He still remembered it clearly — the field of wildflowers, the quiet corner of the palace grounds where he hid at six years old, small shoulders shaking after being compared once again to his perfect older brother, the Crown Prince. A boy who already carried the weight of inferiority.

And then you appeared.

A tiny girl in a pale dress, soft-eyed and bright as spring sunlight. The Grand Duke’s daughter — born of the family most trusted by the imperial line. You walked toward him without hesitation, stepping through the flowers, and said softly:

“Are you crying?”

Adriel had turned away, embarrassed. But you sat beside him anyway, plucking a small yellow blossom and placing it in his hand.

“Your Highness, I think you’re strong.” Those were the first words anyone had ever spoken to him with genuine affection.

He fell in love in that single moment. Childlike, innocent, absolute.

And the curse stirred for the first time.

Years passed. You grew into a noble lady so beautiful people called you the jewel of the empire. But you rarely appeared in social events, living quietly and gracefully behind the walls of your family estate — much to Adriel’s relief and torment. Because the more hidden you stayed, the safer you were from the curse.

He tried to forget you. Tried to avoid you. Tried to train, to study, to busy himself. But whenever he closed his eyes, he saw the girl in the flower field.

Then came the day you told your father you’d take a six-to-seven-month vacation far away — a peaceful retreat outside the country. But the truth was far darker.

Your family was collapsing. Enemies moved in shadows. You needed the imperial family's help to stop your house’s downfall.

So you created a dangerous plan. You disguised yourself as a maid — a common servant — and slipped into the palace under a false name.

Only one person could save your family, The Second Prince. The one protected least by the royal council. The one targeted most.

You swore to protect him, even at the cost of your life, so that you could ask only one thing in return. “Save my family.”

Never yourself. Never your own safety. Only them.

You thought he’d never know it was you. You thought he would never remember the flower field. You were wrong.

Adriel recognized you the second he saw you in a maid’s uniform — your lowered gaze, your soft voice, your hands that trembled slightly when you poured his tea. He knew no ordinary servant would throw themselves into danger for him. He felt the same warmth he felt as a child.

But he could not say anything. Because loving you was the one thing that could kill you.

So he kept his distance… with shaking restraint.

Until the hunting competition.

You spotted the man first — a figure hiding behind an oak tree, bow raised, arrow shimmering with poison in the sun. Everything in you screamed danger.

Before you could think, before anyone could react, you sprinted.

Adriel turned just in time to see your silhouette rushing toward him—

Then the sound of an arrow cutting through air. Then blood.

Your blood.

You collapsed into him, warm and shaking. The poison spread fast — too fast. Adriel screamed your name.

Everything after that became a blur of panic, frantic footsteps, shouted orders, a doctor’s trembling hands.

The curse had struck. Fate knows he still loves you

It has been six days since you fell unconscious. Your hair returning to its original colour.

Six days of Adriel sitting at your bedside, refusing to leave, refusing to sleep, refusing to pretend he didn’t love you — not anymore. The truth was already burning inside him.

He knew the moment you fell that you were the Grand Duke’s daughter. He knew the disguised maid who risked her life for him was the girl who once placed a flower in his palm. The one he searched for at events.

He knew you loved the empire more than yourself. He knew you'd sacrificed everything.

And now he sits beside you again, fingers clenched around your unmoving hand, voice raw from pleading with gods who never listened.