WHITE

"What?!"

A shocked scream bursts from my lips as he suddenly lunges, another knife clutched in his own hands. Reflex throws me to the side, my heart racing as the rush of a weapon slices the spot where my head had been a second earlier.

Is he actually—

A yelp rips from my throat as he drives his knife into the wall, inches from my shoulder. I leap away, adrenaline pouring through my blood.

He's serious.

Holy heck, he's serious.

In the split second where he wrestles his knife from the wall, I jump at him and slash downwards.

But my attack is more of a flail than an actual slash, and my hand burns with agony when it touches his shoulder. I barely have time to throw myself to the ground as he cuts through the air.

Within another second, he has me pinned to the ground, knife pressed the lightest against my throat.

My chest rises and falls violently.

"Good, demoiselle." He says, with a hint of surprise in his icy voice. "You may not be completely hopeless yet."

"Thanks for thinking that I was." I hiss, furious at him for the honest attacks. "And thanks for actually trying to kill me."

"If I wanted to kill you, then I would've done it a long time ago."

And then he shivers.

His body suddenly spasms, and my eyes widen in surprise as his composed expression spins out control. Pushing off of me viciously, he stumbles back, features twisted.

"......V?"

"Out." He hisses, and I swallow when I see his burns, glowing like brands. When he sees me still there, frozen with shock, he roars.

"I said leave!"

Spinning on my heel, I rush out the door and slam it shut behind me, breaths rapid. My back presses tight against the closed door.

The hallway is quiet.

His burns— they had been glowing. Was that the Empress' Blessing? To hurt someone continuously over time?

I wait for what seems to be like an eternity before finally taking in a deep breath. When everything seems still around me, I turn back and quietly twist the doorknob open.

My mentor is completely knocked unconscious on the bed. He's now wearing just a thin shirt on top, black turtleneck lying in a pile on the ground.

The marks had stopped glowing.

Sucking in a breath, I step closer to him  until I get close enough. He's shivering, face tilted up to the ceiling.

How could I be angry at someone like this?

Pulling my weak Blessing together, I brace for the sharp slash of pain as I touch his neck.

But there's nothing.

The only thing I feel is a dull tingle, the smooth cold of his skin. The shock slowly melts away as I finally take off my hand, worried at how fast my energy seemed to just drain out of me.

His skin is now clean and pale again, but my thoughts whirl in my mind as I open and close my hand.

That— hadn't hurt.

Why hadn't that hurt?

Suddenly feeling unnerved, I quickly smooth the bunched up blankets over his figure and rush out of his room back into the empty halls.

__________________________

"What's this? Water fork?" I say sarcastically as Siren snatches the tiny utensil from my fingers, her piercing blue eyes narrowed.

"No, that's the salad fork." She sighs, and I shrug my shoulders. "At least tell me the correct name of this spoon— the Congregational Dinner is in five minutes."

"Soup spoon." I guess, and she nods tiredly.

"Maybe I can call out sick?" I suggest, but she shakes her head, looking pale.

"Don't worry." I comfort her, knowing that the moment the Empress saw me use the wrong whatever, it would be Siren that would be punished for it.

"I promise I'll eat nothing but fruit and soup tonight."

"Then come on— let's see if you're able to follow through with your promise." She says heavily, leading me out of the room. The deep green gown she'd forced me to wear is surprisingly comfortable and warm— and I'd secretly loosened the corset after she'd tightened it enough to snap my waist.

"At least you don't look like—" She searches for the right words. "Like what you looked like first."

"Thanks." I mutter as she finally pushes open the doors to another of the large chambers everywhere in this Palace.

I gaze in marvel for a long second.

Golden white chandeliers hang high above hundreds of food tables, with the Blessed dancing and enjoying themselves everywhere between it.

My eyes flicker to the Empress sitting on an elegant Amber throne in the center, her expression seeming satisfied.

I can't help but feel a pulse of hate.

