The wind in the air felt like it was choking every corner of the garden.
The clouds, which had once illuminated their path, were slowly swallowing the moon.
It was clear that the dark moment was approaching.
As they neared the back corridor of the palace, Selene felt a shiver run down her spine. She couldn't tell if it was the cold… or the presence that seemed to have followed them out of the shadows.
A faint sound, like the snap of a tree branch. Kael stopped. His eyes blazed with alertness.
"Selene, behind me. Now."
She didn't ask questions. She gripped the edge of Kael's coat and followed quickly. But before they could move, a body suddenly dropped from the olive tree above—like a ghost in the night—silent, without warning.
An assassin. Dressed in black from head to toe, wearing a mask, and holding a curved dagger that gleamed under the moonlight.
"Kael!" Selene screamed, her voice trembling.
"Don't get closer," Kael ordered firmly, not looking back.
In an instant, the two shadows collided, each movement fast and fluid. The assassin, like a predator in the wild, always evading, each attack precise. Kael, silent but fierce. Every move was purposeful, disciplined..
The assassin's dagger clashed with Kael's small combat knife. The sound of metal breaking rang out, synchronized with their movements. Kael's eyes remained sharp as his body helped guide every strike, like a machine that knew the right step.
In the next second, Kael's elbow hit the assassin's jaw, quickly followed by a low kick that sent the man tumbling into the grass.
Before the assassin could recover, Kael kicked him in the side, then unleashed a powerful punch that sent the enemy flying away, crashing into the low garden wall.
But instead of losing consciousness, the assassin stood up again.
"This isn't just a regular follower…" Kael said, his steps slow as he moved toward the opponent, his gaze never leaving him. "This one's trained. An assassin skilled in takedown missions. Precision hits. Not random. Not solo."
"Kael… how many are there?" Selene asked, her voice barely a whisper, her fingers trembling as she searched for answers in Kael's eyes.
One thing was certain—there was no escape. But the weight of those words was heavier than the weight of her world.
"I don't know." A truth colder than the night wind.
Behind the assassin's mask, Selene saw a pair of eyes—sharp, emotionless—like a venomous snake waiting for the perfect moment to strike. But as she avoided the assassin's gaze, she realized this wasn't just an ordinary attack; someone was controlling it—a command that never rested. And amid the tension, one thing was clear: they wanted to kill her.
In a quick dash, the assassin attacked again, his body low, like a panther ready to leap. But Kael was faster.
The bodyguard slid on the grass, his feet slipping beneath the assassin's, and in one swift move, he locked the assassin's arm in a tight arm lock.
For a few seconds, they exchanged blows—hits and near-stabs that missed by mere inches.
Until the assassin made one wrong move. And that was all Kael needed. A single arm lock. A sharp crack. The man fell.
Kael didn't move.
"Dead?" Selene asked, barely breathing.
Kael shook his head. "I didn't intend to kill him. I want to ask him something."
But before Kael could approach the man, a sharp gunshot echoed—a sniper shot from an unseen direction.
The assassin was struck in the head. Dead on the spot.
Selene screamed, the sound of her cry cut short before she could even process what had happened.
Her world stopped. It felt like the breath had been knocked out of her from the speed of everything.
She staggered back, her hands shaking, her mind still scrambling to catch up with the events unfolding so quickly.
Everything seemed to rise from the darkness, and in that moment, death was almost within reach, as if it could touch her at any moment.
Kael cursed under his breath, grabbing her wrist again.
"They're cleaning the house. They don't want anyone to speak."
"So what now?!" Selene shouted, fear and shock wrapping around her like a tight, suffocating blanket.
Kael looked at her, his jaw clenched tight.
"Now we run again. But this time... we're not just running for safety. We're running to find out the truth."
And in the dead of night, as the shadows quietly trailed their path, the real game of hiding... and hunting for traitors within the palace began.
Kael slammed the door to Selene's room shut. The heavy sound of the lock was like a bell tolling—this was not music of safety. It was a temporary silence before the storm would rage again.
Inside the room, behind the marble walls and gold-accented curtains, what was once a den of luxury now became a prison of quiet dread, whispers of suspicion, and questions buried beneath a veil of silence.
Breathing heavily, drenched in sweat, Selene let go of Kael's arm. Her fingers trembled. Her chest felt like it was being hammered by the frantic beat of her heart. She still couldn't fully process everything that had happened.
"This can't be..." she whispered, her voice barely audible, swallowed by the stillness of the room. Her tone was weak, like waves kissing the shore before vanishing into the vast ocean. "No one wants me dead... not here, not in the palace," she said—but even she wasn't sure of her own words anymore.
Slowly, she shrugged off her cloak, a deep sigh filled with fear and denial escaping her. She tossed it onto the bed, as if releasing a nightmare she didn't want to embrace. But as the cloak fell, a small piece of paper slid out and landed on the floor.
