CHAPTER 9 Sep 24, 2025 He leaned against the stone arch like the garden belonged to him, like the moonlight had been placed here solely to crown his silhouette. Tall, broad-shouldered, and dangerously composed, he didn't move when I turned to face him. His voice came low and smooth, like velvet dragged across broken glass. "You're not supposed to be here." I stiffened and replied before I could think better of it. "Neither are you." I didn't even know who he was-not really. Just a shadow in black with a voice too calm. But he smiled at me like we were already part of the same secret, and I hated how effortlessly he wore that confidence. "True," he said, stepping forward as if he were testing my edges. "But some rules deserve to be broken." "Is that what you are? A rule-breaker?" I asked, folding my arms tighter around myself. "I'm whatever the night allows me to be." His eyes flicked over me, not in lust but in curiosity, like he was trying to memorize something he didn't yet understand. "And you-are not a girl meant for corners." I took a step back as he closed the distance between us. "Stay where you are," I said, my voice firmer than I felt. He tilted his head slightly, amused. "You say that like you mean it." "I do," I said sharply. "Then why are you still here?" he asked. "Why didn't you run the moment you saw me?" My throat tightened. I didn't have a good answer for that. I should've run. I should've screamed. But instead, I stood frozen in the garden shadows like I was part of the stone. "You don't know me," I muttered, half to myself. "Don't I?" he asked, closing the final inch between us. But he didn't. He stepped in anyway, until I could feel the heat of him, until the garden air thinned around us. My spine pressed against the cold stone wall, and still he didn't touch me-until he did. The kiss came without warning. His hand brushed my arm, and then his mouth was on mine. Swift, sharp, like a blade meant to draw blood. It wasn't sweet or slow. It wasn't kind. It was a dare. A claim. A spark that flared too fast. I shoved him with both hands, breath ripping out of my chest. "What the hell was that?" He grinned, not bothered in the slightest. "A test." "A what?" "You bit back," he said, tilting his head like he was pleased. "That's rare." "I should slap you," I growled, heart pounding. "Or report you to the guards." "You could," he said casually. "But then you'd have to explain what you were doing wandering past curfew, wouldn't you?" "Blackmail?" I snapped. "How charming." "Perspective," he replied. "I offered you a moment. You took it. And now you're angry it meant something." "It didn't mean anything," I lied. He took a step back then, still smiling. "You should say that again. Slower. Maybe you'll start believing it." I stared at him, pulse thundering, lips still tingling from the audacity of it. "Who are you?" I demanded. But he didn't answer. He simply stepped into the shadows like he'd never been there, vanishing into the ivy and moonlight as if the garden had breathed him in and exhaled nothing. I stood there long after he disappeared, my skin burning from the chill and the shame and something I didn't have a name for. It wasn't just the kiss. It was the way he looked at me-like he'd already seen the worst parts and decided they were interesting. Like I wasn't invisible, not here. Not to him. I didn't sleep that night. My thoughts tangled like vines. Who was he? A guard? A noble's son? He didn't act like either. He moved like someone who didn't have to ask permission. Someone who never needed to. And why me? Why choose me in a garden full of marble statues and girls dripping in wealth? When dawn crept across the sky, I still hadn't closed my eyes. I dressed quickly and joined the others in the great hall, hoping to disappear into the sea of silk and perfume and powdered cheeks. The great hall was flooded with girls in silks and servants lining the walls. The head steward cleared his throat and announced, "His Royal Highness, Prince Alexander Solmar." Every girl straightened like she'd been waiting her whole life for this moment. Perfume clouds thickened. Fans snapped open. Smiles turned predatory. I lifted my gaze slowly. And there he was. Dressed in black with silver detailing, hair smoothed, jaw sharp, eyes the same molten steel as the night before. He walked with the ease of someone born to command. My heart stopped. He looked straight at me. It was him. The man from the garden. Prince Alexander Solmar ... and he was smirking at me. And he was smirking at me. Prince Alexander Solmar stepped into the great hall with a sword strapped to his back and disdain carved across his face. His black coat shimmered faintly with embroidery I couldn't decipher, but it didn't matter. The weight of him was enough. The room bowed to him without moving. Clarissa let out the softest gasp beside me and lifted her chin just enough to catch his attention. She looked like a rose bent toward sunlight-soft, poised, and waiting to be plucked. I stood frozen, rooted to the marble as if any wrong breath might crack it. He didn't look at me-at first. Then his gaze swept the room. And it landed. Just for a second. A flicker. A grin. He didn't say a word. I remembered that kiss. So did he.