The days following the royal banquet settled into a deceptive calm.
Though the halls of Duke Drime's estate gleamed with their usual pristine elegance, tension wove through the air like invisible threads. Whispers scurried through the corridors, and servants exchanged wary glances, for something unspoken hung over the noble house like a gathering storm.
Prince Aldric, ever the calculating serpent, wasted no time.
Gifts arrived daily at Lady Maliny's quarters: a necklace of pale blue sapphires said to have belonged to a sea queen, an exquisitely carved harp that played notes without a touch, and rare perfumes from the southern isles. Each offering was accompanied by a letter penned in Aldric's precise, sloping hand — his words a delicate dance of flattery and subtle claim.
But Maliny… remained distant.
Maliny accepted each offering with the same graceful politeness — neither cold nor warm. Her pale, blind eyes betrayed nothing. Her words were gentle, yet held a distance that stung like frost.
And that… drove Alrice into a fury.
⸻
Inside his chamber, the prince's rage finally snapped.
With a howl of anger, he hurled a heavy silver goblet against the wall. It struck a mirror, shattering both with a ringing crash. A nearby servant flinched, trembling as glass scattered across the floor.
"How… dare she." Alrice's voice was a growl now, his handsome features twisted into something cruel.
"A blind, useless little thing… duke's house shame … and she dares ignore me?"
He turned on the hapless servant, advancing like a predator.
"Tell me — how does she get away with this? Hmm?"
The young man stammered, his face pale.
"M-my lord… the Lady Maliny is favorite by former Duke Drime, she the younger sister of Master Leonardo the young duke. N-no one crosses them, sire."
The words only fanned the prince's fury.
He grabbed the servant by the collar and shoved him against the wall.
"I am the crown prince, you simpering fool. I should not have to beg for a cripple's attention!"
He spat the last word, his pride bleeding.
Letting the servant crumple to the ground, Alrice paced the room like a caged beast.
"No matter," he growled, eyes gleaming.
"Sooner or later, even the Duke's precious doll will realize what it means to defy a prince."
And as the days passed, another shadow stirred in the depths of the estate.
Druvok — the growing uneasy feeling in his chest he can't name it but he hate when another male show attention for Maliny… he doesn't understand why.
He told himself it was because of pity.
Because Maliny was vulnerable, and it was he doesn't like she weak people in need. He try to convince himself even when his excuses make no sense.
But in the dead of night, when the halls were silent and the wind howled against the ancient stone, Druvok would find his thoughts wandering. To her.
To the way her blonde silvery hair caught the light, how her blind eyes seemed to pierce deeper than sight allowed, how her voice could still the ache in his heart without even trying.
And so, one moonless night, driven by a restless need he refused to name, Druvok made his decision.
⸻
"Come," he growled softly at her chamber door.
Maliny, sitting by her window with the scent of night-blooming lilac surrounding her, tilted her head.
"Where?" she asked, her voice as quiet as a breath of wind.
"You'll see," Druvok muttered, already wrapping a thick velvet cloak around her slender shoulders.
Not waiting for protest, he hold her in his arms — hold her cool and impossibly soff body against his rough solid one. He carry her through the forest in immortal speed till they arrive.
Ancient trees leaned over the path like guardians, their branches shivering against the stars. The earth was soft beneath their feet, the air filled with the scent of moss and damp leaves. Somewhere in the distance, an owl called out, and the faint rush of water could be heard beyond the trees.
Druvok led her to a clearing beside a hidden lake — a silver mirror cradled by the woods.
Its surface was so still it reflected the sky like glass, scattered with starlight.
"Stay here."
Maliny tilted her head again, a faint smile ghosting her lips. She didn't ask why.
Somehow, she trusted him.
Druvok turned toward the lake and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting with absolutely no reverence:
"Oi! Sea bastard! Show yourself, you slimy, preening fish!"
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then, the water rippled.
A soft swirl at first, then a shimmer like liquid silver.
From the depths, a figure emerged — rising slowly until the moonlight caught on skin like polished pearl.
A young man, impossibly beautiful in the way only non-human creatures could be. Hair a cascade of shimmering silver, eyes deep as the midnight sea, a lean, sculpted body half submerged in the water.
Radiel, the sea siren.
He smirked lazily at the sight of Druvok and leaned an elbow on a rock.
"Still as graceless as ever, Druvok," Radiel purred, voice like water over smooth stones.
"And who, pray, is this delicate creature? Your mate?"
His gaze slid to Maliny, lingering with open appreciation.
"Even an green goblin like you who spent his life in battlefield seems, has good taste in women."
Druvok turned an alarming shade of crimson and, without thinking, hit his fit at Radiel's head.
It struck with a dull thud, water splashing.
The sea siren laughed, hair plastered wetly against his brow.
"Temper, temper… I was merely complimenting your impeccable judgment."
He turned fully to face Maliny, his expression softening.
"And what's your name, little star?"
"I am Maliny of House Drime," she answered, her voice calm but carrying a strength that made Radiel blink.
He could sense something unusual about her. Not just her blindness — but the stillness within her. A presence.
Before he could comment, Druvok interjected gruffly:
"She's blind, idiot. But her ears work fine. I brought her here for a song."
Radiel raised a brow.
"And what's in it for me?"
Typical.
Druvok groaned and rummaged through his pouch, producing a jewel the size of a quail's egg — a polished opal catching the starlight.
He tossed it at Radiel.
"Take it, you greedy fish. Now sing."
Radiel caught it easily, examining it between two fingers. He smiled.
"That'll do."
Then he closed his eyes and began.
The melody was not of this world.
It started as a hum — deep, ancient, older than the trees and the mountains. A song of tides, of lost cities beneath the waves, of sorrow, of love long drowned.
His voice wove through the night air, shimmering, wrapping around them like silk.
Maliny felt it first.
The vibration in her bones.
A sadness so beautiful it made her chest ache.
Without thinking, Druvok sat beside her, pulling her gently into his side.
She rested her head against his massive shoulder, and he, in turn, draped an arm around her waist, holding her closer than he had ever dared.
Neither spoke.
The song filled the space between them.
It spoke of the sea's endless longing, of a sky forever out of reach, of a heart waiting on the shore for a ship that would never return.
Maliny's lips curved in a small, wistful smile.
For once, she did not feel the constant weight of being watched, judged, pitied.
Here, in this ancient, forgotten place…
she was just a woman, listening to a beautiful, aching melody with a rough, loyal friend beside her.
And Druvok — who had thought his heart long turned to stone — felt it crack.
The world didn't feel so cruel.
Not in this moment.
When Radiel's voice finally faded, the forest seemed to hold its breath.
Maliny spoke softly:
"It was beautiful. Thank you, Radiel."
The sea siren smiled, strangely gentle.
"For you, little star… always."
Then he vanished beneath the water, leaving only ripples.
Druvok didn't move.
His arm still around her, her head still on his shoulder.
In the hush of the night, neither of them needed to fill the silence.
Because something unspoken passed between them — fragile and unnamed, but real.
And for Druvok…
it was terrifying.
Because for the first time since the wars, since the bloodshed, since he'd lost everything…
he didn't want to be alone.