đź“– Chapter 2: The Silent Pact
No one said anything openly.
But everyone in the palace could see it.
The way Crown Prince Kaelith Dravaryn began to change after Selene Viremont arrived. He still wore his usual cold expression. He still walked with the confidence of one born to rule. But there was something different in his eyes—something sharp and quiet that followed only her.
At first, he tolerated her.
Then, he began to prefer her presence. She was the only one he would allow to sit beside him during meals. He began asking her opinion during lessons. Sometimes, when he thought no one was watching, he would turn to look at her—not speak, not interrupt—watch.
Selene noticed. Of course she did.
But she said nothing.
---
By the time spring arrived, they had become inseparable within the palace.
Kaelith began calling her "Sel" when no one else was around. It was rare for him to speak casually with anyone, but when he spoke to her, there was something different in his voice. Softer. Less calculated.
He enjoyed their sword training sessions not for the practice—but for the way she moved. Focused, clean, untouchable. He loved that she never asked for help, never flinched under pressure.
One morning, during breakfast in the royal courtyard, he casually announced, "You will be starting high school this year, right ?"
Selene nodded, glancing up from her tea. "Yes. My tutors have arranged everything."
Selene had never asked for permission.
Not from her parents. Not from the nobles whispering about her growing presence in the palace. And certainly not from Kaelith.
So when the letter of acceptance from the Astoria Academy of Global Excellence arrived—a prestigious school overseas, known for its elite international programs—she accepted it without a second thought.
She was leaving in two weeks.
The day she told him, it was raining.
They stood beneath the old willow in the palace gardens, the one place neither of them had ever been followed. The sky hung low with clouds, mist curling around the marble columns.
Kaelith said nothing at first.
Then, in a quiet voice, he asked, "Why?"
Selene looked up, unfazed. "It's a better education. More open-minded instructors. Better connections for the future."
"You don't need any of that."
She raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"
"Because I will be Emperor."
That made her blink.
There it was—his arrogance again, sharp as ever—but behind it, something unfamiliar. Something fragile. Unspoken. Almost desperate.
Selene sighed. "You don't own me, Kaelith."
A flicker of emotion crossed his face—gone too quickly to name.
Then he turned his back on her and said, "If you leave, don't come back."
That night, she didn't sleep.
The next morning, her parents received a royal letter marked in crimson wax.
> "Lady Selene Viremont's overseas enrollment is to be rescinded immediately by imperial order. She is to be enrolled at Dravaryn Imperial Academy, First Year Division, effective this term."
> — Emperor Valmyr Dravaryn
When she stormed into his study the next day, he was seated at his desk, casually flipping pages of an ancient war treatise.
"You sent an order in your own name?" she snapped.
He didn't look up. "Yes."
"Why?"
Now he looked at her. Not annoyed. Not cold. Just honest.
"I don't like people taking what's mine."
---
Dravaryn Imperial Academy was the most prestigious school in the empire, its towering spires carved from white marble and veined with obsidian. The walls were lined with magic-forged stone, whispering ancient power even in silence. Students from noble families, high-ranking officials, and chosen elites filled its halls.
Selena walked through them like a ghost.
The heir to Viremont Dukedom — the only vampire-born noble girl in a human-dominated society — had already drawn enough attention just by arriving.
But the rumours spread faster once the Crown Prince appeared beside her.
He walked with her in silence on the first day. Always a few steps ahead or beside. Eyes fixed forward. Not a word spoken.
And yet… everyone noticed.
The Crown Prince, who barely tolerated anyone in his presence, was watching her. Closely. Like a hawk. Like a shadow. Like she might vanish again if he looked away.
Selena noticed too — and she hated it.
In class, she took a seat in the middle row, far from the one always reserved for the imperial heir.
During sword training, she volunteered for solo drills to avoid being paired with him.
At lunch, she ate with no one. Not because she was isolated, but because she chose solitude.
Kaelith said nothing… but she could feel it. The way his eyes lingered on her when she wasn't looking. The short, silent pauses when he passed her in the corridor. The occasional presence of his guards at a distance, watching her like they had orders.
One evening, after dusk, she was reading in the library when he finally said something.
"I don't like this."
She didn't look up from her book. "Then stop watching me."
"You're avoiding me."
Now she met his gaze — cool, unreadable. "Yes."
He stepped closer. "Why?"
Her voice was calm, like always. "Because being close to you has consequences."
"You're not afraid of me."
"No. But I am careful."
Kaelith was quiet for a long moment.
Then, with a tone far softer than before, he asked, "Do you hate me now?"
Selena closed her book gently and stood up.
"I don't hate you, your highness" she said, brushing past him. "But I don't trust you either."
And with that, she walked away — again.
He didn't follow.
But that night, as he stood alone on the balcony of his chamber, Kaelith whispered into the wind:
"Then I'll make you trust me. Whatever it takes."
Selena never called him Kaelith.
Not once.
Even now, months into their time at the academy, she still bowed her head lightly and murmured,
"Your Highness,"
With that same measured tone — cool, emotionless, distant.
He'd watched other girls stumble over his name, trying too hard to impress him. He'd heard teachers fumble into flattery, nobles and officials fall over themselves just to get a look of approval.
But her?
She never sought his attention.
She never asked for favours
She never once broke her composure.
Even when Kaelith, out of nowhere, would appear beside her in the academy gardens and say things like:
> "You look better with your hair down."
"You read too much."
"Why won't you look at me when I talk to you?"
She would pause, glance at him for half a second, and respond with quiet disinterest:
"I have a class, I'll take my leave, Your Highness."
It wasn't coldness, exactly.
It was indifference.
She was careful to never linger in crowds. Selena preferred silence and open places — the edge of the garden near the eastern wall, the upper floor of the library, where almost no one visited, and her own dorm room. She rarely joined social events. If forced to attend, she stayed in the background, far from the centre where Kaelith always stood like the sun.
Once, during a spring evening celebration on the school terrace, he spotted her from across the ballroom. She was standing under a white blossom tree, sipping from a glass of juice she hadn't touched.
He made his way to her, ignoring everyone who tried to stop him. The music faded in his ears as he reached her.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
Selena didn't even glance at him. "Attendance was compulsory."
"I thought you hated crowds."
"I do."
"Then why are you still standing here?"
"Because it's better here than there "
Kaelith look at her for a while and asks "Let's dance I want to dance with you,"
Selena, with plain emotionless face decline by saying, "You are the crown prince, your highness. Dancing with me is not good for your reputation " By saying this she left.
There was silence. A charged, breathless moment. Then she turned and walked past him, leaving only the faintest trail of perfume and frost behind.
Kaelith stood still.
Even when surrounded by light and laughter and power, he felt alone — except when she was near.
"Why won't you call me by my name?" he once asked her.
She had looked up from her book, the same unreadable expression on her face.
"Because that would mean we're close. And we're not."
He didn't respond.
But inside, something violent stirred.
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