SILIN

I wake up in Taehyung's bed.

The curtain is open when I wake. It's angled in a way that it'll let the sunlight in, but so that the bright stream won't touch my face. I'm centered on the bed, blankets tucked up to my chin. The door is closed.

It's already past morning. I'd slept so well.

Taehyung isn't here.

I slip out of bed. Then I pad towards the window, my bare feet silent against the carpet as I pull open the curtain even further. Sunlight spills in, coating the room in a soft gold.

I see the Arena.

My eyes almost immediately find Taehyung.

He's hard at training, dressed in Asura colors and gaze fixed forward at the instructor. The sword in his hand burns silver in the light. He stands so noticeable, a beacon amidst rows and rows of soldiers.

I remember his warmth. The way his hair felt against my fingertips. How vulnerable he looks when he sleeps. And how much it makes me want to protect him.

Then there's a harsh knock.

"...Princess!"

My head jerks up.

Jimin?

The door flings open and smashes into the wall. Jimin is standing there, his amber eyes feverish and wild as he sees me. The moment he does, I see something in him shatter.

What..?

He looks torn.

And I should've realized, then and there.

That I wouldn't ever be allowed happiness. That in the end— no matter how much I tried to change my own fate and the fate of others—

It wouldn't ever work.

Jimin falls to one knee, trembling.

"Your Majesty the King and Queen has passed away, my Princess."

________________________________

TAEHYUNG

Something isn't right with the air.

Guards and maids run through the halls near the Arena. Some of the soldiers are whispering, and most of them had dropped their weapons. The instructor is gone, having been summoned elsewhere. He'd been gone for the past twenty minutes, with only an order for us to stay in position.

It's started to rain.

And as rivulets of water trace coils down my neck, I continue through the routine when no one else does. Every once in a while my gaze flickers up to the curtained window of my room, where my Mistress would be sleeping.

My eyes scrunch.

She really didn't understand how dangerous I was to her. And I knew I was being selfish, just from running my tongue over my sharpened rows of teeth. They had developed fully under my mask, enough to tear skin and break bone.

It was hard for me whenever I was near her.

But still I was selfish.

My blade slices through the rainfall. The tips of my locks drip water over my closed eyes.

If only I was strong enough to leave her. Would I ever become that strong? I didn't think it was possible. The more I stayed by her side, the more I—

"The Queen and King. They have passed away."

My eyes flash open. My blade slows. And my gaze instantly pins on the soldier a couple meters away from me, whispering rapidly to another guard.

Around me, rumors spread like fire.

The King and Queen. How they'd been found assassinated. Every soldier says something different— death by mercenary, poison, assault.

But their death doesn't change.

Princess.

The instructor is still not here. My sword slides back into my sheath, and I leave my position in the Arena. The rain turns heavier, soaking the ground with its tears.

I run.

Some notice. They call for me, warning that I'd be banished for going against the orders of the instructor. But that's the last thing that I worry for.

I can only think of my Mistress, alone and vulnerable in my room. Had she woken? Had she heard, the way I had?

I should never have left her by herself.

It takes me less than a minute to get to my room. Water is thick on the carpet, of the tracks I'd made as I'd run from the Arena. My cheeks are flushed.

I knock.

"Mistress? It's me."

There's only silence. I fling the door open.

Princess.

She's gone.

_____________________________

JIMIN

Gone.

I rush around the corner, slamming headfirst into a smaller, delicate figure. I hear a feminine yelp as I instinctively wrap my hands around her shoulders, straightening her.

It's that Healer's assistant. Rin.

Her silver eyes blink furiously.

"You stupid idiot," She hisses. Angry tears glisten in her fiery gaze. "You should've kept better watch over the Princess. Now she's gone. And it's all your fault."

Her words strike straight through my chest.

"If something happens to her, I'll kill you."

She brushes harshly past me, before breaking into a run towards the other wing of the Palace. She leaves me standing there, feeling utterly useless.

It is my fault.

I should've never let her escape an inch out of my sight. Even when she'd told me to leave her be. I should've refused her. I should've hung onto her until the end.

An agonized hiss squeezes out from my lips.

She saved you. She gave you a hand out of the gutters and this is how you repay her. She kept you by her side and this is how—

If she dies.

I began to run.

If she dies, I'll end my own life.

That way, I'd at least be able to accompany her safely to the Heavens before falling down to the depths of Hell.

________________________________

SILIN

Maybe all of this is for naught.

Because I'd tried my hand in changing fate. I'd angered God. Why had I ever thought I could really create a happy ending for myself?

Because I had changed one thing, another had happened.

And now both my parents lay dead in their caskets, poisoned by one of the heaviest venoms in existence. I had lost both of them in the span of minutes.

I crumple to the ground. Tears stream down my cheeks, fueled by pure fury.

Who.

I want to scream. But I can't, too afraid that someone will hear me. I had to think of the future. I had to continue.

As Princess, I was next in line for the throne. The second I was found the tiniest bit unstable, I'd be shunned off by the nobility and become the puppet Queen I'd been in my past life.

Who?

No, I already knew who.

Only minutes later I'd escaped to a place where I'd thought no one would be able to find me, the chief advisor had. A snake of a man, and to my bloodshot eyes he had held out a will.

He claimed it was my father's. It had his seal, and his signature.

My hands tremble harder. Rain falls heavier.

But I'd instantly recognized it was fake. Because there was no way in hell that my father would have written the things he had. There was no way he'd ordered the marriage between me and Han.

No way he'd given the kingship of Asura towards Han. The ownership of the land and all its resources, towards Han. Just a day ago he had listened so carefully to me, was so close to letting me choose my partner.

The will was forged. And the chief advisor had always been such a shallow man. There must've been bribes— things behind my back. Whatever that had happened, that I had missed.

Han killed my parents. He ordered for the forgery of the will. There was no way for me to prove it wrong. It had the official seal, of the King.

Han.

It's that fucking bastard. He had me in his palm again. What had happened would happen again.

The marriage, in a week.

My heart feels like it's going to burst from my chest. I have to think, but my head is nowhere near level enough. I want to scream, but I cannot.

My breaths turn thicker.

Is there a way? There is no way.

My eyes flicker towards the balcony. At the stone railings, and the ground that lay seventy feet beneath.

The only path left was down.

Almost hypnotized, I get to my feet. Tears cover my face. My eyes are unfocused, at the storm clouds of the sky as I get closer. Closer, until I have my hand wrapped around the curve of the rails and step onto the ledge. It's slippery, from the rain.

At least this way, he would not have the Crown so easily. At least I wouldn't ever have to be near him again.

At least—

Then crimson flickers, in my mind. Someone's arm wraps around my waist, and I'm jerked away from the edge into their chest. I hear rapid, labored breathing.

I look up, eyes gray.

"Mistress."

Crimson flickers. I can't even speak. I'm too tired to explain myself. Too exhausted to think.

Taehyung.