She frowned slightly, leaning down to pick it up.
"What's this?" she asked, a cold sense of dread suddenly gnawing at her chest as she held the paper.
Kael moved closer, slowly. He paused for a moment before his cold gaze fixed on the paper, scrutinizing it like it held the answers to everything.
The paper was folded, so Selene opened it. The ink was black, the handwriting refined, as though it were a secret that no one should ever read.
In rough handwriting, the warning was clear:
The most dangerous enemy is your ally.
Her body stiffened. The air seemed to freeze.
It felt like a chill had passed over her neck—not from the outside, but from within. The message carried weight, as if it had long been hiding a danger waiting to surface.
"Kael..." Selene's voice was hoarse and trembling. "Why is this in my cloak? Whose hand left this?"
Kael took the paper, and for a moment, he transformed into an investigator. His eyes searched for clues, his mind rapidly calculating possibilities.
"It wasn't here earlier. That means it was slipped in while we were running."
He glanced at the door, at the window, at every shadow shifting in the curtains.
"And if what this says is true..." He took a deep breath. "We're not safe anymore. Not even here."
"Kael, what do you mean?" Selene asked, her voice filled with confusion.
He turned to face the princess, his eyes steady and cold, yet beneath that gaze, a fire smoldered, burning unseen.
"From now on, you can only trust yourself. You have no idea who in this palace has dark intentions."
Selene swallowed hard. Her trust in familiar faces slowly crumbled—those guards who saluted her every time she passed, the attendants who styled her hair, the laughter around the dinner table… even the palace, which had been her home all her life.
"B-But Kael... this letter feels familiar. I feel like I've seen it before."
Still holding the paper, she strained to recall the hazy memories of the past. The letters seemed to hum, as if drawn from a dream… or a nightmare.
Kael fell silent. He walked over to the window, and in the moonlight, he read the letter once more. A brief stillness.
"Our enemy is the shadow," he whispered. "And you won't feel it... until it catches you."
"So, what now?" Selene asked, her voice low but firm. "What's the next move if I no longer know who I can trust?"
Kael's gaze locked onto hers. And in that look, he didn't just see a princess, but a woman slowly awakening to the game that had been unfolding around her all this time.
"Trust me," Kael said. "Even if you don't know me. Even if I'm not part of your world." He stepped closer. His eyes seemed to hold secrets he had long kept buried. Every step was heavy, but his gaze, though hard, carried a deep understanding that spoke more than his words ever could. "Because the world you knew? It's shattered. From now on, it's no longer about gold or titles. Your life is the price, Selene."
Fear surged in her chest. His words were like a blade, repeatedly piercing her heart—not deep, but enough to make it bleed.
And for the first time, she was afraid to smile back at the world—perhaps because that was the signal of her end.
Selene sat at the edge of the bed, holding her chest. It felt as though she carried a weight too heavy for any words to measure.
Kael stood by the door. One hand clenched into a fist, while the other rested on his belt, where a gun and combat knife were strapped to his belt. Despite his best efforts to stay calm, the tension in his posture was unmistakable. It was as though he were sizing something up—not just the room, but Selene herself.
"Kael…" Selene called softly as she rose to her feet. Her voice was laced with doubt, but beneath the fear, a quiet courage was stirring in her heart. "Why are you saving me?"
Kael lifted his gaze and met her eyes. He looked at her steadily, a gaze strong enough to shatter the silence. A look that was unused to revealing emotions.
"Is this just your job?" Selene's question was softer, as if afraid of the answer she might receive.
For a moment, Kael remained silent. It was as though he were weighing which was safer—the truth, or the lie with no complications. The light from the chandelier hit his serious face, and in that instant, Selene saw something more than just a soldier or a guard.
There was depth. There was a secret. There was a wound.
Kael moved closer. Slowly.
One step. Two.
Until there was no distance left between them, only the heat of their breaths and the tension in the air.
"I don't know if it's just a job…" Kael's voice was soft yet firm. "…or if there's something more."
Selene gasped.
She didn't know whether to be afraid, relieved, or even more lost in herself. Kael's presence seemed to stretch into every corner of her being. From the moment they first met, there was an unusual tension, like the light of day before a storm.
Kael's gaze wasn't sharp anymore. It softened beneath the hard mask he wore. There was hurt. There was concern. And there was a feeling he hadn't yet spoken.
"Why?" Selene asked. "What's—"
Kael took her arm, not roughly, not gently, but with a strength that offered protection and a promise that wouldn't break.
"From now on," Kael said, his face close to hers, his breath almost slightly touching her cheek. "Don't stay away from me."
Selene swallowed hard.
"Why—"
""Because you might not be able to survive the night that's coming."