His grip tightened around her arm, keeping her from pulling away.
“Kidnap?”
His voice dropped, though he remained perfectly composed.
“I have no reason to abduct a stranger.
You are worthless to me.”
“W-Worthless?”
Her voice trembled with disbelief.
“Why are you insulting me?
I didn’t even speak rudely to you.”
She tried to pull her arm free.
The sheets shifted beneath her as she moved, rustling softly in the otherwise quiet room.
Eryndor did not let go.
“You appeared in my chambers without explanation,” he said calmly.
“If anyone should be demanding answers, it is I.”
His voice seemed even colder against the silence.
He studied her for a moment.
‘She knows nothing of this?
Either an elaborate act…
or genuine ignorance.’
The thought lingered as he watched her swallow nervously.
“What does that have to do with me?
If I really ended up here on my own, then how did I get here?”
Her voice grew more frantic.
“You said you’re a king, right?
Then you have guards, and this is your palace.
You’re telling me I somehow entered your kingdom, reached your private chambers, and ended up in your bed without anyone noticing?”
Her words spilt out faster now.
She glanced around helplessly.
The unfamiliar room offered no answers.
Tall walls surrounded her, dimly lit by the muted glow filtering through the curtains.
Somewhere beyond them, the faint movement travelled through the palace.
“If you didn’t bring me here, shouldn’t you be questioning your guards instead of me?”
Eryndor clearly didn’t like what she said.
She was shifting the blame onto innocent elves now.
“And you presume to lecture me about my own guards?”
“I-I didn’t try to lecture you!”
She immediately shook her head.
“I was only trying to explain.
If I really came here on my own, then how could I have gotten past all your guards?”
She glanced down at her clothes.
“I’m not even dressed like you.
Our clothes are completely different…”
Her eyes accidentally landed on his slightly bare chest as his robe was loosely draped over his shoulder.
She immediately covered them with both hands.
“S-Sorry.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Only the faint movement of fabric could be heard as she shifted awkwardly.
Eryndor stared at her.
Then she remembered something else.
“S-Stench?”
She lowered her hands, looking genuinely alarmed.
“I showered today!
How could I possibly smell that bad?”
She started sniffing herself, then checked her clothes with growing confusion.
Eryndor tracked her movements for any hidden weapons she might pull out with this absurd excuse.
The faint scent of incense lingered in the air, rich with warm sandalwood and a subtle sweetness.
Carried by the cool breeze slipping through the curtains, it drifted quietly around them.
“And what does my scent have to do with anything, anyway?”
Her voice softened.
“Just…
let me go, please.
I want to go home.
I need to find my way back.”
Eryndor watched her in silence.
The desperation in her voice didn’t fit the image of a spy.
Too confused.
Too careless with her words.
And yet…
Something about her still did not fit.
“Humans exist here,” he said.
She tried to hide the relief in her expression.
“They are not welcome in Aelthara.
Their scent is usually unmistakable.”
His gaze lingered on her face.
“If you’re one of them, I’ll know soon enough.”
She frowned.
“What does that even mean?”
Eryndor did not answer immediately.
His attention shifted.
Something about her scent had bothered him from the moment he first noticed her.
It was unfamiliar.
Not the scent of an Elf.
But not quite human, either.
The cool air moved through the room again, stirring a loose strand of her blue hair across her cheek.
Eryndor’s gaze followed it.
Then he leaned closer.
Veyra froze.
She instinctively pulled back, the mattress dipping slightly beneath her weight.
“N-No…
that’s improper.
Please stop.”
She lowered her gaze.
Eryndor ignored her reaction.
He drew in a careful breath.
The room fell quiet around them.
Something in his expression shifted.
Only slightly.
He drew another careful breath.
The unfamiliar scent was still there, faint beneath everything else.
But something else lingered underneath.
Faint.
Almost buried.
But unmistakable.
His jaw tightened.
“That scent…”
His voice dropped into a quiet, dangerous calm.
He leaned closer once more.
Veyra stiffened.
Then his attention caught on her hair.
He reached toward it and pushed it aside, revealing the rounded ear beneath.
The movement exposed the smooth curve of her ear beneath the strands of blue.
For a brief moment, something dark crossed his expression.
Then it vanished.
Human.
There was no mistaking it now.
“Human.”
Veyra stared at him.
“What?”
Eryndor’s gaze remained fixed on her.
“Your ears are round.”
He paused.
“And your scent confirms it.”
The suspicion deepened, and he grew colder.
“You’re human.”
“If you’re human, then your appearance was never the real question to begin with.
A human inside my chambers can only mean one of two things—a spy…
or an assassin.”
She shook her head quickly.
“N-No, I’m not a spy!
I-I don’t even know your name…”
The mattress shifted again as she tried to retreat.
Eryndor’s hand caught her wrist.
“Perhaps you’re enchanted.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Or perhaps you’re the most foolish spy I’ve ever encountered.”
“Enchanted?”
She tilted her head in confusion.
“What does that mean?”
He ignored the question.
Instead, he studied her again.
Her expression.
Her clothes.
Her ears.
Everything about her.
None of it explained how she had appeared inside his private chambers.
“How did you enter Aelthara?”
“I don’t know!”
“How did you reach this palace?”
“I don’t know!”
“How did you get into my chambers?”
“I already told you—I don’t know!”
Her voice cracked.
“I just want to go home!”
The words echoed faintly against the stone walls before disappearing into the quiet.
Eryndor’s grip tightened.
“No one enters my private chambers without a reason.”
His voice grew colder.
“And you expect me to believe that you simply appeared here?”
She stared at him helplessly.
“I don’t know what happened!”
His eyes hardened.
“Then give me one reason not to send you to the dungeons.”
Her face went pale.
“What is a dungeon?”
For a moment, Eryndor simply stared at her.
She truly did not know.
Tears began to fall again as the seriousness of the situation finally overwhelmed her.
“I really didn’t mean to do anything!”
She struggled to keep her voice steady.
“I don’t know what I did wrong.
I’m sorry if I upset you…
I just…”
Her voice faded.
She looked around helplessly at the unfamiliar room, at the unfamiliar walls, at the man whose world she did not understand.
“I want to go home, please.”
Her voice became smaller.
Outside the room, something moved in the distance.
Then silence returned.
“I don’t even know where I am.”