Yena stood once more at the threshold of the eastern wing, her pulse drumming in her ears. This time, she wasn't just nervous: she was terrified.
There was a body.
There was a ghost.
And now, the cursed Crown Prince was summoning her again.
The same silent guard opened the door. This time, he didn't speak. Just a nod, and the heavy door creaked open to reveal a dimly lit chamber scented with sandalwood and smoke.
Prince Joon sat by a low table, sleeves rolled up, fingers idly tracing patterns in the ash of a small incense burner. He didn't look up.
"You saw him, didn't you?" he asked quietly.
Yena hesitated. "Saw who, Your Highness?"
He looked up, eyes sharp. "The eunuch. In the pond."
She swallowed. "Yes. I mean… I saw the body."
"I meant the ghost."
Silence.
Yena didn't answer, but her hands gave her away. She clenched them to stop the shaking.
Joon nodded slowly. "Good. Then we don't have time to pretend anymore."
He stood, walking to a scroll-covered cabinet, and pulled something out. A small talisman burnt at the edges, the ink barely readable.
"This was found in the eunuch's chamber," he said. "It's a curse mark. A silencing spell. Only someone with spiritual sight can decode it. You."
Yena stepped back. "I'm not..... I never asked to be involved in any of this."
"You were born involved," Joon replied, voice cold but steady. "You can hear them. That makes you either an asset… or a liability."
Her heart thudded. "So what are you going to do?"
He paused, eyes locking with hers.
"That depends on whether I believe you'll help me."
Yena forced herself to meet his gaze. "And if I don't?"
His reply was quiet. "Then I'll protect the throne. At any cost."
Yena clenched her jaw. "Why me? There are temple shamans far more experienced."
"They are watched," he said. "You are invisible. And right now, I need someone who can walk unseen."
He handed her the burned talisman.
"Read it. Find out who sent it. Before another body shows up in my palace."
Yena stared at the talisman. The writing on it looked like a language only shadows understood. It pulsed faintly against her skin, as if alive.
Her throat was dry. "And if I can't?"
Joon's voice was quiet but sharp. "Then you're no longer useful to me. And the court doesn't tolerate the useless."
She looked up at him, anger flaring through her fear. "You sound just like them."
He didn't blink. "I am what this place made me."
Yena tucked the talisman into her sleeve.
"I'll read it," she said. "But not for you. For the eunuch. For the ghost that begged me not to let him be forgotten."
A beat passed. Then Joon said, "Careful, Yena. That kind of heart will get you killed in this palace."
She turned to leave.
"Maybe," she said, without looking back. "But it'll make me human."
And the door closed behind her.