The night sky hung heavy above Duke Nicholas' castle. Crystal chandeliers lit the marble halls with a faint glow, casting long shadows across the tall pillars carved with the family's crest. The echo of footsteps filled the silence of the main corridor. The silver-black carriage had already vanished past the front gate, leaving behind a fake calm that clung to the cold stone walls.
Duke Nicholas stepped into his private meeting chamber, a circular room hidden deep within the castle's heart. In it stood only one massive round obsidian table, with four dark wooden chairs cushioned in deep red velvet. Tall candles flickered lazily around the room, throwing out a yellow-orange light like embers glowing in a cave.
Three men were already waiting—his loyal head guard, an old advisor robed in blue, and one of the shadow troop captains from the royal secret force. They all stood and bowed low as Nicholas entered.
"Let's begin," Nicholas said flatly, sliding into the main chair that faced the huge window draped in thick purple curtains.
The doors shut slowly. Silence took over, broken only by the crackle of fire in the hearth and the soft rumble of the night wind outside.
"Lord Louise might become a problem… or maybe he'll fade away on his own. But Airi—Airi is the key," Nicholas muttered, his finger tapping lightly on the obsidian tabletop.
"Do you want us to keep watch on them, my lord?" the Shadow Captain asked.
"More than that. I want patterns. When Airi leaves, when Louise isn't around. Their routines. Who they trust. And… who we can break from inside their circle."
The old advisor shot him a worried look. "My lord, if we interfere too much, they'll notice. Louise isn't a fool."
"True. Which is why we won't interfere directly," Nicholas replied coolly. "We'll just plant the seeds… and let them grow by themselves."
He rose, walking toward the window, pulling the curtain slightly aside to stare at the sky now smothered with fog.
"Send him an invitation. Airi. To the ball. But make sure our courier brings a small gift with it. A royal bracelet. That'll be the first weak spot."
The captain nodded. "And if Louise forbids Airi from attending?"
Nicholas smirked coldly. "He will. But that's the point. I want to see how far Airi trusts his own choices. And if doubt creeps in… that's where I'll step in."
The talk went on—about diplomacy strategies, information leaks, and pulling social influence among young nobles. But they didn't realize one thing:
Behind one of the walls carved with seemingly normal engravings, a secret passage stretched deep into the castle's underbelly.
And there, standing motionless like a statue, was a man clad in dark uniform with a silver emblem on his chest—General Sebastian, supreme commander of the royal forces and former mentor to Duke Nicholas himself.
Sebastian had been there for more than two hours, long before Nicholas arrived. His sharp eyes locked on a small slit in the wall, where every word spoken inside carried through.
He hadn't come to eavesdrop. But something had pulled him to this passage tonight. A gut feeling—an old soldier's instinct whispering that a storm was coming.
Sebastian heard it all. Every strategy, every name dropped. Including the plan to reel in Airi and take down Louise from within.
His fists clenched. Jaw tight. He had long stayed neutral in the court's conflicts, keeping out since Nicholas took the dukedom. But tonight, Nicholas' words cracked the ground beneath his loyalty.
"To plant doubt in a heart that loves… that's the cruelest crime of all," Sebastian thought bitterly.
As Nicholas and his men began leaving the chamber, Sebastian stepped back deeper into the hidden passage. He couldn't exit through the main way. Not tonight. He had to think—analyze. Decide whether it was time to step into the game… or stop it before it turned into war.
Above the castle, the moon was swallowed by dark clouds. But underground, General Sebastian lit a spark in the darkness. A spark that might be the only hope to keep a blooming love from withering under ambition.
And in that silence, he whispered low, "Your game has started, Nicholas… but I'm not done playing either."
The secret passage fell quiet again, but Sebastian's chest rumbled like a storm chained inside. He leaned against the cold stone, breath heavy, eyes still fixed on the spot Nicholas had stood.
"You'll start a war, Nick…" he thought. "And like always, you think everyone's just pieces on your chessboard."
But this time it was different.
Airi wasn't nobility. He never asked to be dragged into this game. He was just a wildflower growing between walls of power. Someone who touched a part of Sebastian's humanity he thought had died long ago.
Louise loved him. That was obvious. But Louise was light—and light is easy to see. Easy to target. Sebastian knew, if their love was to survive, someone had to guard it from the unseen. From the shadows.
He descended further into the stone passage toward the armory below. There, he unlocked an old steel drawer and pulled out a rolled-up leather map—an ancient blueprint of the castle, complete with secret routes only known to the founding lords. Paths even Duke Nicholas hadn't memorized.
He spread it across an iron table.
"If they dare touch him… they'll have to go through me first," he muttered.
Then he began to write.
Plans. Schemes. Watchpoints. Names of spies he could still trust. Locations Airi often appeared. And names…
Nicholas.
The old advisor.
The Shadow Captain.
Even certain young nobles moving closer to Louise and Airi out of pure ambition.
"You'll trust Louise, Airi…" Sebastian thought. "But I'll make damn sure you keep trusting him, even when everyone's trying to break you apart."
Sebastian knew words could destroy faster than any blade. Manipulation could kill love slowly, without leaving scars. And that's exactly why… he wouldn't wait.
That same night, he summoned Ragnar—his best scout—and gave a direct order.
"From tonight on, Airi's under my protection. He doesn't need to know. Louise doesn't need to know. But anyone who comes close with ill intent… watch them, record them, report them. If necessary, erase them from the shadows."
Ragnar bowed wordlessly. He knew, when Sebastian spoke like that, it wasn't just an order.
It was a vow.
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