3. STRANGE ENCOUNTER

Winter’s POV

Days had passed since I was locked inside this room. I had pounded on the door until my skin burned red. I had screamed for help, begged to be released, cried until my voice turned hoarse.

I knew there were people outside. I could hear them, and for sure they heard me.

And still, no one came.

Eventually, exhaustion swallowed my panic and left me numb. The truth settled heavily inside me.

No one was coming to save me.

Not even my own father.

If I want to escape, I could only rely on myself.

The room that they locked me in is beautiful, nothing short of a room you would expect from a royal palace.

But no matter how lovely this room was, it's still just a cage meant to lock me in, and I want nothing more than to escape it.

No matter what, I would not marry a monster.

I memorized the guards’ routines. I counted the time between every meal. I listened for the changing of shifts. I watched which servants came and went, which guards lingered to gossip, and which ones remained disciplined enough never to abandon their posts.

I searched every corner of this room and considered every possible escape.

But they had thought ahead.

They knew I would try to run.

That was why they locked me in a chamber so high above the ground that escaping through the window would mean certain death. They had also removed anything sharp—anything I could use as a weapon.

Even my meals were delivered without utensils, forcing me to eat with my hands like some caged criminal.

There was nothing.

Which meant I had to create my own opportunity.

I had to make them unlock the doors willingly. I had to make them come inside and carry me out of here themselves.

But how?

I paced back and forth across the room, my mind racing for a way to make it happen.

Words alone would never be enough.

What could possibly make them open the door without hesitation?

What could make them drag me out of this room by their own hands?

Then I froze.

My eyes landed on the large plant vase in the corner of the room.

Slowly, a smile crept across my face.

At last, I had an idea.

With all my strength, I shoved the large vase to the ground.

It shattered with a deafening crash.

“Lady Winter!” the guard outside shouted at once, his voice sharp with alarm. “Are you all right?”

I did not answer.

Instead, I reached for one of the broken shards scattered across the floor. My hand trembled as I stared at it, then at my forearm.

The door rattled as they began unlocking it. It is secured by several heavy locks, and I had observed that it takes time to unlock all of it.

Without thinking, I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to do what had to be done. Pain shot through me, followed by the warm spill of blood against my skin.

With trembling fingers, I squeezed my arm, letting the blood drip over the broken glass scattered around me.

By the time the door opened, I was already lying motionless on the ground, my eyes closed, my body surrounded by shattered glass and blood, staging a horrific accident.

"Lady Winter!" the guard rushed to my side, horror washing over his face.

"Get the royal physician!” he shouted. “Now!”

The second guard didn’t hesitate. He bolted down the corridor, and left his comrade alone, exactly as I had hoped.

While the guard was too focused on my bleeding arm, I lurched forward and shoved him backwards with every ounce of strength I had.

He stumbled and overturned a furniture.

Before he could recover, I darted out of the room and slammed the door shut behind me locking him in.

“Lady Winter!” he screamed, pounding against the locked door.

But I ran without looking back.

I pressed one hand over my wound, trying to stop the blood from slipping through my fingers as I tore through the corridors. My heart hammered violently against my chest, so fast and hard it felt like it would explode at any moment.

Every corridor looked the same.

Every turn led to another unfamiliar hallway, and I had no time to think which direction to take. I could only keep running.

Panic and fear clawed at me all at once.

I had escaped my prison, only to find myself trapped inside an even bigger one.

I had no idea where I was going. I had never been inside the palace before. I knew nothing about its layout—nothing about where the exits were, where the guards gathered, or which path would lead me outside.

Then I froze.

A group of guards appeared ahead of me.

I turned around, only to hear another set of footsteps rushing from the other direction.

My breath caught.

I was trapped.

My eyes darted around desperately until I spotted a door nearby.

Without thinking, I rushed toward it, slipped inside, and locked it behind me.

I leaned against the door, exhausted and breathing heavily, thinking I had finally found a place to hide.

