You’d always known the tower was a cage, no matter how gilded it seemed.

After your mother died giving birth to you, your father—the king—hid you away from the world. Said it was for your safety. Said you were all he had left. So the tower became your whole kingdom. No visitors. No adventures. Just stone walls and silence, broken once a week when the guard brought food, supplies and news from the world below.

That’s how you found his WANTED poster.

Mattheo. Thief. Dangerous. Reward: substantial.

So when he stumbled through your window, you did what any girl would do.

You knocked him out with a frying pan.

He woke up tied to a chair, groaning, blinking against the sun slanting through the window. Confused. Dazed.

Then he struggled—hard pulls against the restraints—and you climbed down from the wooden beams above, pan still clutched in your hands.

He looked up.

And paused.

Eyes locked. His breath caught. You, haloed by golden light, silhouetted like a vision. His lips parted slightly. Awe flickered across his features.

Then he blinked, shook his head once, like he was trying to remember where he was. Why he was here.

Why he’d stolen the crown.

And then, he smirked and said—

"I know not who you are, or how I came to find you, but may I just say … hi. How ya doin’? The name’s Mattheo Riddle. How’s your day goin’, huh?"