The palace was not meant to breathe at night.
Yet Viviana could have sworn the marble walls watched her as she hurried down the dim corridor, lantern trembling in her grasp.
The hour was forbidden for servants. The silence felt… aware.
She should not have been there.
A shadow separated itself from the darkness ahead.
"And who," a low voice murmured, smooth as drawn steel, "gave you permission to roam my halls at this hour?"
She froze.
Moonlight spilled across him as he stepped forward, and the air shifted.
Prince Khaos.
Power did not announce him .... it settled. Heavy. Commanding. Absolute.
Viviana lowered her head instinctively. "Y-Your Highness… I was delayed in the lower wing. I was only returning to my quarters."
Her voice betrayed her. It shook.
He did not answer immediately.
His gaze drifted downward.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
It traced the faint scratches along her arm. The tear in her sleeve. The thin streak of red near her collarbone.
His expression did not change.
But something in his eyes sharpened.
When his gaze finally lifted to her face, she felt it, the full weight of it.
Not excluding Khaos
Her green eyes caught the moonlight, luminous against the dark corridor.
And the lantern reflecting both their shadows on the floor.
Fear trembled within them… yet something else flickered there too. Something unyielding.
His stare lingered.
Too long.
They were striking. Unusually so. Not soft. Not dull.
Alluring.
Dangerous in their own quiet way.
"Delayed," he repeated.
He began walking toward her.
Viviana stepped back.
"One does not wander after curfew without consequence," he said evenly. "Curiosity often gets one killed."
Another step.
She retreated.
"And so does disobedience."
Her back met wood.
A door.
Her pulse thundered.
He stopped inches from her. Close enough for her to see the faint unnatural sheen lining his pupils, something not entirely pure glinting beneath restraint.
He lifted one hand.
She gasped when his palm came down beside her head.
Then the other.
He caged her in, one hand curling around the door handle.
The space between them tightened.
His presence was not loud. Not frantic.
It was controlled.
That was what made it terrifying.
His eyes dipped to hers again, searching, as if trying to read what kind of trouble she carried into his palace.
Without warning, he twisted the handle.
The door swung open.
Viviana stumbled backward with a startled cry, losing her balance. She hit the floor hard, pain jolting from her lower back up to her skull.
The lantern slipped from her fingers, its flame flickering wildly.
She inhaled, ready to cry out....
"Shhh."
The single sound was quiet.
Commanding.
She looked up at him with tears clouding her eyes as he stood straight.
The door shut, plunging her into darkness.
Outside, Prince Khaos remained where he stood.
Footsteps approached quickly.
A palace guard rounded the corner and immediately dropped into a deep bow.
"Your Highness."
Khaos did not turn.
"I was patrolling, Your Highness," the man continued. "Ensuring no one is outside past curfew. There have been… movements in the night."
Khaos' gaze remained forward, cold and unreadable.
"There is no one here," he said.
The guard stiffened.
For a brief second, he glanced around as though uncertain. Then he bowed even lower.
"Yes, Your Highness."
He turned away swiftly and only once he was out of sight did he release a quiet breath of relief.
Khaos stood motionless for several seconds more.
Then, slowly, his head turned.
His gaze settled on the closed door.
On the girl hidden behind it.
Something unreadable flickered across his features.
Not mercy.
Something else.
Then he turned and disappeared into the shadows, leaving the corridor as silent as before.