" Why are you like this ? " Jasper thought as soon Tessa left his chamber. The door closed softly behind her, leaving a faint echo that lingered longer than it should have.
For a moment, Jasper didn't move. His eyes remained fixed on the door where Tessa had stood just seconds ago. The candlelight flickered — one flame, restless like the ache in his chest.
He let out a slow breath and leaned back against the couch, staring blankly at the empty bowl of soup she'd brought. The scent of herbs and warmth still lingered in the air, mocking the cold weight pressing inside him.
"She never listens," he muttered under his breath. But there was no irritation in his voice — only something quieter, heavier.
He pressed his fingers to his temples. "Doesn't she understand that it's for her safety? Why does it matter if she does or not?"
He had asked himself that question more than once lately. Why did her smile disarm him? Why did her presence carry a strange warmth? Why did her recklessness make his heart pound harder than any battle ever had?
" I brought her with me for the sake of her safety... She is a mere human will not power.. why doesn't she understand how powerless she is here where hunters will not think twice before sacrificing her in the dark magic ritual just to gain little bit of power for their benefit? ... She would surely die that night if I.....uhhh..." He let a sigh out again while putting his arm in the forehead.
He shouldn't care.
And yet, every time she defied his orders just to check on him, every time she looked at him like he wasn't a stranger prince from a different world but a man — it broke something carefully built inside him.
"Naive girl," he whispered. "You don't even realize what kind of world you're walking into."
His gaze drifted toward the window, where the moon rested like silver glass over the quiet palace grounds. Somewhere beyond those walls, the hunters lurked, watching, waiting — but it wasn't them that unsettled him most tonight. It was her.
Tessa Malven — the human from a different world who spoke to him as if titles meant nothing. Who argued with him. Who smiled at him like she could see past his scars and his crown and the centuries of wishes behind his name.
And the worst part?
He didn't hate it.
Jasper ran a hand through his hair and laughed under his breath — a dry, humorless sound. "She said I was important… just as I am."
Those words shouldn't have meant anything. They should've passed like air. But instead, they had lodged themselves deep — in a place no blade, no spell, no duty could reach.
He had been loved before — by his people, his soldiers, the empire itself. But never like this. Never for him. He does have multiple flaws he tries his best to hide , while presenting the best of him in front of everyone. He closed his eyes. A strange warmth spread in his chest — painful, foreign, dangerous.
"I should send her back," he murmured. "Before it's too late."
But even as he said it, he knew he wouldn't.
He thought of how she had stood before him last time — trembling, defiant, but fearless — and something inside him tightened. He faintly remembered the figure of Tessa in the last fight when she stabbed the hunter from behind....
Jasper looked down at his hand — the same hand that had once taken countless fights against hunters , now trembling slightly.
He clenched it into a fist. "Do I really...."
A knock sounded on the door.
"Your Highness," came Alex's voice from the other side. "The spies have returned from the western border. There's… something you should know."
Jasper straightened immediately, all traces of softness gone. The Crown Prince replaced the man in a heartbeat.
"Bring the report to my study," he ordered.
"As you command."
When Alex's footsteps faded, Jasper turned one last time to the untouched soup and smiled faintly — the kind of smile that carried both warmth and warning.
"She's trouble," he whispered, almost fondly. "Beautiful, dangerous trouble."
And then he left the room, unaware that fate had already begun to weave a story that would mirror one from centuries past — one born from love, blood, and a grave that should never have been disturbed.
....
The hunters' base was buried beneath the ruins of an abandoned hut deep in the forbidden forest. Shadows clung to the corners, and the smell of damp earth mixed with old fire smoke. It was a place few dared enter, and fewer still returned from. Xar paced in front of the table, the riddle carefully laid out on the rough wooden surface:
"Beneath the rose that never dies,
Lies she who taught the dead to cry."
He tapped the parchment with a gloved finger. "It's no ordinary riddle. The demon lord is too much I swear. What he thought of us? Some typical intelligent scholar?… "
Oes leaned against the wall, arms folded, his pale eyes cold. "And that's supposed to be my problem?"
"Maybe it's not," Xar said smoothly, "but you're the only one here who can actually make sense of it. The rest of us would just break things and set the forest on fire."
Oes's gaze didn't move from the shadows. "I'm not a riddle solver, Xar. I'm not chasing after ghosts. I'm already busy in my assigned task to prepare more weapons."
Xar tilted his head, his voice dropping softer, more deliberate. "Do you even remember your brother?"
Oes's jaw clenched. Silence stretched thick, almost choking.
"You lost him on that world, and see everyone already forgot about him huh! ,"
Oes looked at Xar . " Stop it Xar. Don't put fuel in fire"
Xar continued. "I'm just trying to stir your memory. Demon lord said that this riddle… is the key to reach the book . Master was very impatient about it I swear. If we succeed, your brother's soul maybe finally find peace."
Oes didn't speak. He only stared at the riddle, tracing the words with his eyes.
"Beneath the rose that never dies…'" he muttered to himself, his voice low, cautious. "Could be a place, or a symbol… a tomb, perhaps… but I can't know for sure. And 'she who taught the dead to cry'… that's someone. Someone alive once, someone important."
Xar leaned closer, his grin curling into shadowed corners of the candlelight. "Exactly. But no one here knows what it is. "
" The book must be hidden in something which belongs to someone... Probably this she is her .."
"No one know. And that's why you're the key. You think, you research, you connect the dots. That's all I need."
Oes finally straightened, his pale eyes darkening. "It's not something I can solve in a day. I'll need time… maybe several nights. I'll study the riddle, the history, the locations… and see if I can figure out what or who it's pointing to. But don't expect results immediately."
Xar's grin widened. "Time is what I have. So take your time brother. And when you find the answer, everything changes."
Oes rolled up the parchment carefully and tucked it into his coat. "Whatever this is… tell master I will try . "
" Yes, yes, master and I both know you can do it . If I can be in master's good eye , I swear I will help you to solve your purpose. "
" Master's good eye! I guess you are forgetting Kael is still alive ."
" Being alive doesn't mean being in authority my friend. In his leadership, we already failed an important mission and lost many of our manpower. It's just the matter of time before someone else replace him .... And if that one could be me....then.."
" I hope you can remind your promise. "
As Oes left , Xar muttered to the flickering candlelight:
"Beneath the rose that never dies…*tsk tsk * Oes my dear friend.. I know how to wake you up. Let's see your capability." his sinister laugh made the environment more creepy than the darkness itself.