Chapter 10.The crown prince's secret

I couldn't get the message out of my head as I followed the guards toward the Crown Prince's chambers. Every step seemed to bring me closer to something I wasn't prepared to face, yet turning back no longer felt like an option. Someone had threatened my life, attacked Adrian, and somehow connected both events to the secret surrounding my childhood. I needed answers, and whether I liked it or not, Adrian might be the only person who could help me understand what was happening.

When we reached his chambers, the guards stepped aside. The room was dimly lit, with only a few candles burning beside the bed. Adrian sat against the headboard, his dark hair slightly dishevelled and his shirt stained with blood around the wound at his side. Seeing him like that unsettled me more than I expected. He had always seemed untouchable, even when he was furious, but now he looked painfully human.

His gaze met mine. “You came.”

“You asked for me.”

“I wasn't sure you would.”

“Neither was I.”

For a brief moment, neither of us said anything. The hatred I had grown accustomed to seeing in his eyes wasn't there. Instead, he seemed uncertain, almost as though he was trying to understand the woman standing in front of him.

I pulled a chair closer to the bed. “What happened?”

“Someone attacked me.”

“I know. What I don't know is why.”

His expression tightened. “You came because you wanted answers?”

“I came because you asked for me.”

Something shifted in his face, but he didn't pursue the matter. Instead, he studied me with an intensity that made me uncomfortable.

“You really don't remember, do you?”

“Remember what?”

“The night you died.”

The words made my breath catch.

“How do you know about that?”

“Because I was there.”

I couldn't hide my surprise. After everything my father had told me, I still hadn't expected Adrian to be part of that memory.

“What do you remember?”

“You were lying beneath the balcony. There was blood everywhere, and your father was holding you while the physicians tried to save you. Your mother was crying, and everyone kept saying there was nothing more they could do.”

His voice became quieter.

“I remember holding your hand before they carried you away.”

Something inside me twisted painfully. I had no memory of that night, yet the image he described stirred an ache I couldn't explain.

“What happened after I woke up?”

“You changed. Before the accident, you trusted me. Afterward, you wouldn't even look at me. You were frightened whenever I came near you, and you kept asking everyone where you were.”

I lowered my gaze, unable to ignore the guilt settling inside me.

“I'm sorry.”

The apology came naturally, even though I wasn't the girl who had made those choices. Still, hearing the hurt in his voice made me realize that Seraphina's disappearance had affected more people than I had ever understood.

“I hated you for a long time,” Adrian admitted. “I thought you had chosen to become someone else.”

My chest tightened.

“But now I'm beginning to think I was wrong.”

“What changed?”

He reached beside him and pulled a small black object from beneath the folded cloth near his pillow. When he placed it on the bed, the crescent moon engraved along the handle immediately caught my attention.

A dagger.

It wasn't the same one he had shown me before, but the symbol was unmistakable.

“It was left beside me after the attack.”

I leaned closer without touching it. “The Order of the Veiled Moon.”

“You know them?”

“My father told me about them.”

“What else did he tell you?”

“That they believe some people can return from a fate that has already been decided.”

Adrian's expression darkened. “Then your father finally told you.”

“Told me what?”

He picked up a second piece of parchment and handed it to me.

I unfolded it carefully.

The girl who returned from death will destroy the Crown Prince.

A cold feeling spread through my stomach.

“This was found with the dagger?”

“Yes.”

“Why would they say that?”

“I don't know. But whoever wrote it wanted me to believe that you are responsible for what happens to me.”

I read the message again. Someone believed I would destroy Adrian, and they had already attacked him to make their warning believable.

“Do you believe them?”

His eyes held mine. “I don't know what to believe anymore.”

That answer hurt more than I expected.

I had spent so much time seeing Adrian as the Crown Prince who would eventually order my death that I had forgotten there was a person beneath the title. He was confused, suspicious, and wounded, just as I was. The difference was that he had been living with these questions for years.

“You accused me of trying to kill you,” I said. “You showed me a dagger with my name engraved on it and expected me to accept that I was guilty.”

“I was wrong.”

The admission caught me completely off guard.

“The dagger was given to me anonymously. I believed it was proof that you had planned something against me. After tonight, I can no longer be certain.”

“So you think someone has been manipulating us?”

“I'm beginning to.”

A knock sounded at the chamber door before I could say anything else.

One of Adrian's guards opened it, and a messenger stepped inside.

“Your Highness, Lord Vale has ordered Lady Seraphina to return immediately.”

My father's timing couldn't have been worse, but I knew better than to ignore his command. I turned toward the door, then noticed the dagger still lying on the bed.

Something about it drew me back.

I reached for the handle.

The instant my fingers touched the metal, pain exploded behind my eyes.

The chamber disappeared.

For a moment, I was somewhere else. Rain poured against a tall window while a young girl stood alone in a dark corridor, crying so quietly that her sobs were almost swallowed by the storm. A man's voice whispered my name from somewhere behind her, and when she turned, the crescent moon appeared before me, stained with blood.

Then a voice spoke through the darkness.

“You were never supposed to wake up.”

I gasped and pulled my hand away.

The chamber returned around me, but my breathing was uneven and my fingers were trembling.

“Seraphina.”

Adrian was already beside me, his concern replacing the suspicion that had filled his eyes moments earlier.

I wanted to tell him what I had seen, but the words refused to come.

For the first time since I awakened in this world, I was beginning to remember.

And somewhere deep inside me, I knew that whatever

had happened on the night Seraphina died was not an accident.

Someone had wanted her dead.

Someone had known she would return.

And now they were coming for me.