The bells of Etherna tolled twelve times. Midnight.

The sky above the palace was black, swallowed by the rare lunar eclipse that came once in a hundred years. The blood moon loomed high, its glow casting an eerie crimson veil over the city of glass and stone. And within the royal halls of Etherna, fire had begun to spread—fast and furious.

Serene Elira ran barefoot across the palace floor, the cold marble now slick with blood and moonlight. Her breath came in shallow bursts, but her heart thundered like war drums.

Behind her, the screams grew louder—soldiers clashing with each other in chaos, shouts in Old Etherni tongue echoing off broken stained-glass windows. The golden banners that once bore the royal sigil now burned, curled, and crumbled in flames.

She didn’t stop.

She couldn’t.

Her white bridal gown, once delicate silk and shimmering starlace, was now torn and stained—ashes at the hem, blood at the sleeves. Her hands trembled as she gripped the moonstone amulet tight, the pendant glowing faintly with blue light. Each beat of its glow mirrored the rapid throb in her chest.

The Time Gate was near.

Serene had never seen it herself. It had only ever existed in forbidden scrolls and whispered stories from her childhood—of ancient magic sealed away for a reason, of doors that opened not just to places, but to entire realities.

“Time is not a thread to be pulled,” the old priestess had once told her. “It’s a wound that never heals. And those who touch it... bleed.”

But Serene was already bleeding.

She had no choice but to tear the wound wide open.

Just hours ago, she had stood beneath the golden dome of the inner sanctum, her body wrapped in ceremonial silks, her lips painted with crushed opal dust, and her fingers adorned with jewels she never asked for.

She was a bride.

No—she was a bargaining chip. A peace offering. A prisoner in velvet.

And the man she was meant to marry—Auren Kain, Crown Prince of Etherna—had not spoken a single word to her during the entire engagement. Not a smile. Not a single shred of warmth.

But his eyes... gods, his eyes haunted her.

Silver like a frozen blade. Sharp. Calculated. Cold.

Once, she thought he was silent because he was shy. Or noble. Or wounded by the weight of the crown. But then she found the prophecy.

Hidden in the library beneath the palace, locked in a scroll that pulsed with forbidden magic:

“If the bride breaks the timeline, the king shall fall.”

She read it over and over again, heart pounding.

The bride.

The king.

The timeline.

It wasn’t just a riddle. It was a map. A warning. A chance.

She knew what Auren would become. She’d seen it—glimpses of him cloaked in shadow, ruling over a world bathed in ruin. A tyrant with bloodstained hands. And she? Nothing more than a fading name in a forgotten tomb.

She had to escape.

Even if it meant tearing the very fabric of time.

The Time Gate waited at the end of the sacred corridor—sealed behind a wall that was no wall at all, but ancient illusion magic. It shimmered before her like glass rippling with water, its surface humming with pulses of impossible energy.

Serene paused, chest heaving.

The pendant around her neck vibrated, sensing the magic ahead. It had been the key all along—left to her by her mother, who vanished when Serene was only a child. A moonstone infused with starfire. A relic from the world before.

Behind her, she heard footsteps.

Heavy. Slow. Deliberate.

A voice called her name—deep, measured, cruelly calm.

“Auren,” she whispered, eyes wide.

She turned, just enough to see his silhouette at the far end of the corridor. Cloaked in royal black. Silver eyes glowing in the moonlit firestorm. He didn’t run. He didn’t shout.

He simply watched.

Like a god observing a mortal’s final decision.

“I never wanted this,” Serene said aloud, voice breaking. “I never wanted you.”

Auren’s voice was quiet, but it sliced through the air like a knife.

“Then why are you mine in every timeline?”

She swallowed the fear rising in her throat.

“Not this one,” she said.

And stepped through the Gate.

Time broke.

The world twisted, stretched, and collapsed around her. Light and shadow spun together in violent spirals. She felt herself falling—not down, but through.

Through memories not yet lived.

Through pain not yet felt.

Through versions of herself that screamed and bled and begged.

Then—nothing.

Silence.

When Serene opened her eyes, she was lying on a cold, metal surface. Rain splattered against her skin. Blinding lights surrounded her.

She coughed.

People shouted in a language she barely recognized—fast, clipped, sharp. Machines beeped. Something buzzed overhead.

A face appeared above her—familiar, impossibly so.

Silver eyes.

Dark suit.

No crown.

No magic.

Just the cold, commanding presence of a man who owned the world.

Her heart stopped.

Auren Kain.

But not the prince.

This was someone else. And yet… it was still him.

Older. Sharper. Crueler in some ways. Softer in others.

The CEO of this strange, steel-built world.

She tried to sit up. He caught her arm.

“You fell,” he said, his voice deep and annoyed. “Out of the sky. Onto my car.”

Her lips trembled. “No... not again…”

He narrowed his eyes. “What the hell are you?”

And Serene stared into the eyes of the man who once vowed to love her… and in another timeline, had destroyed her.

Her voice cracked as she whispered, “You already know.”

The sound of sirens echoed in the distance. Rain fell in silver sheets, cold and relentless, as traffic honked and lights flickered across the skyline of Verden City.