Then, before I could even catch my breath, someone seized me from behind and slammed me hard against the wall.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” a cold, low voice demanded beside my ear.

The room was shrouded in darkness. The only light came from the moon pouring through the open window behind us, leaving the stranger hidden in the shadows.

I tried to turn my head, desperate to see his face, but the grip around my wrists tightened.

Then I felt it.

A breath that was far too cold to be human.

My eyes widened as I caught a glimpse of sharp fangs, their pale edges glinting beneath the moonlight, dangerously close to my neck.

My blood ran cold.

Even the hand restraining my wrists felt like ice against my skin.

My entire body went rigid as terror swallowed me whole.

I was running away to escape a monster…

Only to run straight into one.

“P-Please…” I whispered, my voice breaking as tears blurred my vision. “Please don’t kill me.”

Terror seized me as every story I had ever heard about vampires came rushing back.

Merciless creatures.

Bloodthirsty monsters.

I had never seen one before tonight.

And I didn’t know if I would leave this room alive.

Before either of us spoke again, hurried footsteps thundered past the room outside.

“Search the entire palace!”

“Lady Winter has escaped!”

My body stiffened.

“She has pale skin and silver hair! Do not let her leave the palace under any circumstances!”

“If anyone finds her, report to His Majesty immediately!”

Silence settled over the room once more.

For a long moment, the stranger said nothing.

I felt his gaze linger on me.

My silver hair had fallen over one shoulder, stained with fresh blood. My pale skin was impossible to miss.

Everything the guards had described… matched me.

His grip eased.

Not enough to let me go, but enough to turn me slightly, as though he were studying the frightened girl he had caught rather than restraining an intruder.

“So…” he murmured, his voice unreadable. “You’re Lady Winter.”

I lowered my head in defeat, no longer struggling against his hold.

That was it. I had come this far, only to be handed over.

I felt his gaze travel down my arm, to the blood soaking through my sleeve.

I swallowed hard.

I knew how vampires were said to go mad over blood. Fear gripped me as the thought crossed my mind.

Is he going to drink my blood?

“You’re bleeding,” he whispered.

“Please don’t,” I breathed, squeezing my eyes shut.

I thought he was going to sink his fangs into me.

Instead, I felt his hand leave my wrist. A moment later, something soft wrapped around my arm.

My eyes opened in surprise.

He had taken a clean handkerchief and was tying it carefully around my wound.

“If I intended to kill you,” he said evenly, “I wouldn’t bother stopping the bleeding.”

His fingers worked with surprising care as he secured the handkerchief around my arm.

“These other wounds…”

I drew in a sharp breath as his icy fingers trailed lightly over my skin.

“These weren’t made by vampires,” he said quietly. “They were inflicted by humans.”

I stayed silent.

“What kind of life have you lived, Lady Winter?”

My throat tightened.

“The humans call us monsters,” he murmured, his voice darkening. “Yet no vampire would treat their own kind this way.”

A strange ache settled in my chest as his words lingered in my mind.

“The corridor should be clear by now.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

He stepped away from me and moved toward the door. For a moment, he remained still, listening to whatever waited beyond it.

Then I heard the soft click of the lock.

I stared at him, though the darkness still hid his face from me.

“You’re letting me go?”

“Do you want me to keep you?” he asked dryly.

I fell silent.

He opened the door just enough for me to slip through.

“You should go while you still can,” he said, his voice quieter now. “I hope you escape safely, Lady Winter," he pauses. “And when you do… live a better life than the one they gave you.”

My chest tightened. This stranger was the first person who had ever shown me kindness. The first one who cared enough to ask.

And he was a vampire.

I stepped into the corridor, but before leaving, I looked back one last time.

I wanted to see him.

I wanted to know the face of the stranger who had shown me kindness when no one else had.

But the room was too dark, and before I could even make out his features, the door closed softly between us.

I felt sad that I wasn't able to know his name.