When I finally tear my eyes off of her, Siren has disappeared from my side. I bite down a laugh when I notice a rack of just utensils, all of them different in size and shape.

It looked so intimidating.

As I'd expected, I'm left alone among the tittering ladies and the men who are laughing together with drinks clutched in their hands.

But I was fine with that.

I head straight to one of the food tables, the colorful pastries catching my eye. But then the corners of my lips fall when I realize I had no idea which fork I had to use.

Dammit.

While I'm doing nothing but staring at the luscious piece of cake, soft, amused laughter echoes next to my shoulder.

"You're burning holes into that cake, my lady."

"Jungkook!" I exclaim as I see his straight brown hair, warmth ringing eyes shining a bright hazel. "Can you help me?"

"Of course." He laughs again, before handing me a small fork with two engraved prongs. "I think that's the one you're looking for."

"Thanks so much." I say in relief as I start to eat, looking up at him curiously.

"I think there's someone behind you."

All the Blessed are dancing now, matched up in partners. Behind Jungkook, there's an impatient-looking woman, her rich blonde hair cupping a face of perfection.

"I apologize for this, my lady."

Then Jungkook takes my hand, pulling me into a dance. Panic instantly clouds my mind— I hadn't learned to dance once in my entire life, and now it was showing.

Jungkook laughs brightly when I almost trip over, his arms firm as he pulls me back up smoothly.

"Wait—stop! I don't know how to do this!" I exclaim as I glance back at the fuming woman. Then my gaze is wrenched back as he tugs on my arm.

"Just follow my lead."

He pulls me into a spin, and I can only gape as the music shifts speeds. Then he gives me a sad look as he pats my shoulder and passes me onto the next person.

"Try not to step on their feet too much, Miss."

The next person I'm passed onto is a tall blonde, his eyes a piercing blue. His lips split into a devilish smile the moment I look up at him with wide eyes.

And then I step right on the center of his feet.

"Sorry." I mutter, wincing when I elbow his chest. When the song shifts and he hurries to pass me on to the next person, I can't blame him for it.

Strong, lean arms wrap around my waist, and I breathe in a scent full of bitterness and ice. When I glance up, I catch the light of V's striking green eyes.

He looks away.

He's wearing thick gloves, the same plush material encasing his shoulders. When I brush my hand against his upper arm, there's a flash of pain. But when I lay it against the curve of his shoulder, I don't feel anything.

They must be some kind of resistant pads.

But of course, I don't go too far until I mess up on him as well.

"Sorry!" I yelp as I stumble headfirst into his chest, the palms of my hands already tingling violently with the times I'd tasted his Blessing.

He jerks me back, his heart lips squeezed together in concentration as he tries to lead me through the complex steps. He'd made it so that even a kindergartner could easily follow, except that I had a worse directional sense than a blind.

"You," V growls under his breath as I hiss in another burst of pain from my back slamming into his side. "Do you have absolutely no control of yourself, demoiselle?"

"Move."

"I can't!" I huff, dancing for my life. "I've never done this since I was born, okay? I'm sorry but you're stuck with me."

Now he seems frustrated as well, emotions of mixed annoyance flitting across his face.

"Tighten your hands over my shoulders." He snarls under his breath, grabbing one of my lost hands and holding it down. Swallowing, I try to calm the trembling in my body.

I'd touched him too much— nearly getting hit with his agonizing Blessing almost ten times in a fast row.

His lips tighten.

"Just stop moving." He orders finally, and I sink into his arms like he tells me to. After that, it's amazing how easy it gets. V takes control of me like a puppeteer, his lean strength rippling underneath my hands.

This was weird.

The signal for partner change should've come a long time ago.

Then I glance towards the Empress' direction, and my eyes widen in shock and hate when I see her smiling grimly at me and V.

She whispers to the servant next to her, and all of a sudden the music shifts to a shocking tempo.

Now I understand everything.

She's playing with the two of us.