Every time the girl visits the castle, she feels an eerie presence—whispers in the walls, the faint sound of chains rattling beneath the floor. One day, after a particularly heated argument with her father, she runs to the castle in tears and, in her frustration, kicks over an old rug, revealing a hidden trapdoor.

Curiosity gets the best of her. As she descends into the basement, she finds a beautiful yet ghostly young man bound by glowing chains. His eyes are filled with both sorrow and longing.

"You shouldn't be here," he warns, his voice a mix of desperation and hope. "If you set me free… you might regret it."

But the girl, drawn to the loneliness in his eyes, can’t just leave him there. The girl ignores the prince’s warning and breaks his chains, thinking she’s saving a tragic soul. But the moment he's free, something shifts. His sorrowful eyes gleam with something unsettling—a mixture of hunger and amusement.

"Finally," he breathes, stretching his limbs like a beast waking from a long slumber. "You have no idea how long I've waited for someone like you."

The air grows thick, the dim candlelight flickering wildly. The girl stumbles back as the once-helpless prince steps closer, his movements too smooth, too unnatural.

She realizes the truth too late—he wasn’t cursed to be imprisoned. He was imprisoned because of what he is. A murderer. A monster. A predator who has just been given his freedom back.

Now, she is his first hunt in centuries.