A lone figure slipped through the main castle of the Vartis house.
Not running.
But moving with that quiet haste only those hiding their emotions can keep.
The dimly lit halls breathed with pale ash light, shadows clinging to the walls like old memories.
Princess Nerissa walked past the guards, ignoring their greetings with nothing but a distracted hum. Her gaze was distant—hungry—until she reached her chamber.
The door closed behind her with a heavy thud.
Her room, like the rest of the castle, carried that suffocating ash-gray gloom. Only a single window faced the western horizon, painting the far wall in dying light.
Nerissa didn't care.
She rushed straight to the crystal on her table, grabbed it with trembling fingers, and poured her essence inside.
The crystal flickered.
Then an image formed—
A frail boy with amethyst-purple eyes.
Her breath hitched.
"…mine… mine… mine…"
The words left her lips like a prayer twisted into a curse.
A crazed smile slowly broke across her face.
"I won't let them have this one," she whispered to the room, to the walls, to the darkness that understood her better than any living soul. "Not him."
A tear slipped down her cheek and hit the cold stone floor with a soft tap.
Her voice cracked.
"T-They took the others from me… Leon… P-Perez… they always take them…" Her fists clenched, knuckles turning white. "But not this one. I'll burn the world down before I let anyone lay a finger on him."
The crystal glowed again, reflecting her star-shaped pupils—
shining, trembling, dilated with obsession.