Morning sunlight spilled through the tall arched windows of the academy's main lecture hall, the kind of light that made every polished surface gleam. The air was already thick with chatter, students filling the seats in a loose crowd while a few lingered against the marble pillars. The lecture wouldn't begin for another fifteen minutes, but everyone seemed to be waiting for something more interesting than an early history lesson.
Kai could feel the stares long before he even reached the front row. Whispers slid through the air like invisible threads, weaving a tapestry of rumor around him. His bathhouse encounter with Lily was no longer just his memory—it had been transformed into a dozen exaggerated versions, each more scandalous than the last.
He didn't look at anyone directly, just slid into his seat and set his notebook down with deliberate calm. The corner of his mouth curved upward in a faint, almost careless smirk. He knew better than to feed the gossip.
But Seraphina, it seemed, had other plans.
The doors at the back of the hall opened, and the room shifted—literally. Students straightened in their seats, voices dropping to a hum. The crown princess didn't walk so much as glide forward, a perfect picture of poise in her deep crimson uniform jacket and the faintest scent of roses trailing behind her. Her gaze swept the room, sharp and assessing, until it settled on him.
For a moment, she simply watched him, and he met her eyes with unblinking calm. Her perfectly neutral expression didn't falter, but there was a flicker there—something halfway between curiosity and irritation.
She didn't take her usual seat. Instead, she stepped forward, her heels clicking against the polished floor until she was standing just beside his desk.
"Kai," she said, her voice smooth but carrying that quiet edge only royalty seemed capable of. "I've been hearing… interesting things about you."
The nearby students leaned forward subtly, pretending to read their notes but clearly waiting for the exchange to unfold.
Kai leaned back in his chair slightly, letting his gaze drift up to hers without any hint of deference. "Only interesting things?" he asked lightly. "That's disappointing."
A few muffled laughs rippled through the room. Seraphina's eyes narrowed by a fraction, but she didn't rise to the bait. Instead, she placed one gloved hand on the corner of his desk and leaned in just enough that her words would carry to the rows immediately behind them.
"It's rare for someone… unremarkable to become the center of so many whispers in such a short time. I find myself wondering if you're truly capable, or if you're simply… good at creating noise."
Her tone was perfectly even, but the implication was sharp enough to cut. The remark was bait, crafted to make him flinch or defend himself.
Kai tilted his head slightly, studying her. She was every inch the dignified princess—calm, confident, certain of her own superiority. But beneath that carefully composed exterior, he could see it: the smallest fracture in her certainty. This wasn't just about idle curiosity. She was testing him, measuring the man she'd decided needed to be "put in his place."
He smiled—not mockingly, but with a slow, deliberate warmth that was almost more provoking. "If you're that curious," he said, "why not see for yourself?"
The words weren't loud, but they carried just enough weight to make the nearby audience stir. The meaning wasn't vulgar, yet the subtle suggestion in his tone gave the impression it could be.
Seraphina's lips parted slightly in a breath she didn't take. Her eyes narrowed again, but the faintest flush touched the edge of her cheeks—a detail most people would miss, but Kai saw it instantly.
She straightened, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear with a controlled motion. "Perhaps I will," she said, her voice as smooth as glass, though there was a thin crack of heat beneath it now. "I imagine it won't take long to prove which of us is mistaken."
"Careful," Kai replied, his tone low enough to be intimate yet clear enough for the eavesdroppers to catch. "You might discover something you weren't prepared for."
That earned him an unmistakable spark in her eyes—a mixture of challenge and something far more dangerous.
Before she could answer, the professor entered the hall, clearing his throat and calling the class to order. Seraphina gave Kai one last lingering look before turning to take her seat. But instead of returning to her usual place several rows away, she sat directly behind him.
The rest of the lecture might as well have been silence for all Kai paid attention. He could feel her presence like a current just behind his shoulder, a faint warmth that made the air between them strangely charged. Every so often, he caught the subtle sound of her pen scratching across parchment, or the delicate shift of her chair when she crossed her legs.
By the time the lecture ended, the hall was buzzing with the energy of what everyone had just witnessed.
Seraphina rose smoothly, adjusting her gloves, and then stepped close once more. "We'll speak again soon," she said, her voice low enough to feel almost personal. And then, without waiting for a reply, she walked out, her hair catching the light in a gleam of gold.
Kai watched her go, the faintest smirk returning to his lips. He didn't need to chase her. She'd already made the first move—whether she realized it or not.
Outside the lecture hall, Seraphina's measured stride didn't slow, but her mind was far from calm. She had approached intending to unsettle him, to assert her position before he could become a nuisance. Instead, she had left with her own pulse a little too quick, the memory of his voice lingering like a whisper in her ear.
And that, she decided, was something she would have to correct.