The festival air was thick with the scent of spiced honey and roasted almonds, the streets of the capital alive with laughter, the twinkling lanterns above casting an ethereal glow over the cobbled roads. Among the bustling crowd, a princess moved unnoticed, her silk-cloaked figure blending with the commoners, her golden mask hiding the sharp curiosity in her eyes.

She had always craved glimpses of the world beyond her palace walls—the untamed, unpolished beauty of the streets, the unfiltered voices of her people. But tonight, something else caught her attention.

A man.

Not just any man—a thief, though she did not yet know it.

He stood near a merchant’s stall, hands deftly tucking a stolen apple beneath the folds of his worn tunic. His beauty was near unnatural—tanned skin kissed by the sun, silver hair falling in careless waves, and eyes the color of glacial ice, gleaming like shattered crystal beneath the lantern light. He was both sharp and soft, a contradiction in flesh.

And then, those piercing eyes locked onto hers.

For a moment, he stiffened, his instincts screaming at him to disappear. He was used to being hunted, used to being chased from places where he did not belong. But she did not look at him with disgust. Instead, there was something else in her gaze. Amusement. Intrigue. Perhaps even... kindness.

Gods. She's mesmerizing.