namelessxwriter13

Before kingdoms crumbled and thrones turned to ash, a wager was cast-let mortals choose their fate.

Now, a man named Dantes Lamolet carries a scar he doesn't remember and a name that was never truly his. Once a prince, now a shadow among mercenaries, he seeks only silence.

But fate has other plans.

When a girl with flame-colored hair and a voice that stirs forgotten echoes crosses his path, the threads of the past begin to tighten. Her name is Alberta Montagne-and behind her guarded smile lies a secret the kingdom would burn to bury.

Whispers of betrayal, stolen bloodlines, and a vanished woman named Mercedes spark a journey neither of them can escape.

And beneath it all, something ancient watches. Waiting.

He was never meant to return.

She was never meant to be found.

But ruin remembers.

Heir to Ruin: Another mask returned

The sea murmured like a secret too old to be spoken aloud.

Cornelius stepped onto the deck, shoulders tight beneath his cloak. He hadn't slept.

Not since they left the mainland. Not since Alberta stopped laughing. Not since the forest.

Below deck, Alberta and Francesca slept side by side, curled beneath worn blankets in a silence far heavier than sleep.

The mercenary stood near the mast, facing the rigging, body still.

It wasn't unusual. Dantes didn't sleep much either.

There was a moment—a shadow above. A figure. Perched too precisely among the ropes. Then—gone.

Cornelius stepped forward. "Who were you talking to?"

Dantes didn't flinch. Just turned his head slightly, an amused breath escaping his lips.

"Ah. And so arrives the royal watchdog."

Cornelius's voice stayed sharp. "There was someone in the rigging."

"If there was," Dantes replied, "they're better at hiding than you are at walking quietly."

Cornelius moved closer. "You were speaking to them."

"Was I?" Dantes tilted his head thoughtfully. "Funny. I thought I was whispering sweet nothings to the rigging. She's shy, but she listens."

"Cornelius," Dantes said, tone flattening, "if I wanted to betray you, I wouldn't do it half-naked under the stars on a creaking boat."

The waves rolled, soft and endless.

Cornelius's jaw tightened. "You're hiding something."

"Oh, I'm hiding a lot," Dantes said with a grin that didn't reach his eyes. "Most of it's trauma, some of it's personality, but tonight? I'm just hiding from the cold."

Cornelius gestured sharply. "There was someone up there."

Dantes' smile dropped a fraction. "Then they're gone now. And if you think I'd make a deal with someone on a ship full of people I tolerate at best, you give me far too much credit."

"I don't deny most things," Dantes said, voice dry. "It ruins the mystery."

Cornelius didn't speak again. He just stared—hard.

Dantes stepped forward, shoulder brushing past him as he turned back toward the stairs.

"Go to sleep, Cornelius," he murmured. "Before you wake the girls and get lectured for making assumptions in front of Francesca. You'll lose that one. Miserably."

The watcher had moved like a slip of shadow, vanishing between ropes before the argument even began.

Eyes on Alberta. Cornelius. Francesca.

Chapter 20 : Glass In The Dark