Daniel’s POV
The palace changed overnight.
I felt it the moment I stepped out of my quarters the next morning—the air became heavier, and sharper, like a blade drawn halfway from its sheath. Conversations stopped when I passed. Eyes lingered too long. Whispers crawled along the corridors like insects hiding in cracks.
They knew something was wrong.
Not the truth—not yet—but enough to smell blood.
I kept my head down and my stride steady, reminding myself with every step: You are Daniel. You are a man. You belong here. But my pulse betrayed me, racing wildly beneath my ribs, especially when I remembered the way Arthur’s lips had pressed against mine the night before.
That kiss had not stayed hidden.
Nothing ever did in this palace.
By the time I reached the kitchen, the tension had