Auren Kain didn’t notice the storm.

He sat in the backseat of his bulletproof SUV, fingers flying across his tablet screen, eyes unreadable, sharp as blades. Stock numbers danced. Contracts blinked for signatures. Another hostile takeover was hours away from being finalized.

Business as usual.

Until the impact.

A deafening crash shook the vehicle. The roof above dented inward with a metallic groan, and shards of glass rained down from the cracked sunroof.

The driver slammed the brakes.

“What the hell—?” Auren growled, already unbuckling, heart pounding from pure irritation, not fear. “What did we hit?”

“Nothing,” his driver said, wide-eyed. “Something... fell.”

Auren stepped out into the storm, suit drenched within seconds. He looked up—and froze.

There, sprawled across the roof of his car, was a girl.

A girl in a torn white gown. Barefoot. Blood trickling down her temple. Her chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths. Around her neck hung a glowing blue stone—faint, pulsing like a dying heartbeat.

She looked like she'd been ripped straight from a fantasy novel. Or a dream.

Or a nightmare.

Auren’s jaw tightened. “Call an ambulance.”

As the driver reached for his phone, the girl stirred.

“No hospital,” she croaked.

Auren blinked.

She sat up slowly, trembling, eyes wild with confusion. Rain plastered her dark hair to her face, and her fingers curled protectively around the glowing pendant.

“They’ll find me…” she whispered. “They’ll kill me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Who, exactly?”

She blinked at him. Her gaze locked onto his—intense, unblinking. Then something shifted behind her eyes. Recognition.

“Auren Kain,” she said, voice barely audible. “Even here... it’s you.”

He stilled. “Have we met?”

“In another life,” she murmured. “Another timeline.”

Auren stared at her like she'd gone mad.

Because surely, she had.

But something in her tone… something in her eyes… stopped him from walking away.

One Hour Later

She sat on a sleek black leather couch in his penthouse office, wrapped in a towel, shivering beside a fireplace. Her wet gown was draped over a chair to dry. Auren stood several feet away, arms folded, watching her like a puzzle he didn’t trust—but couldn’t stop solving.

She wouldn’t give her last name. Wouldn’t say where she was from. Claimed she didn’t exist on any record.

“I’m not crazy,” she said, quietly. “I promise.”

Auren said nothing. Just poured two fingers of whiskey into a glass and handed it to her.

She didn’t take it.

“I didn’t come here on purpose,” she added. “The Time Gate—”

“There’s no such thing as a Time Gate,” he interrupted flatly.

“Not in this timeline,” she said. “But where I come from, it’s real.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “What are you trying to say? You’re a time traveler? From another dimension?”

“Yes.”

“And I’m… who, in your story? Your captor? Your knight in shining armor?”

Her voice trembled. “My fiancé.”

He blinked.

Serene looked up at him, her expression soft, haunted. “You were different there. Cold, but powerful. A prince. A ruler. You promised me safety. Then you locked me in the tower and called it love.”

He didn’t respond. His fingers tapped the edge of his desk, once. Twice.

“And then?” he finally asked.

She looked away. “You destroyed everything.”

Silence stretched between them. The fire crackled in the hearth. Rain ticked softly against the glass windows.

“Why me?” Auren asked. “Why now?”

“I didn’t choose to land here,” she said. “The Gate was collapsing. I ran, and it opened to this world.”

“And you just happened to land on my car?”

“I wish I hadn’t,” she whispered. “Because even here… you feel the same.”

Auren took a slow breath. “You expect me to believe this story?”

“No,” she said, eyes tired. “But part of you already does.”

He frowned.

“Your dreams,” she said. “The flashes. The headaches. The memories you don’t understand. You see me in them, don’t you?”

His expression shifted. Barely—but it shifted.

And that was all the confirmation Serene needed.

“Time doesn’t forget,” she said softly. “Not entirely. And neither do we.”

Auren turned away, walking toward the window, jaw clenched tight.

Something inside him had ached the moment he saw her. Something ancient. Something buried. She was wrong, of course—she had to be—but the way she said his name, the way she looked at him...

He hated how much it rattled him.

She stood slowly, the towel clutched tightly around her.

“I’ll leave,” she said. “You don’t have to help me. I just needed a place to breathe.”

“You can’t go outside like that,” he said without turning. “You’ll get arrested. Or worse.”

Silence.

“You’re not letting me go,” she said, almost amused.

He finally looked at her again, silver eyes unreadable. “Not until I figure out what the hell you are.”

“I already told you.”

“Yes. And I don’t believe a word of it.”

“Then why haven’t you called the police?”

His jaw flexed. “I haven’t decided if you’re dangerous yet.”

Serene met his gaze, her eyes steady despite the tears threatening at the edges.

“I’m not dangerous,” she said. “But the people coming after me are.”

Auren Kain had faced boardrooms, betrayals, blackmail, even assassins. He didn’t believe in magic. Or destiny.

But when he looked at her—barefoot, broken, and still glowing faintly with something otherworldly—he felt the echo of something long forgotten.

Something older than logic.

Auren stepped forward.

“Who are you really?” he asked.

She hesitated, then whispered:

“Your biggest mistake.”