[Prince Kael's POV]
The Festival of Lights had ended, but its embers still glowed faintly in his mind.
He had endured the endless smiles, the hollow compliments, the toasts that dripped more venom than wine.
From the balcony of his private study, Kael watched the servants dismantle the silk banners below. The scent of smoke and wine still clung to the air. A breeze teased the edge of his cloak, carrying the faint laughter of the lingering nobles in the gardens.
He did not trust laughter in this palace.
Too often, it was the sound made before a blade slipped between ribs.
And yet, his thoughts kept circling back to one figure—Lady Serina.
She had been every inch the jewel of the night: poised, radiant, with a smile that hinted at secrets rather than revealing them. Her laughter had drawn eyes like a beacon. She knew her effect.
Kael recognized the type.
A woman like that was either a gift to a kingdom or a dagger in its heart. Possibly both.
She had moved effortlessly between conversations, always drawing close enough to him to be noticed, but never clinging. Subtle. Controlled. Dangerous, perhaps—but not yet an enemy.
The door to his study clicked open.
"M'lord."
A's voice slid into the room like smoke. She stepped inside, her apron discarded, hair unbound from its braid. The faint scent of lavender followed her.
"You should be working," Kael said without turning.
"I was," she replied, walking closer. "But you looked… tense at the festival. Thought I might help."
Her hands rested lightly on his shoulders. Kael allowed the touch for a moment, his gaze still fixed on the fading daylight. "You speak too freely."
"And yet," she murmured, brushing her lips against his ear, "you never stop me."
It was true. A was convenient—beautiful in a practical way, shrewd enough to know when silence was worth more than words.
His mind drifted briefly—Serina's smile, the glint in her eyes when she'd caught him watching her across the hall. There was something there, something he would have to test.
But for now, the warmth of A's body was easier than the cold weight of palace games.
Kael turned, gripping her wrist to pull her closer. Her sharp little smile told him she'd won the moment.
The rest of the night passed without talk of politics.
When A finally slipped from his chambers before dawn, Kael sat on the edge of the bed, gaze hard on the first light spilling into the room.
An affair was easy to manage.
A conspiracy—especially one wearing a noblewoman's smile—was not.