CHAPTER 4

The royal banquet in honor of the visiting Eastern delegates was the season’s grandest affair. Nobles glittered in silks and jewels, music filled the golden halls, and laughter painted the room in elegance.

And then Elira walked in.

Heads turned. Conversations stopped.

She wore deep obsidian, embroidered with silver threads shaped like flowers and stars. No house colors. No symbols of allegiance. Just power. Quiet, deadly beauty wrapped in grace.

Kaelion saw her before anyone else did.

From the throne where he sat beside his father, the King, his gaze locked onto her the moment she stepped into the room. She did not scan the crowd for him. She didn’t bow. She didn’t even glance his way.

She smiled politely at the foreign prince. Offered clever words to the delegates. She moved like someone who belonged not because she was invited, but because she decided to.

Kaelion’s jaw tightened.

“She wasn’t supposed to be here,” the king murmured beside him. “You told me she was done with court life.”

“She was,” Kaelion said quietly. “Something changed.”

And he hated not knowing what.

He rose from his seat before protocol demanded it.

Across the room, Elira turned slightly only slightly acknowledging his approach with a flicker of a smile. Cool, amused, untouchable.

“My lady,” Kaelion greeted, his voice a low hum beneath the music.

Elira bowed her head. “Your Highness.”

“You look... different,” he said.

“Am i? ” she replied softly. “People tend to change.”

His fists clenched..”But you changed completely"

“Should I ask your permission to breathe next?”

His eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to provoke me?”

“No, Your Highness. That would mean I still care about your reaction.”

Her words were calm, but the venom curled beneath them.

Kaelion studied her for a moment. Then, without a word, he extended his hand.

“A dance.”

In the past, she would have said yes before he finished the sentence.

This time, Elira looked at the hand as though it were a trap.

Then she smiled.

And placed her gloved fingers in the hand that once condemned her.

“One dance, Your Highness,” she said. “Nothing more.”

As they moved across the floor, the room watched. Two silhouettes from a ruined engagement. A prince and the woman who defied him. Sparks clashed with every step.

“You’re not afraid of me anymore,” Kaelion said under his breath.

“I was never afraid of you,” Elira replied. “I was afraid of being invisible.”

He was silent.

The music slowed. She stepped back before the final note, curtseyed gracefully and turned her back to him in front of the entire court.

Kaelion stared after her, jaw clenched, hands stiff at his sides.

For the first time in his life, the crown prince was no longer the one in control.

He wondered what happened....what he did and why the girl who always followed him around talking softly, ready to give her anything suddenly changed as if he never knew.

And maybe it was true...he never really knew her. she only let him know what she wanted.

Let's meet in another update~

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