Chapter 11: Ashes and Expectations

Kaito’s POV

The scroll felt heavier than it should have. Royal insignia. Wax still warm. My father’s seal. My name inked in sharp, elegant strokes.

An order. A request. A test.

Retrieve the “disgraced” prince of the neighboring kingdom. Bring him home, quietly. Discreetly. Before this political fumble turned into a war of pride.

No guards. No parade. Not even a diplomatic envoy. Just me. And that, of course, was the point.

I stood at the gates of our northern stronghold, blade strapped to my back, cloak clasped in silence. My horse shifted beneath me, impatient but trained not to move until I did.

The air was crisp, early autumn creeping in over the hills. Wind tugged at the black banner hanging from the tower, the one that always made Leo’s house look like it mourned something. Or someone. Maybe it always had.

Maybe that’s why I noticed him. Even when no one else did.

We never spoke. Not once.

But I remembered him. Too vividly for someone I never touched.

Leo, the second-youngest royal son. Fragile-looking, but sharp. Beautiful in a way that didn’t draw attention until it already had you. The kind of beauty that made you look twice, then look away because it was too real.

At court events, he always stood slightly outside the family cluster. Just far enough to seem accidental. Just close enough to be punished for it.

Once, years ago, I caught his gaze across a ballroom. Only for a second.

His eyes weren’t looking at me. Not really. They were somewhere else. A place no one could touch.

It haunted me. It still does.

When the scandal broke, the photos, the statement, the forced denial, I read every word. More than once.

I never believed the official story. Not for a second. Because I know what fear looks like in someone’s body. And I know what truth looks like in their eyes.

Leo had both.