PRINCE OF PROTECTION

The silence in the Sung Fortress could have broken bones.

After the kiss, after the fight, after Ares nearly crushed is brother's skull in front of a hundred elites—he hadn't spoken a single word to Seren.

Not even when he dragged her back into the bulletproof car.

Not when she yelled his name.

Not when she told him to stop.

Now, she stood behind a heavy steel door — her fists raw from pounding it.

Locked.

Trapped.

Like a prisoner.

She screamed again, slamming her palms against the wall. "Ares! Let me out!"

No answer.

The room was luxury wrapped in gold. Heated floors, digital walls, velvet bed. But it might as well have been a coffin.

Seren collapsed onto the cold marble tiles, breath shaking, heart in pieces.

He kissed her. He held her like she was his. And then he caged her like she was a threat.

Was this love?

Was this protection?

Or just control?

Elsewhere in the Fortress

Xiao stood in front of Ares with a face carved from ice.

"You shouldn't have locked her up," he said calmly.

Ares didn't look up. He was in the underground firing room — loading bullets into custom black mags, each one etched with Rael's crest.

"She was marked," Ares muttered. "In front of everyone. The media is whispering. The council is watching. And Rael…"

He gritted his teeth.

Xiao sighed. "You should have warned her."

"I did."

"No," Xiao corrected. "You commanded her. That's different."

Ares finally looked up.

And the regret was there — deep, cold, buried under rage.

But it was there.

Inside the Room

Hours passed.

Seren didn't move.

Her hands trembled in her lap. Her lips were cracked from crying. And still, no one came. Not even the AI systems spoke.

Until suddenly—

The door unlocked with a hiss.

She stood slowly, unsure if it was real.

Ares stepped in.

Hair wet. Shirt half-open. His violet eyes unreadable.

She didn't move.

Didn't run into his arms. Didn't yell.

Just stared.

"You locked me up," she whispered.

"I protected you."

"No. You caged me."

His jaw tightened. "You danced with my brother."

"You didn't stop me."

"I couldn't."

"Then don't punish me for it!"

He exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "You don't understand—"

"Then make me understand!" she shouted. "Why are you doing this? Why do you look at me like I'm the only thing that matters, and then lock me away like a criminal?!"

Silence.

Then—his voice, soft and broken.

"Because the last time I let someone close… Rael killed her."

Her eyes widened.

"What?"

He stepped back, hands curling at his sides.

"My mother. When we were kids. She loved me more. Rael hated it. One night, she left the house to pick me up from a piano lesson."

He paused.

"She never came back."

Seren's throat tightened.

"And Rael?"

"Watched it happen. Smiled through the funeral."

He looked up at her.

"That's what I'm trying to protect you from."

That Night

Seren was allowed out.

But things had changed.

Guards followed her now.

She couldn't go near any exit.

Even the AI system only responded to Ares' voice commands.

She felt like a shadow in a glass prison.

Until a knock came at her door.

A single red box sat at the threshold. No sender.

Inside it—

A white orchid.

And a letter.

"He caged you, didn't he? Told you it was love. Told you it was safety. He always does.

I don't believe in cages, little flower.*

Come to me when you're ready to stop being a pretty bird in a glass box."*

— R.

Seren dropped the box, heart racing.

But before she could move—

The alarms screamed.

Ares' voice rang out through the walls.

"Everyone on alert. The outer tower was breached."

"Body found."

"It was… her guard."

Seren gasped.

The woman who had stood by her side the day before — sliced across the throat.

A single white orchid laid across her chest.

Rael had sent a message.

And it wasn't a threat.

It was a promise.

Later

Seren stood in the rain again.

Same place.

Same storm.

Ares approached, blood on his gloves.

"She was killed because of me," Seren whispered.

"No," he said. "Because of me."

Her voice cracked. "I'm not safe here."

"You're not safe anywhere."

She turned.

"Then why don't we just end it?"

His breath hitched. "What?"

"Us. This. The engagement. Let Rael win. Let him have whatever sick war he wants. Let me go."

He was silent for a long time.

Then—his hand reached out.

Held her wrist.

Firm. Gentle. Desperate.

"I can't," he said.

"I won't."

His voice broke.

"I'd rather burn the world first."

And in that moment, she saw it—

Not Ares the mafia king. Not the tech overlord.

But the man.