Part One: The Starbound Princess
In the kingdom of Astravelle, where the stars shimmered brighter than anywhere in the realm, tales of gods and mortals intertwined like threads of an ancient tapestry. Legends spoke of a goddess of love and beauty known as Venus, who descended upon the mortal world only once every thousand years to test the hearts of men and women. But those were mere stories... until the night the skies bled crimson, and an uninvited star fell upon Astravelle's royal gardens.
Kaelis, the captain of the Royal Guard, was a man sworn to the sword and the crown. Duty was his only companion, and love was but a distant memory hidden behind the walls of his discipline. That was until he found her—an unconscious woman in a gown spun from starlight, lying amidst the broken petals of the sacred moonflowers.
Her beauty was ethereal. Skin kissed by moonlight, lips as soft as the first blush of dawn, and hair that shimmered like strands of liquid gold. She was no ordinary woman. Even the air around her pulsed with an unfamiliar warmth that sent ripples across Kaelis's soul.
When she opened her eyes, Kaelis found himself trapped in galaxies he had never known existed. Eyes like the endless skies—deep, blue, and shimmering with unspoken sorrow.
"Where… am I?" Her voice was melodic, fragile as a whisper carried by the night winds.
"You're in the royal gardens of Astravelle," Kaelis replied, unable to mask the awe in his voice. "Who are you, my lady?"
She tried to rise, wincing as if the very act of breathing pained her. Kaelis offered his hand without thinking, and as their fingers touched, a strange glow radiated from their palms, sending tremors through the ground beneath them.
"I… I do not know my name," she whispered, her gaze lost in the distant stars. "All I remember is the sky… and falling."
Kaelis furrowed his brows. Memory loss? Or something darker? He wrapped his cloak around her trembling form.
"Then until you remember, you shall stay under my protection," Kaelis declared. "You can call me Kaelis."
She blinked at him, hesitant. "Kaelis... it sounds warm."
He tried not to smile, but the corners of his lips betrayed him. There was something about her that disarmed the steel in his soul.
"And what shall I call you?" Kaelis asked.
She closed her eyes as if searching the void for an answer, then whispered, "Venya. I… think my name is Venya."
It was the beginning of a story neither of them saw coming. A story that would test the very fabric of their hearts, destinies, and the fragile balance between mortals and the gods.
But that night, beneath the silver moon, Kaelis did not know that Venya was more than just a woman. She was the living incarnation of the goddess Venus herself—cast down to the mortal realm as punishment for breaking the sacred laws of the heavens.
And Kaelis, unknowingly, had offered his heart to a forbidden goddess.