Julian nearly didn’t recognize the princess. The haughty, untouchable sister of the Emperor had been replaced by a hollowed-out shadow. Her skin was a sickly pale, and her frame had grown lean under the weight of her disgrace. After the scandal—the public leak of those devastating photos—she had become the palace’s most hidden shame, a prisoner of her own bloodline.

She chose to hide herself, because how could she go around socializing after she had slept with most of the young noble women’s fiancés and husbands?

As she raised her head, her hollow gaze locked onto Julian’s, and her breath hitched, her entire body freezing mid-step. She stood in front of him, saying absolutely nothing, but there was a sudden, piercing brightness in her eyes—a spark that hadn’t been there a second ago.

Julian felt a familiar, cold prickle in his peripheral vision. He squinted, and the System window flickered to life.

> [Character: Seraphina Viremount — Affection level: 56% — Status: Hidden Gratitude / Intense Observation]

What?

Julian’s heart skipped a beat. 56 percent? It didn’t make sense. The last time he’d seen her, her favorability was a standard, indifferent 7%. In this world, the only people whose favorability climbed above 10 or better still 20 were those he was deeply entwined with, like the Duke, Lucius, and the young royals.

He had hardly interacted with her, and wasn’t even in the ball when her scandal broke, so he couldn’t mistake it that he gave her some word of consolation or handed her a handkerchief that left her yearning for him. He left early, so what was this?

How could a woman he barely knew, the Emperor and the Duke’s own half-sister, harbor such an intense level of favorability? It filled him with a sense of unease. High favorability in a palace full of vipers wasn’t always a blessing.

Especially from someone he least expected.

"Is there a problem, Your Highness?" Rowan asked, his tired voice breaking the heavy silence. He looked between the two.

He wasn’t ready for another drama. He just wanted to be done with the quota for today and go to sleep.

Seraphina didn’t look at Rowan. She didn’t even acknowledge the aide’s presence. She took one last, long look at Julian—a look that felt like she was searching for a savior in a house of executioners—and then simply shook her head. Without a word, she gripped her shawl a little harder and then walked past them, her plain silk skirts fluttering behind her.

Julian watched her go, his mind spinning. Why 56%? Why does she have such a high affection level towards me?

Lucius tugged on his hand, his small face pinched with worry as he sensed Julian’s mounting distress.

"It’s nothing, Lucius," Julian murmured, "Let’s keep going."

They reached the Jade Wing minutes later. It was hauntingly familiar—the scent of the expensive plush carpets of the suite he had occupied before the hunt came crashing like a wave. But as Rowan opened the doors to let them in, the ’hospitality’ turned clearly into a cage.

Four Imperial guards were stationed at the entrance, and two more stood in the garden courtyard outside the balcony window, shutting out all escape routes.

"His Majesty has doubled the guard for your ’comfort,’ Master Astrea," Rowan said, his voice flat and exhausted. He looked at the smear of blood on Julian’s chin and quickly looked away. "I shall have the palace physician sent to see you. Please... do not attempt to leave the wing. For your own safety."

The heavy doors clicked shut, and the sound of the bolt locking them in echoed through the room like a death sentence.

Julian sank onto the edge of the bed, clutching the golden invitation in his shaking hands. Seven days. He had to survive seven days in this room, under the Emperor’s eye, all while his own mind felt like it was splitting apart.

No, the Duke would come before then. He just had to wait.

He pressed his hands together, his knuckles cracking as he contemplated it.

What if the Duke wasn’t able to get them out?

There’s a reason why the system stated seven days. It was certain that Julian would stay in the palace for that long, and there was no force to stop it.

He was worried, scared, and uneasy. The guards outside had not been reinforced for him, but for anyone who would try to break him out. It was such a disaster.

I should’ve listened to Lucien when he told me to sit it out today. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened. But maybe a bigger issue would’ve cropped up since the Emperor had been waiting with the prince and princess.

Ah, the prince and princess, how were they faring after seeing something like that happen? The scene of their father kissing their master despite their mother being ailing in bed must have shocked their faint hearts. He looked at Lucius, who was holding on to him, his face buried. The child was still trembling.

He reached for his hair and realized they had left his boater in the Solvar. Well, it didn’t matter. He stroked the child’s hair, trying to soothe him to sleep in such a chaotic time.

The silence of the Jade Wing was far more oppressive than the noise that could have been made. Every tick of the ornate clock on the mantel felt like a hammer blow against Julian’s temples. He sat on the edge of the bed and then pulled Lucius closer.

"It’s okay," Julian whispered, though his own voice sounded brittle. "We’re safe here for now. The Emperor will not openly harm me, so do not worry, Lucius."

He felt Lucius’s small hands grip the fabric of his coat, the child’s trembling slowly subsiding into a heavy, exhausted slump. The trauma of the Solvar had drained the boy’s spirit.

As Julian stroked his hair, he noticed the faint red marks on Lucius’s knuckles from where he had pounded on the Emperor’s thigh.

A sharp, painful lump formed in Julian’s throat. I was supposed to be the one protecting you, he thought, his own lip stinging as a fresh drop of blood welled from his torn lips, the one the Emperor had bitten.

He felt his stomach retch as he remembered the contact of their lips. He wanted to throw up, but he swallowed it. The Emperor... Just how was he going to escape that madman?