The first sunlight bled gently into the castle corridors, slipping between stained glass windows and scattering colors across the cold marble floors. Servants moved silently, sweeping halls and lighting lanterns, trying not to disturb the morning hush that still clung to the stone.
Adrian stood at his window, the seal of the letter still burning in his hand.
It had arrived just before dawn delivered not by a guard or messenger, but by an unseen hand. No footsteps. No door creaked. Just a folded parchment on his study desk, weighted with a single black stone. The message had only four words:
“Come alone. East Wing"
Signed beneath it, a familiar scrawl: L.
He didn’t need to ask which L. Only one person in this castle was bold enough to summon a king like that. And only one who knew whi
