[ No one's POV ]
He didn't mean to follow the boy.
Not this time.
And yet-
There he was.
Half-shrouded in shadows, footsteps noiseless, eyes trained on the boy's every breath as he slipped silently through the hallways like he was born for danger.
The boy didn't see him.
He never did.
But he saw everything.
The way his eyes flicked to corners. The way his fingers hovered just above the wall, as if sensing vibrations. The way his bare feet barely made a sound, like the castle was already learning to love his silence.
He watched the boy enter the hidden library.
He followed him. Silently. Carefully.
And when he dropped low behind that table, heart racing-
His ached.
For no reason.
No logical, rational reason.
And yet, there it was.
The boy chased the girl.
He chased him.
Every turn he took, he marked.
Every beat of his pulse, he memorized.
Every strand of hair that escaped his hood, he committed to eternal memory.
The boy's silhouette was carved into the castle like a blade into flesh.
And when the boy slammed the girl into the wall, cornering her like a predator-
Gods.
His breath caught.
The boy was supposed to be a lamb.
So why did he look so much like a wolf at that moment?
Why did he move like him?
Why did the boy make his chest hurt with things he had long forgotten?
And then she spoke.
"Red thread… Commander… not what he seems…"
He heard it.
And his world tilted.
He should've stepped in. Should've spoken. Should've pulled the boy away, wiped the blood off his hands, and kissed the fear from his lips like it had always belonged to him.
But he didn't.
He simply… watched.
As the boy's face twisted.
As the boy's fingers shook.
As the boy cradled the dead girl like she was a fallen version of himself.
He stepped back.
Farther. Into the shadows.
Away from the boy.
Because if he got closer now-
If he looked into the boy's eyes again-
He wasn't sure he could stop himself from touching him.
From breaking the rules.
From making him remember.
And the boy wasn't ready for that.
Not yet.
But still...
He watched.
And whispered into the dark:
"I will burn this kingdom down before I let him hurt you."