Princess Celestine knew she was risking everything.

She was secretly meeting Prince Adrian.

The king’s younger brother.

A forbidden romance inside the royal palace.

If King Edmund discovered them, their lives would never be the same.

But neither Celestine nor Adrian understood the truth.

Someone wanted them to be discovered.

And their affair was only the beginning.

It was midnight when Celestine secretly met Adrian on a secluded balcony.

The palace was almost completely silent.

Moonlight spilled across the marble floor.

Candles flickered behind the tall windows.

Adrian closed the balcony doors.

He looked into Celestine’s emerald eyes.

“If the king discovers us, we’re both finished.”

Celestine stepped closer.

“Then don’t let him discover us.”

Adrian knew they should leave.

He knew his brother was the king.

He knew the consequences would be devastating.

But he couldn’t walk away.

They kissed.

For a few precious seconds, the kingdom disappeared.

There was no crown.

No throne.

No royal family.

Only them.

Then a shadow moved behind the curtains.

Celestine immediately pulled away.

Adrian turned.

“We’re not alone.”

They searched the balcony.

Nothing.

The shadow was gone.

But the witness had already seen enough.

Before sunrise, a sealed envelope appeared on King Edmund’s desk.

Inside were photographs.

Celestine and Adrian.

Together.

Holding hands.

Meeting in secret.

And finally…

Kissing.

Edmund stared at the photographs.

His expression was terrifyingly calm.

Then he turned over the final photograph.

A message had been written on the back.

“YOUR BROTHER ISN’T THE REAL TARGET.”

Edmund’s eyes widened.

He understood immediately.

Someone hadn’t simply discovered the affair.

Someone had documented it.

Someone had waited.

Someone had collected evidence.

And someone had deliberately sent it to him.

The question was why.

The answer came the following evening.

At the royal banquet.

Hundreds of nobles gathered inside the magnificent hall.

Celestine sat among the royal family.

Adrian stood nearby.

Neither knew what Edmund had discovered.

Then the king rose from his throne.

The music stopped.

Every noble turned toward him.

Edmund held the photograph in his hand.

“I know about the affair.”

Silence.

Celestine froze.

Adrian looked at his brother.

Whispers spread through the hall.

Everyone expected punishment.

Adrian expected his brother to condemn him.

Celestine expected her entire future to collapse.

But Edmund didn’t order their arrest.

Instead, he walked toward Adrian.

He handed him the photograph.

“But you were never the real traitor.”

Adrian stared at him.

“What?”

Edmund turned toward the royal council.

“Someone wanted us to believe my brother betrayed me.”

The room fell silent.

Celestine looked at Edmund.

“What are you saying?”

Edmund raised the photograph.

“This was never meant to expose an affair.”

He looked around the room.

“It was meant to control my reaction.”

Then—

Every candle went out.

Darkness swallowed the banquet hall.

The palace doors slammed shut.

BOOM.

Hidden guards appeared from behind the pillars.

They surrounded the nobles.

Steel flashed in the darkness.

Edmund drew his sword.

“Nobody leaves.”

The nobles began panicking.

But then something even more terrifying happened.

Several aristocrats calmly reached beneath their coats.

Weapons appeared.

Celestine’s heart stopped.

They weren’t guests.

They were conspirators.

Edmund slowly turned toward one of his most trusted ministers.

“You.”

The minister smiled.

“You finally understand.”

Adrian stepped forward.

“You planned this?”

The minister laughed.

“You were never the target.”

Edmund’s expression hardened.

“Then who was?”

The minister looked toward Celestine.

Her blood ran cold.

“Her.”

Celestine stared at him.

“Me?”

The minister nodded.

“The secret meetings.”

“The balcony.”

“The photographs.”

“All of it.”

Adrian looked at Celestine.

“What is he talking about?”

The minister smiled.

“We needed the king distracted.”

“We needed the royal family divided.”

“And we needed everyone to believe the king’s younger brother had betrayed him.”

Celestine suddenly understood.

The affair had been real.

But the discovery had been engineered.

Someone had been watching them.

Someone had been guiding the evidence.

Someone had wanted Edmund to become angry at Adrian.

Because while the king was focused on his brother…

The real conspiracy could move unnoticed.

Celestine whispered:

“The affair was never the scandal…”

Edmund looked at her.

“It was the bait.”

Suddenly, the banquet hall exploded into chaos.

Hidden weapons appeared everywhere.

Royal guards charged the conspirators.

Nobles screamed.

Tables overturned.

Glass shattered across the floor.

Adrian drew his sword and moved toward Celestine.

“Stay behind me!”

She grabbed a fallen royal dagger.

“No.”

Adrian looked at her.

Celestine tightened her grip.

“If they’re using me as bait…”

She looked toward the minister.

“…then I’m going to find out why.”

Edmund heard her.

For the first time, the king looked at Celestine not as a princess caught in a scandal…

But as someone who might hold the key to the entire conspiracy.

The minister laughed.

“You still don’t understand.”

Edmund raised his sword.

“Then explain.”

The minister shook his head.

“I don’t need to.”

He smiled.

“Because the real mastermind already has what he wanted.”

Edmund’s expression changed.

“What?”

The minister looked toward the palace floor.

A deep rumbling sound echoed beneath them.

Everyone stopped.

The stone beneath the banquet hall began glowing.

Ancient symbols appeared.

Celestine stared at the floor.

“What is that?”

The minister smiled.

“The reason you were brought here.”

A massive symbol appeared beneath Celestine.

She stepped backward.

Adrian grabbed her hand.

“Celestine…”

The royal palace began shaking.

Edmund looked around in horror.

The conspiracy wasn’t about stealing the throne.

It wasn’t about destroying the royal family.

It wasn’t even about the affair.

The affair had been a distraction.

A carefully constructed trap.

And Celestine…

Was the key.

The palace walls cracked.

The banquet hall doors exploded open.

A deep voice echoed from somewhere beneath the kingdom.

“Finally.”

Everyone froze.

Celestine looked toward the darkness.

“Who are you?”

No answer came.

Only a second voice.

Closer this time.

“Ask your king why your name was written in the royal prophecy.”

Celestine turned toward Edmund.

The king’s face went pale.

Adrian looked at his brother.

“You knew?”

Edmund said nothing.

Celestine’s heart sank.

There was another secret.

A secret even the king had hidden from her.

The affair had been bait.

The conspiracy was real.

The minister was only one piece.

And now Celestine had discovered the most terrifying question of all:

Why had the conspirators needed her in the first place?

The answer was waiting beneath the palace.

And whatever was down there…

Had been expecting her.