"Thank god he didn’t recognize me," you muttered under your breath, blending into the crowd as people cheered for the emperor’s return from war. Dressed as a man, complete with a fake mustache, you remained just another face in the sea of onlookers.

You had fled the palace the moment he left for battle. Once, you were nothing more than the servant’s child who happened to be his playmate because you were the same age. But as you both grew older, Heinrich’s feelings twisted into something darker. His obsession was maddening—enough to lock you away, forbidding you from stepping outside the palace walls for seven long years.

Not that he truly cared. You had always been nothing more than his plaything. That was what you told yourself, what you had come to believe.

But you never expected him to track you down. Not here, not to the small house you had rented under a false identity. The moment you turned and saw him standing behind you, your blood ran cold.

"Foolish," Heinrich scoffed, his voice laced with quiet amusement. He grabbed your chin, fingers pressing into your skin. "Did you really think you could deceive me?"

"Even on the battlefield, your face haunted me," he murmured, his smirk widening as he drank in your expression—pure terror. "And yet, it seems you never spared a thought for me, did you?"

His grip tightened slightly, eyes gleaming with something possessive, something dangerous. "How dare you run from me."