In the blink of an eye, the masked woman lunged at him, her movements swift as lightning, a curved blade flashing into her hand.
Kaelith breath hitched.
It seems as though the world was frozen or rather time froze itself.
Kaelith couldn't think but his body seemed to know when to protect itself and his body moved dodging the blow.
By stepping back just enough for the blade to slice through the air where his throat had been a heartbeat ago.
Kaelith was shocked at the way things slowed down or will I say how time slowed down.
Gasps and screams erupted across the ballroom, immediately as everything went back to a normal pace .
The masked lady's eyes widened in surprise as she saw her sword had missed her target.
She cursed and lunged again—silent, efficient, clearly trained. She wasn't here to make a scene.
She was here to finish a job. A job, she knew if not done, then her life is next.
Kaelith who was still puzzled how he dodged the first blow raised his arms to block this next attack, but he wasn't a fighter.
Not in this life. Not yet, maybe he will get used to everything soon.
Steel clashed.
A rush of sea-blue magic surged through the air—cold and sharp as a wave in winter.
The blade was deflected just inches from Kaelith's chest.
Caelum appeared, he moved like a storm— sudden, fluid, and terrifyingly precise.
He placed himself between Kaelith and the assassin, drawing his golden dagger with ease. The blade shimmered faintly, etched with ancient sea runes.
Caelum clutched the dagger tighter, and it shivered in his hand.
Then, slowly… impossibly… it began to change.
The runes on the dagger's blade flared brighter, spilling light like liquid sapphire. The metal groaned softly as it stretched, growing longer and wider, as if the weapon was waking up from a long sleep.
Water misted around the blade, and tiny sea shells and scales formed along the edges.
The hilt twisted and reshaped into the head of a serpent, with glowing eyes and open fangs that curled around Caelum's fingers.
Within seconds, the small dagger had transformed into a glowing sea-forged sword—powerful and elegant.
Everyone in the ballroom froze.
It felt like the whole room was holding its breath.
All eyes turned toward Kaelith and the man who now stood in front of him.
Caelum wasn't just a prince anymore.
He looked like something more. Stronger. Fiercer.
He stood tall and still, like a wall between Kaelith and the assassin.
His eyes were locked on the attacker, calm but deadly.
Something powerful pulsed from him, like the sea before a great storm.
The assassin didn't move.
She didn't attack.
Not yet.
Because now, she knew… the real threat wasn't Kaelith.
It was the Sea Prince.
And Kaelith…
He stared at Caelum, confused.
This cold, arrogant man had just saved him.
He could have walked away or watched him dying.
But he didn't.
And that small choice…
That single moment…
Made Kaelith see him in a different light.
Even if just a little.
Then the assassin went for Caelum next.
A wild arc of her blade—a poisoned tip meant to kill, not wound.
Caelum ducked. His dagger slashed across her arm. She hissed, stumbling back, blood soaking through her sleeve.
But Caelum didn't wait.
He struck again, fast and merciless by raising his hand calmly.
With a flick of his fingers, water erupted out of the ballroom air, summoned from the moisture itself—fluid, serpentine, deadly.
It twisted midair, shimmering like liquid glass before snapping toward the assassin, coiling around her body with vicious precision.
Like a python crushing its prey, the water wrapped tighter and tighter until her arms froze mid-swing.
Her blade clattered to the ground, She was caught.
But she didn't scream.
She didn't beg.
She didn't speak.
Instead, she turned her face slowly, her soaked hood falling back, revealing sharp eyes filled not with fear…
…but with hatred.
Pure. Focused. Burning hatred.
And all of it aimed directly at Kaelith.
Just at that moment, the assassin began muttering something—fast, frantic, and dangerous.
Caelum's calm expression twitched into a frown, his eyes sharpening.
He knew that chant.
She was casting a spell.
Not at him—he could block that.
The problem was behind him.
Kaelith.
Caelum turned, barely a second to react...
And just like he feared, a massive fireball exploded to life behind him, aimed straight at Kaelith's face.
The assassin laughed.
Loud. Unhinged. Victorious.
Kaelith stood rooted in place, frozen.
His pupils shrank, locked on the blazing inferno racing toward him.
His mind screamed.
'Again? Manh I'm going to die again?'
Time slowed. The flames reflected in his wide eyes.
His breath caught.
'Is this it? Is this how it ends—after everything?'
But then… he raised his arms again to block, eyes squeezed shut, bracing for the end.
Waiting to be crushed.
But instead of pain…
A sudden pulse surged through him.
A violent, untamed force erupted from his palm, wild and blinding.
A shield…no, a barrier of raw magic…burst out, glowing faintly gold and violet, catching the incoming fireball mid-air.
The flames met the shield with a thunderous crack, exploding in a shockwave of heat and light that rattled the nearby walls and sent guests screaming.
The fireball died on impact, scattering embers across the floor that fizzled out instantly.
Silence.
Then gasps.
Kaelith stood frozen, staring at his own trembling hands, now humming with power.
"…What the hell was that?" he breathed, muttering to himself.
Even Caelum's eyes widened slightly, but only for a heartbeat before they narrowed in recognition.
Guards swarmed the floor, swords drawn, rushing toward them.
And with a single blow, he flung the assassin across the room — her body hitting the wall with a bone-cracking thud before slumping to the floor, unconscious
"Get her out of my sight,"
Caelum ordered coldly, the guards nodded immediately, sweat formed on their foreheads.
Then he turned, stepping toward Kaelith.
Kaelith, still frozen in shock, locked eyes with Caelum—and gulped.
The Sea Prince's usual calm, unreadable expression was gone. Replaced by something raw. Unfiltered.
His eyes—those haunting eyes, the color of a dying storm—no longer looked through him like he was nothing. Now, they burned. With fury. With panic. With emotions Kaelith couldn't name.
For the first time, Caelum looked… human.
And Kaelith, unprepared for it, took a slow step back—his breath catching as the weight of that gaze hit him like a coming tempest.
Something inside Caelum had cracked.
And Kaelith could feel it building.
A storm was coming, and this time, it wasn't from the sea.
Kaelith's voice came out barely above a whisper.
"…She was going to kill me."
Caelum didn't hesitate.
"She nearly did."
Kaelith swallowed hard, his throat dry.
"I didn't even I–I didn't see it coming."
His hands trembled as he clenched them into fists.
'What the hell… why am I stuttering?' he thought, eyes flickering towards Prince Caelum.
But his body betrayed him… his voice cracked, his muscles twitched, as if the fear had taken root too deep.
"I did," Caelum said softly, unwavering. "I always do."
Their gazes locked—held—for a beat too long.
Kaelith looked away first. He stared down at his hands, still shaking.
"I could've died," he murmured, more to himself than anyone else.
Caelum stepped closer, his voice gentler now.
"Shhh… don't say that."
He reached up and swept his long Silver hair back with a single motion, composed and powerful.
"Look at the bright side… you didn't die. You saved yourself."
Kaelith gave a short, bitter laugh, the sound thin.
"Saved myself? Right…"
Caelum's expression didn't change, but his voice dropped an octave, quiet and serious.
"You're not allowed to die. Not yet."
Kaelith blinked, caught off guard. "What, because of politics?"
A pause. Then Caelum answered, voice like a vow:
"Because you're my husband now."
The words slammed into Kaelith harder than any blade.
His breath hitched.
His neck burned. His ears flushed a deep shade of red.
He hated how warm it made him feel. How something in him reacted to it, like a bell being rung.
Those words…
The claim.
The threat.
The promise.
They meant something.
Something Kaelith wasn't ready to name.
Something that terrified him…
And thrilled him all the same.