Chapter 9:The crown prince

"It was a bee," I tried to explain.

William stared at me, unimpressed. "So a bee gave you a concussion, twisted your ankle, and left you looking disheveled?"

I nodded.

The Royal doctor finished wrapping my ankle and gave me a tired smile. "We really should stop meeting like this, Lady Iris." He snapped his case shut and walked out without another word.

Lilliana entered with two maids in tow, her eyes wide with concern. She stopped in her tracks as she took in the sight of me—messy hair, bandaged ankle, the torn hem of my dress.

She rushed to my side, eyes scanning me again like she thought I might fall apart entirely.

"What happened to you, my lady?" she asked gently.

"I was attacked… by a bee," I mumbled.

William pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "A bee? One bee?"

"An aggressive one," I added with all the dignity I could muster.

Lilliana reached out and pulled a piece of hay from my hair. "Did it topple you into the hay, too?" she asked.

One of the maids stifled a laugh. The other coughed into her sleeve to cover it.

"The guards and several knights are scouring the estate," William said, voice suddenly colder. "Is there anything you're not telling me, Lady Iris?"

He was using the title too deliberately now. I hated that tone. But then again, we weren't alone.

"It was a bee," I insisted, clinging to the lie like it might still save me.

"A bee does not give you a concussion, Lady Iris," he said, voice clipped and sharp. "Were you attacked?"

His eyes locked on mine, no longer William the friend—but William the Royal Knight.

There was no escaping this now.

I folded my hands on my lap and cleared my throat. "I… didn't see who it was," I said.

"Lady Iris, you should not keep such information to yourself. Are you... perhaps working with your attacker?" William asked, far too calmly for someone accusing me of treason.

I glared at him and picked up a pillow, hurling it straight at his smug face.

"Would I do this to myself?" I shouted. "You think I would stage my own attack for—what? Attention? Strategy?"

He stooped down, picked up the pillow without flinching, and returned it to the bed like nothing had happened.

Shame on me for getting used to him.

The door opened with a creak, and a knight entered, standing tall with trained precision. He thumped a fist to his chest.

"I announce His Royal Highness, Prince Alaric, and Lady Grace."

My eyes widened. No one thought to tell me the host was back?

I glanced at Lilliana—her head was bowed low. William, as always, looked unbothered, eyes raised, spine straight.

The Crown Prince entered first. Tall. Composed. His presence swallowed the room. His dark hair was neatly swept back, and his royal blue cloak flowed like silk thunder behind him. His gaze was sharp, unreadable, and when it landed on me, something inside me clenched.

Lady Grace followed, draped in lilac silk that shimmered like moonlight. Her golden hair was braided and crowned with pearls, a vision of softness. But her eyes—cool, calculating—moved from William, then to me, with subtle suspicion.

They were a pair forged in politics and elegance. Beautiful. Dangerous.

The maids were dismissed. Now it was just the two people I wasn't ready to see—and the one I wanted to strangle.

"This wasn't quite the welcome I had imagined," the Prince said, finally breaking the silence.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you at all," I muttered, reaching for a shawl to reclaim some dignity. This wasn't how I wanted to meet him.

"You're lucky Sir William found you when he did," Lady Grace added, her eyes lingering just a second too long on him.

"Did you see your attacker?" the Prince asked me.

I shook my head. "No."

"Do you think the attack is related to what happened in the capital?" he asked, turning to William.

"I doubt it, Your Highness," William replied with the calm of a man who doubted everything.

"What happened in the capital?" I asked, tension crawling up my spine.

"Someone poisoned His Highness' drink," Lady Grace answered—while looking directly at me.

A silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken things.

"We'll leave you to rest," the Prince said, turning to go. Lady Grace followed, her perfume lingering like a warning.

They left, and the door closed behind them.

But the unease didn't leave with them. It sat beside me, whispering her name in my ear.

Lady Grace