Chapter 5: The Homecoming

The door clicked shut behind him. Silence swallowed the room.

Prince Leander stood motionless for a long time, one hand still resting on the doorknob. Outside his office, footsteps echoed through the palace corridors. Servants hurried past. Advisors whispered. Somewhere in the distance, cameras flashed as journalists waited for another statement about the Red Moon.

Inside...

Everything was quiet.

Too quiet.

He crossed the room slowly and lowered himself into the chair behind his desk.

His phone rested beside a stack of untouched reports.

He picked it up.

The same conversation. The same unanswered messages.

Where are you?

Sent yesterday.

Not delivered.

He scrolled.

Ravynne... please answer.

Not delivered.

Further.

The Queen finally approved the eastern irrigation proposal. You'd better hurry back before I take all the credit.

No reply.

A tiny smile appeared. She would have rolled her eyes at that message.

"...Come on."

His thumb hovered over the call button. He knew it wouldn't connect. He pressed it anyway.

One ring.

Two.

Then—

"The number you are trying to reach is unavailable."

Again.

He lowered the phone. "...Where did you go?"

His voice disappeared into the empty room.

---

A soft knock interrupted him.

"May I come in?"

He looked up.

Lady Seraphina Voss stepped inside with effortless grace.

She wore an ivory dress beneath a tailored cream blazer, every detail immaculate. The daughter of the President. The woman newspapers had already begun calling Valdris's Future Queen. His fiancee.

She smiled gently. "You missed breakfast."

Leander forced a smile. "So I've been told."

She crossed the room carrying two cups of coffee. "I thought you might need this."

He accepted it automatically. "...Thank you."

She sat opposite him.

For a while... Neither of them spoke.

Seraphina watched him over the rim of her cup. His tie hung loose. Dark circles shadowed his eyes. His hair wasn't styled. She had never seen him like this.

"You haven't slept."

"I'm fine."

"You've said that five times today."

He looked away. "...Have I?"

She nodded. Another silence settled.

Finally...

He spoke. "I can't find Ravynne."

Her fingers paused around her cup. "What do you mean?"

"No one has seen her since before the Red Moon."

He rubbed his temples. "I've checked every security recording. Sent guards to every checkpoint. Nothing. It's as though..."

His voice became quieter. "...she vanished."

Seraphina remained silent. She had expected many things. Work stress. Political pressure. The engagement.

Not this. Not another woman.

"Perhaps..." she said carefully, "...she simply wanted time away."

Leander shook his head immediately. "No."

The certainty surprised even him. "She always tells me where she's going."

Always.

If she worked late... she sent a message.

If she visited the archives... she left a note.

If she skipped lunch... she complained about it first.

She never disappeared. Never.

Seraphina watched him quietly. The concern in his voice wasn't ordinary. It wasn't the concern of a prince for his advisor.

It was...

Personal.

She smiled anyway. "I'm sure she'll come back."

Leander looked down at the cold coffee in his hands. "I hope you're right."

---

Before Seraphina could answer—

They heard three rapid knocks. Then the office door burst open.

A Royal Guard hurried inside, breathing heavily. "Your Highness!"

Leander was already standing. "What happened?"

"We've received a report from the eastern gate."

His heartbeat quickened. "...Go on."

The guard swallowed. "...Lady Ravynne has returned."

The coffee cup slipped from Leander's fingers. It shattered across the marble floor. He didn't even notice.

"...Where?"

"The eastern entrance, Your Highness."

Leander was already moving.

He ran.

Not walked.

Ran.

Past startled servants. The ministers who had just finished their meeting with the king. He ignored the reporters shouting questions near the main hall.

Someone called after him. He ignored them all. There was only one thing that mattered.

---

Outside the eastern gate... Ravynne stood alone.

The journey back had stolen what little strength remained in her body. She stared up at the towering palace.

Home. She should have felt relief. Instead...

