst into tears.
Kaelir froze.
"I'm sorry," Auron sobbed, burying his face into his father's chest. "I didn't move—I didn't know what to do—"
Kaelir wrapped one arm around him, bloody but steady.
"You're safe. That's all that matters."
And in that moment, for the first time, Kaelir realized something devastating:
He would burn the world down for these children.
---
Later That Night – News Broadcast
> BREAKING: CROWN PRINCE SHOT DURING UNANNOUNCED OUTING
Security footage from a toy store confirms the presence of Alina Moreau-Valen, long-presumed dead, now revealed as the mother of the royal heirs.
A hidden camera shows her disarming a man with lethal precision—a knife flicked into the attacker's leg, followed by two moves that could only be military-trained.
The world is watching.
And the shadows are stirring.
---
Elsewhere — Unknown Location
A hand turned off the broadcast.
"She's back," a man said. "And she's not hiding anymore."
In the darkness, a woman poured a glass of wine.
"Good. Let the Valens believe they've won something."
She smiled.
"I'll kill her myself."