Chapter 18: Shadows Beneath the Silk

The next morning, the rain had stopped—but something heavier lingered in the air.

Yuna stood on the palace balcony, wrapped in a borrowed robe, her hair still damp from the night before. She hadn't slept much. The Crown Prince, Lee Sun-Woo, had offered her a warm chamber, food, and quiet company. But her thoughts refused to rest.

She kept replaying last night—the moment she broke, drenched and crying, and the way Sun-Woo had looked at her like he understood everything without asking. Not like Ji-Hwan, who always tried to shield her, but never saw how lost she truly felt.

"How do I return to a world I no longer belong to?" she whispered to herself. "And if I do… what happens to the part of me that wants to stay?"

A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.

It was Sun-Woo.

He held a cup of tea. "You've been quiet all morning."

She accepted it with a small nod. "I'm still trying to make sense of everything."

"You don't have to," he said gently. "Not all at once."

Their eyes met. It wasn't romantic—but it was intimate in a different way. Safe. Familiar. Grounded.

And that's when she saw it—just for a second. A flicker.

The ballroom. Candlelight. Her hand in Ji-Hwan's. A different world… or was it a memory?

She blinked, the vision vanishing like breath on glass.

"Are you alright?" Sun-Woo asked, stepping closer.

"I… I don't know," she admitted. "Sometimes I feel like this isn't the first time I've worn silk or stood in a palace. But then it's gone."

Sun-Woo's expression darkened slightly. "Lord Baek Seung-Min might know more than he lets on. He's been asking about you again."

Yuna stiffened. "What does he want?"

"I don't know. But I don't trust him."

Before she could respond, the doors to the balcony burst open.

Ji-Hwan.

His coat was soaked from the ride, his eyes bloodshot, like he hadn't slept either. His gaze landed on Yuna—and then on Sun-Woo.

She flinched. "Ji-Hwan—"

"You left," he said, his voice low and ragged. "You didn't say a word. I looked everywhere—"

"She needed space," Sun-Woo interrupted coolly. "And she found it here."

Ji-Hwan's fists clenched. "Is that what this is now? Running to him when you're unsure of me?"

Yuna stood between them, breath shallow. "Stop it. Both of you."

Ji-Hwan's eyes met hers. "You avoided me. After last night. After everything."

Her voice cracked. "Because it felt too real. And I don't know if I'm meant to stay in this world or just… disappear."

The pain in his face was immediate, unguarded. "You don't get to disappear from me. Not after what we shared."

Sun-Woo spoke again, quieter this time. "Maybe the question isn't whether she belongs here—but whether we deserve her."

Yuna turned away, overwhelmed, her fingers brushing the edge of the balcony railing.

———

The rain had slowed to a whisper against the palace roofs by the time Lord Baek Seung-Min stepped into his private study. He flung his soaked cloak aside, eyes blazing with quiet fury.

A servant appeared, bowing low. "My lord, the girl—she has been seen entering the Crown Prince's palace."

"I know," Baek Seung-Min said coldly. He poured himself a drink but didn't touch it. "That fool thinks a warm robe and a soft voice will win her over."

He paced toward the window, gaze sharp enough to slice through stone.

"They're both underestimating her," he muttered. "She's not just some lost girl. She's the match that could burn this entire kingdom to ash."

The servant hesitated. "Shall I send someone to—"

"No," Baek Seung-Min interrupted, his voice like a blade. "Not yet."

He turned slowly, the faintest smile curling on his lips—dark and amused.

"Let them dance a little longer. Let her feel safe. Loved. Wanted." His smile faded. "Then we strike."

He leaned forward, speaking as if to the night itself.

"She will come to know that this world doesn't embrace strangers. It devours them."

Then he picked up a parchment from his desk—Yuna's name inked at the top—and drove a dagger straight through it.

"Mark my words," he whispered, voice full of venom. "I will tear her from their hands. And this time—she won't walk away untouched."

End of Chapter 18