The Enemy’s Beloved 🖤

HIS POV :- The night was supposed to be ordinary. At least, that was what I had believed. The royal palace was quieter than usual. Most of the guests had already left the grand hall, and the music that had filled the corridors for hours had finally faded into silence. I stood near the balcony, staring at the moonlit gardens below. The celebration had never interested me. Too many people. Too many fake smiles. Too many eyes watching every move I made. Being a king meant learning how to hide everything. Anger. Weakness. Fear. Even loneliness. Especially loneliness. I took a slow breath and loosened the collar of my black coat. Then I saw her. For a moment, I thought she was only a shadow beneath the silver moonlight. A woman standing alone near the garden fountain. She wasn't dressed like the other guests. No extravagant jewels. No group of servants following her. No guards surrounding her. She simply stood there, looking up at the sky as if she had forgotten the world existed. Something about her caught my attention. I didn't know why. I should have walked away. Instead, I kept watching. She turned slightly. And our eyes met. Everything around me seemed to disappear. It lasted only a few seconds. But somehow, those few seconds stayed with me. She looked surprised. Almost as surprised as I was. Then she quickly looked away. I frowned. Most people lowered their eyes when they realized who was standing before them. She hadn't. She had looked directly at me. As if I were simply another stranger. For some reason, I found that strangely irritating. And strangely fascinating. I left the balcony. I told myself I was only going to find out who she was. Nothing more. But by the time I reached the garden, she was gone. I searched the path with my eyes. Nothing. Only the sound of the fountain and the cold wind moving through the trees. I stopped beside the place where she had been standing. There was a small white flower lying on the stone bench. I picked it up. A ridiculous thing to keep. Yet I did. I carried it back with me. And for the rest of the night, I couldn't stop thinking about her. Who was she? Why had she been alone? And why did I have the strange feeling that I would see her again? I had no idea that the answer would come sooner than I expected. ------------------------------------------- Three Weeks Later "Your Majesty." I looked up from the documents on my desk. One of my soldiers stood before me. His expression was unusually serious. "What is it?" "We have returned from the northern border." I leaned back in my chair. "And?" "There was an unexpected development." I waited. The soldier hesitated before continuing. "We captured several people attempting to cross the restricted territory." My expression hardened. "From where?" He mentioned the name of the kingdom that had been standing against mine for years. My fingers tightened around the edge of the desk. My enemy's kingdom. Of course. "Bring them in." The doors opened a few minutes later. Several prisoners were escorted into the room. I barely looked at them. Until I saw her. My entire body went still. The same eyes. The same face. The same woman from the garden. For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. She looked different now. There was fear in her eyes. Her beautiful dress was dusty from the journey, and her hands were restrained. Yet even like this, she was unmistakable. It was her. The woman I had been unable to forget. My gaze moved to the guards. "Who is she?" One of them stepped forward. "She is Princess Elara Valen of the Kingdom of Roselith." A princess. From Roselith. My eyes returned to her. So that was who she was. The woman I had met that night. The woman whose identity I hadn't known. The woman I had spent weeks remembering. My enemy's princess. She looked at me carefully. There was something in her expression. Fear. Confusion. Perhaps anger. Because to her, I was the king everyone feared. The king who was the enemy of her kingdom. But for me... It had always been different. Now I knew her name. Elara. Soft. Beautiful. And somehow, impossible to forget. Then my eyes caught the chain around her wrists. Something inside me snapped. Without thinking, I said, "Untie her." The guard looked surprised. "Your Majesty?" "I said, untie her." He immediately obeyed. The moment the restraints were removed, she rubbed her wrists. I noticed the red marks left on her skin. Something inside me tightened. I didn't like seeing them. I didn't like the fact that someone had hurt her. And I especially didn't like the fact that I cared. "Leave us." The guards exchanged uncertain looks. "Your Majesty, she is—" "I know exactly who she is." My voice was enough to silence them. One by one, they left. The heavy doors closed. Silence filled the room. She remained standing across from me. Neither of us spoke. Finally, she raised her chin. "Are you going to kill me?" Her voice was softer than I expected. I stared at her. How could she say something like that? Kill her? Even the thought of seeing her cry made something twist painfully inside me. And yet she was standing there, asking me if I was going to kill her. "No." She looked surprised. "Then why am I here?" I stood from my chair. She instinctively stepped back. I stopped. I didn't want her to be afraid of me. Not yet. Her face became guarded. "What do you want from me?" That question should have had an easy answer. She was the daughter of the man I had been fighting against. A valuable prisoner. A possible bargaining piece. I could have demanded information. I could have used her to pressure her kingdom. I could have treated her exactly as an enemy princess deserved. Instead, I found myself remembering her standing beneath the moonlight. I studied her for a moment. Then I asked, "Do you know who I am?" She hesitated. Then slowly nodded. "Yes." "Who?" Her eyes met mine. "You are Caspian Bloodstone." Hearing my name from her lips felt strangely different. She continued, "The King of Valthera." I tilted my head slightly. "Then you should know about the relationship between our two kingdoms." Her expression hardened. "Valthera and Roselith have been enemies for years." "Exactly." I took a slow step toward her. "So you should understand why you are here." She looked at me silently. For a moment, I could see the fear she was trying so hard to hide. But beneath it was something else. Defiance. She wasn't going to make this easy for me. Interesting. I could have reminded her that she was a princess of my enemy's kingdom. I could have used her as leverage against Roselith. Instead i thought about the flower I had kept hidden inside my desk. "I haven't decided yet." She stared at me. "You brought me here without even knowing what you want?" "I know what I don't want." "What?" I looked directly into her eyes. "I don't want anyone hurting you." Her eyes widened. For the first time, neither of us knew what to say. I looked away. That sentence had escaped before I could stop it. She was my enemy. I should have remembered that. I should have hated her. But as she stood there in front of me, I couldn't see the kingdom she belonged to. I could only see the woman from that night. The woman whose eyes had somehow remained in my thoughts for weeks. And that realization frightened me more than any enemy army ever had. Because kingdoms could be conquered. Wars could be won. Enemies could be destroyed. But feelings... Feelings were much harder to control. And I had a terrible feeling that this woman was going to become my greatest weakness. To be continued… 🖤