Frelis casually raised her hand to her earlobe, feigning concern over a misplaced earring.

The setting sun dissolved into molten gold, its rays slanting through rose bushes to cast long shadows across the garden.


Leon emerged from behind a flowering hedge, closing the distance between them in three swift strides before seizing her wrist in an iron grip.

"Do you enjoy making a fool of me?" His voice dropped to a menacing whisper. "Aren't you afraid I'll tell my brother about our... history?"

Frelis met his gaze coolly and yanked her hand free.


"What exactly is there between us?" Her lips curved into a mocking smile. "And who do you think he'll believe—his beloved new bride, or his scheming brother with a reputation for lies?"

Leon's fingernails bit into his palms, drawing blood.


Frelis calmly smoothed the wrinkles from her sleeve, as if brushing away an insignificant insect.

That evening's banquet glittered under crystal chandeliers, the light almost blinding in its opulence.

When servants presented the salmon in herb sauce, Frelis spoke, her voice carrying across the table:

"Hard, this fish has so many tiny bones. Would you mind?"

The great hall fell instantly silent, conversations dying mid-word.

Ludwig merely smiled, taking her plate with practiced ease. He methodically removed every bone from the salmon, even peeled her shrimp, before returning the plate to her.

Nobles exchanged startled glances, astonished to witness such tenderness from their notoriously aloof Crown Prince.

Frelis caught Leon watching from the corner, then leaned toward Ludwig's ear. With deliberate movements that only Leon could read, she mouthed each syllable clearly:

Your-brother-is-obsessed-with-me.

Leon's grip on his wine glass tightened until veins bulged across his knuckles, the crimson liquid swirling violently within.

After the banquet concluded, Frelis walked alone through the palace corridors.

Moonlight streamed through stained glass windows, painting kaleidoscope patterns across the marble floor.

A figure lurched from behind a column, blocking her path. Leon stood swaying, the stench of wine rolling off him in waves.

"Why?" His voice rasped like broken glass. "How dare he! How dare he take what's mine?"

He stumbled forward, wine fumes nearly suffocating as he invaded her space. "Do you truly feel nothing for me? Nothing at all?"

Frelis remained silent, observing his unraveling with clinical detachment.

"When I first noticed you," she finally said, her tone conversational yet devastating, "it wasn't because you were special. It was because your eyes reminded me of your brother's."

"From beginning to end, you were merely a substitute."

Leon went rigid, as if turned to stone.

"Didn't you say something similar about my eyes?" Frelis continued with a cruel smile. "Like Venetian glass—fragile yet captivating?"

In one violent motion, Leon lunged forward and ripped the jeweled hairpin from her coiffure.

"What about now?" he roared, raising the pin's sharp end to his face and slashing a jagged line beneath his own eye.

"Do they still look the same now?"

Blood welled instantly, streaming down his cheek in crimson rivulets.

"Please..." His voice cracked as his knees buckled. "Look at me just once more..." He collapsed to the floor.

Blood and tears mingled, spattering across the cold marble in a widening dark pool.

Frelis never lowered her gaze.