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After the dance ended, Eliana slipped gracefully away from the crowd, moving toward him where he stood alone near the balcony, far from everyone's eyes. Her heart was pounding violently—every dream she had lived since touching the Black Rose had led her to this moment.
"Hello… I didn't expect to see you here… alone," Eliana said, trying to make her voice sound calm, though she was slightly trembling.
Kaelan looked at her with indifference, cold and detached. "Why are you here? Do you think you can just stare at me like that?"
And inside, he muttered with contempt: "What is this spoiled princess thinking? Does she believe I would care? I'm the son of a concubine… no one in this hall gives a damn about me, so why approach me like this?"
Eliana smiled shyly, though he didn't notice, and said softly: "I couldn't wait… I just wanted to hear your voice, to know you more…"
Kaelan let out a short, sharp laugh. "Know me? You know nothing about me… perhaps you only see me in your dreams, isn't that right?"
Inside, he sneered: "Her obsession with me is obvious… this might be useful later."
Eliana didn't flinch. She smiled and said: "Maybe I do dream… but my heart knows what it wants…"
Kaelan looked at her for a moment, then turned his gaze back to the sea behind him, trying to hide any reaction. But something inside him stirred—her obsession wasn't just flattering to his ambition… it could be a dangerous tool to achieve something far greater.
"Tell me…" he finally said, his voice calm but laced with mockery,
"Don't you realize this is nothing but a social obligation? Our kingdoms are enemies. I do not care for any French princess."
Eliana smiled gently, as if she didn't understand his mockery—or was deliberately ignoring it. "Maybe… but I don't care about politics right now. I just want to see you."
Kaelan looked at her again, then closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of his plan: "If I use this obsession properly, she could become a tool… something I could shape for my ambition… to claim what my elder brothers denied me."
This meeting was nothing more than the beginning of a game—a game between obsession and control, between one-sided love and calculated mystery, and between the social and political tensions that would one day shape the great conflict between them.
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