Jasmina walked fast through the east corridor, clutching the stack of documents to her chest.
Third route shift this month.
The order said “deliver to the west wing.”
It was embarrassing to admit, but she missed her friends.
Lyra who shared her bread.
Ava who covered for her when she was late.
But most of all, she missed Finn.
Finn with his buzzing, cheerful behavior who made jokes even when they had to stay up all night.
The palace felt colder without him.
Her steps echoed against marble.
That was the only sound.
She turned the corner and stopped breathing.
A man stood ahead.
Silver hair fell to his shoulders.
Silver eyes stared straight into hers.
Not at her.
Into her.
Like he could see the spy she was trying to hide.
Jasmina’s pendant burned cold against her chest.
It started reacting in a strange way, pulsing once… twice… like a warning.
Her breath caught.
The man didn’t blink.
His lips parted, but no sound came out.
Yet Jasmina heard it anyway, clear as thought:
Run.
“What are you doing here?”
The voice was cold.
Cutting.
Jasmina spun, heart in her throat.
Adrian stood behind her.
The king’s advisor.
Cold eyes, cold face, but there was something about the way he looked at her that made her pulse jump.
“I-I was asked to deliver a file,” she stammered, holding up the documents.
She turned back fast.
The corridor was empty.
No silver hair.
No silver eyes.
Just cold light through tall windows and her own shaky reflection.
Like he’d never existed.
Strange, she thought, fingers tightening on the pendant until it hurt.
She was sure she saw a person there.
A person there, a minute ago.
Adrian stepped closer.
“You’re lying.”
Jasmina sighed.
“Never mind,” she said, turning to continue down the hall.
But then she stopped. Find the original chapter at g.com.
She spun back.
“By the way, Cold Man,” she said, and immediately regretted the rudeness.
But she was tired.
“Why are you always everywhere? Are you perhaps the king’s advisor?”
Adrian repeated slowly, “Cold Man… the king’s advisor?” The corner of his mouth twitched.
“Oo, don’t mind my rudeness,” Jasmina said quickly, heat rising to her face.
“I don’t know your name. I didn’t think a lowly maid should ask.”
Jasmina flushed.
Right.
She overstepped.
Maids didn’t question him.
“My name is Adrian,” he replied, watching her.
His voice was still cold, but his eyes… his eyes stayed on her face a second too long.
“Adrian…” Jasmina repeated under her breath, testing the weight of it.
The name felt dangerous.
Like the palace itself.but why does the name ring a bell in her mind.
She bowed her head and hurried away, pendant still cold against her skin.
But she didn’t miss how Adrian’s gaze followed her until she turned the corner.
Footsteps echoed behind her.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
Adrian’s.
Jasmina didn’t turn.
If he saw her pale face… if he asked about the pendant…
“Girl,” his voice was ice at her back.
“Who were you talking to?”
Jasmina forced herself to turn.
Adrian’s gold eyes scanned her face, cold and sharp.
Looking for lies.
There was an authority in his stare that made her want to kneel.
“N-No one, Your Majesty—” She caught herself.
“I mean, sir. Just… shadows from the window.”
He studied her pendant.
It had gone still now, cold against her skin.
For three heartbeats he said nothing.
Then he walked past her without another word.
Jasmina exhaled only when his footsteps faded.
Her legs shook.
The palace was playing tricks on her mind.
“Of the name… why does the name ring a bell in her mind?” she wondered again, touching the pendant.
“Jasmina.”
She jumped.
Adrian stood at the corner, arms crossed.
That same cold expression, but up close he was… unfairly attractive.
Sharp jaw.
Tall.
The kind of cold that ruled.
“Okay, sir Adrian, I will be on my way,” she said quickly, dropping into a curtsy.
“Wait,” Adrian called out.
He stepped closer, voice dropping low.
“Meet me at the fountain in the north part of the palace. By midnight.”
Jasmina’s blood froze.
“But… that place is restricted. Guards patrol there.”
“I gave you the order,” Adrian said flat.
“Make sure you are there.”
O-Okay,” she said, rolling her eyes when he turned away.
As she walked back to her work, she didn’t refuse.
Because she thought: if she befriended Adrian, he might be a good source of information.
Especially about the kingdom and the king.
Not knowing Adrian WAS the king.
Adrian waited behind as he stared at the place Jasmina said she saw a man.
His lips pulled into a slow smirk.
“Come out, Luka. Why hiding?”
Suddenly, a man figure started to materialize back to the hall.
Silver hair.
Silver eyes.
The same man Jasmina had seen.
“When did you start hiding?” Adrian said, arms crossed.
“The last time you came, you flirted with almost half of the girls in this palace.”
“I know, I know right,” Luka replied, smirk lazy.
“But this time, there is something different with this girl.”
Adrian frowned.
“Different how?”
“And also she look familiar,” Luka said, stepping closer.
“She look like the daughter of the Ocean Lord. The one that went missing 18 year ago, but this one look younger.”
“Rumor did say, she was with child then,” Adrian said quietly.
***
But in his mind, Adrian was actually thinking of what Jasmina truly was.
And what Luka just told him added to his suspicion.
He had clearly seen Jasmina use an unknown power that day in the alley.
But what he saw was ice, not water.
Mer creatures could control water.
Materialize it, bend it, command it.
If Jasmina was truly the daughter of the runaway Ocean Princess, why would she be controlling ice and not water?
The only person that he knew could control ice right now was Luka.
So, was Jasmina also connected with Luka and the Northern region?
Adrian brushed it off.
“Not my business,” he thought.
But deep down, he had started to show more attention to that girl.
Who somehow, had her way of being bold and noticed.
“But am not sure,” Luka chipped in, voice turning playful.
“So what fun are we doing this week, he said, quite amuse, I can’t wait to dance with beautiful ladys.”
Adrian scoffed as he walked away from the annoying man he called a friend.
But his hand tightened on the file Jasmina was supposed to deliver.