The night air tasted like secrets.

Leena crouched in the shadow of the palace wall, heart hammering.
Above her, Chen Yu hung from the edge of the roof like a mischievous cat, grinning down.

"Come on," he whispered. "The patrol will pass any second. Follow me."

Leena swallowed hard, then climbed the narrow stone steps he had shown her.
Her bare feet slipped once, and she felt his hand catch her wrist. Warm. Steady.

"Careful," he murmured. "I can't explain to the prince if you fall again."

She rolled her eyes but her cheeks burned anyway.

The pair slipped beyond the palace gates into the forest that bordered the outer walls.
Crickets sang in the underbrush, and the moonlight painted the path silver.

"Do you even know where the physician hides?" Leena whispered.

"I know… ish," Chen Yu said with a wink. "Somewhere beyond the bamboo grove. Relax, I grew up sneaking out of this palace."

But half an hour later, they were hopelessly lost.

The bamboo forest swayed in the wind, whispering like gossiping ghosts.
A branch cracked somewhere behind them.

Leena flinched and grabbed his sleeve.
His grin faltered. "…Okay, maybe not exactly where I thought."

They pressed close to each other as they ducked behind a fallen trunk, listening to the night.
Their shoulders brushed, his breath warm against her temple.
For a fleeting moment, the world was only the thrum of her heart and the scent of pine and ink from his robe.

"You're braver than you look," Chen Yu whispered.

She blinked at him, startled by the softness in his tone—
before snapping her attention back to the rustling bushes.

Before Dawn, at the Palace

Hoofbeats echoed as Li Wei returned with his men, the captured physician bound between two guards.

The Seventh Prince dismounted, his expression unreadable.
The physician trembled, expecting punishment.

Li Wei, however, ignored him.
His first thought was of the small chamber near his own.
Of her.

He strode through the corridor, ignoring the bowing servants, and slid the door open.

Empty.

The bedding was cold.
Maya snored softly on the floor, alone.

A rare, sharp fear pierced his chest.

"…Leena?"

No answer.

His hand curled into a fist.
She wouldn't dare leave the palace… would she?

He turned on his heel, voice cold as steel:

"Seal the gates. Search the forest.
If anyone finds her before me… they answer to me."

Without waiting for an escort, he mounted his black stallion. And in the golden morning light, the Seventh Prince rode out to find Leena himself.