Alina returned to the small cottage that evening with her thoughts spinning like a storm. She didn't tell sofiya about the king—not yet. Something about his eyes, his voice, the way he looked at her…it stirred something buried deep inside.
She didn't trust easily. Especially not royalty.
But Elric hadn't looked at her like a king looks at a runaway. He looked at her like she was a puzzle he wanted to solve.
---
The next morning, sofiya noticed the change in her.
"You met someone," she said while stirring her herbal soup.
Alina hesitated. "He's… no one."
Sofiya snorted. "No one made you blush like that?"
Alina rolled her eyes but smiled faintly.
That night, she dreamed of the palace—the twisted halls of Raelynn's lies, the cold silence after Kai's death, and the face of the woman who raised her with poisoned love.
Raelynn had taught her how to speak like a queen but live like a puppet.
But now… now she wanted to rewrite her story.
---
Meanwhile, in the royal camp, Elric couldn't stop thinking about the girl by the river. He asked his men, quietly, to investigate nearby villages—discreetly. He didn't want Raelynn to know he was looking for someone.
"She might be the princess," he thought. "The one I was meant to marry."
But deep down, something told him she was more than that. A mystery. A secret no one had uncovered.
That night, as he stood by the fire, staring into the flames, he whispered her name.
"Lina…"
Little did he know, her real name was Alina, and the truth was going to shatter everything.