[Osric's POV—Imperial Palace—Afternoon]
The afternoon sun spilled across the marble of the imperial palace, turning the dewdrops clinging to the hedges into scattered gems. My steps were measured, but my mind was elsewhere—on the reason I was heading to His Majesty's office.
And then I saw her.
Lavinia walked out of the room, arms stretching lazily as if shaking off the weight of the work. A soft, almost petulant mumble left her lips—
"Papa is torturing his precious daughter…"
She looked so careless. So unaware. So infuriatingly unserious. Yet every time I looked at her, I saw something more. Something… dangerous to me.
Her crimson eyes—bright, vivid, and brimming with life—caught the light, and I felt myself drown in them all over again. Her golden hair, tumbling in gentle curls down her back, glimmered as though even the sun had conceded she was the brighter of the two.
