The palace had not yet fully settled after the quiet stirrings of the previous night, but tonight, a small gala was in motion — an intimate gathering of carefully selected guests, their laughter and whispers blending with the soft clink of crystal glasses. I stayed near the balcony, trying to focus on the polished marble and gilded railings, yet my thoughts kept drifting to the shadow I had sensed before.
Even amidst the soft glow of chandeliers, I could feel the presence again — deliberate, silent, impossible to ignore. Rumors of him had already started circling quietly through the gala: the man whose very name commanded fear and respect, who moved like a ghost, yet left traces in every corner he touched.
The steward's words from earlier replayed in my mind: "He's back… the one no one dares approach."
I shivered, wrapping my shawl tighter around my shoulders, though the night was mild. Moonlight spilled across the garden below, casting long shadows that seemed almost alive. A soft movement between the hedges caught my eye. Not a servant, not an animal — something deliberate.
I leaned closer to the balcony railing, my pulse fluttering. And then, from the edge of the garden, a figure emerged — tall, silent, and commanding. I could not see his face clearly, but his aura was undeniable: magnetic, dangerous, impossible to ignore. My instincts screamed at me to retreat, yet I stayed, drawn by a pull I neither wanted nor could resist.
The gala continued, voices and music floating softly from the grand hall, yet I felt as if I were suspended outside it, in a space where only he existed. Every creak of the marble floors, every rustle of silk gowns, only heightened the tension that coiled in my chest.
And then, as suddenly as he had appeared, he vanished into the shadows. My breath caught. The pull lingered, stronger now, threading through my thoughts and into the quiet of the palace night. I had no name, no understanding of who he truly was, yet a tether had already been tied. Something unspoken, dark, and inevitable.
By the time the gala's final guests departed and the palace quieted, I remained on the balcony. The night had not revealed his secrets, but it had promised that the world beyond the walls — the shadows, the underground, the danger — was not far away. And I realized, with a shiver of anticipation and fear, that my life had already begun its slow descent into a world I could not yet name, but could no longer ignore.