Her hand drifted unconsciously toward her lips.

The warmth lingered.

She closed her eyes.

Leander. Think about Leander.

The prince who had spent years protecting her. The man she loved.

Not—

She heard Footsteps approaching. Running. When she turned—

"...Ravynne!"

Leander. He crashed into her before she could speak. His arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

For one heartbeat... She forgot everything. She only felt like home.

She simply stood there. Safe.

His voice shook beside her ear. "I thought I'd lost you."

Something inside her cracked. "I'm sorry..." she whispered. "I worried you."

"Worried me?" He laughed weakly. "I nearly mobilized the entire army."

She smiled. "You always exaggerate."

"You disappeared."

"I know."

"I couldn't find you."

"...yeah"

He finally pulled back. Both hands remained on her shoulders. He searched her face as though reassuring himself she was real.

His thumb brushed the side of her face. "You're freezing."

His eyes moved frantically over her shoulders. Her wrists, her hands. He was looking for injuries.

"Did they hurt you?"

Ravynne blinked. "...What?"

"Whoever took you." 

His voice became almost desperate. "Did they hurt you?"

"... I... I am okay."

"You've gotten thinner. It's only been a few days."

"You sound like an old grandmother, my prince."

"I might become one if you disappear again."

She laughed. A real laugh. The first since the tower.

Leander smiled too. "There you are."

"...What?"

"I've been waiting for that smile."

Her heart softened. For one impossible heartbeat... she almost believed she could bury the tower beside the sea.

Then— Something pulsed inside her chest.

Her smile disappeared.

No...

Not now.

Please... not here.

Leander immediately noticed. "Ravynne?"

"I'm—" She pressed a hand against her chest. "...I'm fine."

Liar.

The warmth kept growing. Closer.

Every second... closer.

---

On the other side of the garden, several servants bowed. The King entered the eastern garden.

Beside him walked a tall man dressed entirely in black. Military boots. Sword at his hip. A rifle resting across his back. He moved with effortless confidence.

Leif Morvain.

Conversations died. Servants stepped aside. Knights straightened. Even veteran officers lowered their voices.

"That's him."

"The Dragon Slayer."

"The King's forgotten son."

King Aldros spoke, though Leif barely listened.

"...You'll meet everyone soon."

"...The queen and Leander—"

"...You'll have your own wing."

Leif answered with absent nods. His thoughts remained elsewhere.

Until— His chest tightened.

Again.

He slowed. The strange emptiness he'd carried since leaving Oakhaven... suddenly wasn't empty anymore.

It felt...

Full.

Alive.

His heartbeat stumbled.

"...Leif?" The King looked at him.

"You alright?"

"..."

No answer.

Something... someone... was close.

Without thinking—

He looked up.

---

Across the garden...

A woman stood beneath the morning sun. Dark hair. Black eyes. Alive.

Impossible.

She should have drowned. The sea should have swallowed her forever. Yet there she stood.

Smiling.

In another man's arms. And he recognized the man.

The crown prince. His step brother. Leander.

Something tore inside his chest.

His gaze dropped to Leander's hand. Resting against her face. Something inside him tightened.

Wrong. She shouldn't be standing there.

Something about the sight felt unbearably wrong.

His jaw clenched. 

...

Why?

Why did it make me want to pull those hands away?

He had wanted her dead.

So why... did another man's touch make him furious?

Then—

As if sensing him...

She turned. Across the crowded garden...

The moment their eyes met— her heart slammed against her ribs. The warmth buried inside her chest erupted.

Alive. She's alive.

He stood frozen beneath the morning sun.

No armor. No hatred carved across his face.

Only shock.

Raw. Unhidden.

Leander frowned beside her. "...Ravynne?"

She didn't hear him. She couldn't.

Because the man she had spent the entire journey trying to forget... had found her again.

Across the garden, his eyes stared on her.

The dragon he had failed to kill... was standing beside his brother.