The palace glittered under the soft glow of the moonlight, but the walls had never felt colder to Liana. The deeper she slipped into her new identity, the more suffocating the crown of lies pressed against her skull. Her heart beat a little too fast as she walked beside Leonidas down the winding corridor, lined with columns and silver-tinted mirrors that reflected a woman she barely recognized.
"You're unusually quiet tonight," Leonidas said without looking at her. His voice was low, measured, and far too observant.
"I thought you liked me better that way," she replied with a wry smirk.
He stopped walking, forcing her to halt too. "I like knowing what game my bride is playing. Silence makes you unpredictable."
Liana tilted her head. "And I thought unpredictability was the kind of challenge you enjoyed."
Leonidas's eyes narrowed. He leaned closer, the air between them growing heavy. "I enjoy control, princess. Especially over things that are mine."
Liana swallowed hard. "I'm not a possession, Leonidas."
"No," he murmured, brushing a finger along her jaw. "You're something far more dangerous than that."
Their gazes locked — fire to fire, truth to masked truth.
But before either could speak again, a sharp knock echoed from the far end of the corridor. One of Leonidas's guards approached, his expression tense.
"My Lord, there's someone requesting a private audience. He claims to have information on the Queen's assassin… and a connection to the Valerius bloodline."
Liana's blood went cold. The Valerius bloodline.
Leonidas straightened, every muscle in his body tensing like a lion ready to pounce. "Where is he?"
"In the underground chamber. He refused to speak to anyone but you."
Leonidas turned to Liana. "Return to your chambers."
"No," she said quickly. "If this concerns the Queen's assassination and the bloodline… I need to be there."
For a moment, he looked like he might argue — but something in her eyes stilled his tongue.
"Very well. Stay behind me. And don't speak unless spoken to."
---
The Underground Chamber
The stone staircase spiraled downward beneath the palace, into the cold-blooded past of the royal family — the dungeon rebranded as an "archive." But tonight, it was something darker.
Liana stepped into the chamber and instantly felt the shift in atmosphere. A cloaked man stood at the center, bound by two guards. His face was hidden beneath a hood, but the air around him radiated menace and madness.
Leonidas approached with slow, deliberate steps. "Speak."
The man lifted his head just enough to show the gleam of a scar running across his jaw. "I served under King Valerius himself. And I know who wears the blood of the last true heir."
Liana's chest tightened. She had spent years erasing that name from her past. And now, here it was again… dragging her back.
Leonidas's voice was like a blade. "Then name them."
The man's lips twisted into a grin. "Information has a price. I'll trade the name for a guarantee of safety — and coin. A lot of coin."
Leonidas didn't blink. "If the name is valuable enough, you'll have both."
The man looked past him, straight at Liana. "Then we have a deal, Your Majesty. Because the blood you're looking for… is standing in this room."
Every heartbeat seemed to stop.
Leonidas turned toward Liana slowly, disbelief and suspicion darkening his expression. "What is he talking about?"
Liana's throat was dry. Her voice cracked. "He's lying."
But the man laughed, unbothered. "She's not just your bride. She's the last surviving heir of House Valerius — the very bloodline your family tried to erase."
Leonidas was silent, unreadable.
"You want the real crown?" the man rasped. "She already wears it. And you — you married into it."
---
After the Firestorm
The room was cleared, the traitor taken into solitary confinement. But the damage had been done.
Leonidas stood in front of Liana in his private chamber, his jaw clenched, eyes stormy. "You said your family was lost in the border war."
"They were," she said softly. "But not in the way I told you."
He took a step closer. "So it's true? You're Valerius?"
"I was six when the massacre happened. My father tried to flee with me. Only a few loyalists helped us escape. We changed our name. I became Liana Noir."
Leonidas's hands curled into fists. "You've lied to me since the beginning."
"So have you!" she snapped. "You married me to control the East. To destroy my people from within."
A bitter laugh escaped him. "And here I thought I was taming a fox, not marrying a sleeping lioness."
They stared at each other, rage and longing tangled like vines around a blade.
"You used me," he said, voice lower now.
"And you used me," she whispered. "Maybe we're perfect for each other."
---
Meanwhile, in the Shadows…
Deep in the city's underbelly, a figure watched the palace walls through a cracked window. A tattoo of a burning crown coiled on his forearm.
"She's been found," the man muttered.
Another voice behind him chuckled. "Then it's time to move. The real war starts now."