Chapter 3- The Girl Who Disappeared

Damon’s POV

The club was eerily quiet.

Too quiet.

Damon leaned against the doorway of the private room, the dim blue lights dancing over the disheveled sheets. The lingering aroma of the previous night still hung in the air, her fragrance, sweet with a hint of something softer beneath.

But she was gone.

Gone, like vapor in the warm sunlight.

He ran a hand through his hair, his jaw clenching as he scanned the room once more. The couch sat empty. The door wasn't locked. Her dress had been carefully tucked away in her purse, and the trash had been taken out, except for one thing.

He crouched down.

A small, broken clasp glimmered on the floor.

Her earrings.

The delicate silver chain sparkled in the weak morning light, the blue stone catching a stray beam as if daring him to see it.

He picked it up.

It felt light and fragile in his hand, intimate, something a person wouldn't leave behind unless they were rushed… or frightened.

That thought didn’t sit well with him.

Damon tucked the earrings into his pocket and stepped into the hallway.

Kade, his personal guard, straightened up at once.

"Ready to leave, Your Highness?" he asked.

Damon narrowed his eyes. "Not yet."

Kade blinked in surprise. "Sir?"

"There was someone with me last night."

Kade cleared his throat. "Yes, multiple witnesses saw you bring a woman inside."

Damon shot him a flat stare. "Find her."

Kade blinked again, looking confused. "I thought it was just a… casual encounter."

"It was," Damon replied, his voice sharpening. "But she left this."

He held up the bracelet.

Kade’s eyes widened. "Sir, I’ve never known you to keep....."

Damon interrupted him. "She slipped away before dawn, without her belongings. Quietly."

"People leave quietly all the time."

"She didn’t leave as if she wanted to go," Damon insisted. "She left like someone who felt they had no choice."

Kade swallowed hard, grasping the weight of that implication.

"And Your Highness wants her found?"

"Discreetly," Damon instructed. "Not a word of this to Velmere. Not to my guards. Not to my mother."

Kade bowed. "I’ll speak with the manager and staff."

"Good," Damon said, his tone returning to that chilly, royal calm. "I want a name, a face, a lead, anything."

"Understood."

As Damon turned to go, his cloak swished behind him, but he hesitated.

Her laughter still rang in his ears.

The sparkle in her eyes when she took a drink.

The way her voice had cracked when she said tomorrow would confine her.

The tremor in her whisper when she told him she understood more than he realized.

He shook off those thoughts.

This wasn't desire.

Not longing.

Not anything of the sort.

This was curiosity.

She had left his bed while it was still warm.

No one ever left him first.

Stepping out of the club and into the chilly morning air, he inhaled the scent of smoke and rain, the sun barely breaking the horizon. Kade headed inside to dig for information.

Damon slid into the waiting car, his expression unreadable.

The driver glanced back. "Where to, Your Highness?"

Damon looked down at the bracelet in his hand.

"Back to the palace," he murmured. "I have plans to finalize."

Tomorrow, he would depart for Averelle.

Tomorrow, he would meet the princess he was destined to marry.

And yet…

His mind drifted back to the girl with disheveled hair, trembling fingers, and a voice tinged with quiet sadness.

He closed his fist around the bracelet.

Who are you?

(ELARA’S POV)

The airport terminal was eerily quiet at dawn, the sky painted in deep hues of blue and faint starlight. My heels echoed against the polished marble of the private hangar, the sound amplifying in a way that made me uncomfortable, as if the world wanted to announce my arrival to a life I had spent years trying to escape.

“Your Highness,” the crew greeted, bowing as soon as they spotted me.

Your Highness.

I still found it hard to grasp.

I managed a polite smile and nodded as I entered the jet. The scent of fresh leather filled the cabin, and the air felt crisp and sterile, it was a typical Averelle touch. Even the planes seemed to come with an air of superiority.

As the jet lifted off, I reclined in my seat and gazed out the window. The city I had called home gradually shrank to a cluster of twinkling lights before disappearing into the clouds, taking with it the last fragments of freedom I had ever experienced.

I pressed my palm against my stomach.

No. I won’t think about last night.

I won’t think about him.

I won’t dwell on the warmth of his hands or how he breathed my name without even realizing it.

A shiver passed through me as I inhaled deeply, shutting my eyes in an attempt to dull the memory.

Hours later, the captain’s voice crackled softly over the intercom.

“We’ll be landing in Averelle shortly, Your Highness.”

My heart raced.

Averelle.

The land of crowns, rigid laws, and crushing expectations.

My prison.

The jet touched down more smoothly than I anticipated, and before I could steady my nerves, the doors swung open. A sharp, fresh mountain breeze rushed in, cleaner and colder than the city air I was used to.

A line of guards awaited me, their armor shining in the pale morning light. Beyond them, the palace loomed majestically in the distance, its white stone walls adorned with gold and surrounded by expansive gardens. It resembled something out of a postcard.

Too bad living there felt like suffocating.

As I descended the steps, the guards bowed.

“Welcome home, Princess Elara.”

My heart pounded painfully in my chest.

Home.

Right.

I wrapped my arms around myself.

My skin still felt warm from where he had touched me.

My lips tingled at the memory of his kiss.

My legs quivered at the thought of....

No.

I couldn't let myself remember.

I wasn’t that girl anymore.

I wasn’t free.

I wasn’t allowed to make mistakes.

My phone buzzed.

A message from Celene flashed on the screen:

"Report to the main hall as soon as you land. Wear something suitable."

I exhaled shakily, burying my face in my hands.