The chirping of crickets blended with the steady patter of hooves against the dirt path.

Eric and Drac rode the same horse, its pace unhurried, while Lysanne kept alongside them on Angus. The night stretched quietly around them, heavy with unspoken tension.

None of them spoke after leaving the clearing.

Lysanne’s grip on the reins tightened.

She didn’t want to disappoint her father but here they were.

"Miss Lysanne."

She flinched at Eric’s voice.

"Y–Yes, Your Highness."

Eric studied her for a moment, his expression calm but attentive, as though he were piecing something together rather than passing judgment.

"I would like an explanation," he said evenly, "about what is going on here."

Lysanne lowered her gaze. For a moment, she said nothing. Then she exhaled slowly.

"All right..." she murmured. "But I have a request, Your Highness."

Eric tilted his head slightly. Drac glanced at her as well.

"Please," Lysanne continued, her voice steady despite the tension in her chest, "don’t let my father know what happened tonight."

Eric and Drac exchanged a brief look.

"All right," Eric said, a faint smile easing his tone.

Relief loosened something tight inside her. Lysanne let out a quiet breath and glanced behind them.

Nothing stirred.

Still, unease lingered. She hadn’t seen anyone after that one moment, but the feeling hadn’t left her. As if eyes had been watching from the dark.

She swallowed and opened her mouth to warn Eric.

Only to see him yawn widely, as though the night held no threat at all.

"You have about four hours," Drac muttered under his breath.

Eric nudged him lightly. "I’ll be fine. I still need to write today’s report."

Drac hummed in response, then turned his head to look back down the path. His gaze lingered there a heartbeat longer than necessary before he faced forward again.

They returned to the estate just as dawn began to break. No guards noticed. No servants stirred.

No one saw the trio return early.

And no one knew what had happened.

Morning passed as though nothing had happened.

Breakfast was taken with the family, Eric and Drac seated alongside them, the supervising panel present as always. The twins were quieter than usual, Lysanne noticed, and her parents spoke in careful, measured tones. To anyone watching, it was an ordinary morning.

After the meal, Eric met her outside the dining hall after everyone else was gone.

"Please see us in the library, Miss Lysanne," he said calmly.

She nodded, watching as he walked away. Drac followed a moment later, pausing only long enough to glance in her direction before leaving as well.

Lysanne remained standing there for a moment longer.

She still didn’t understand him.

If he had followed her to the clearing, why had he not intervened like a knight would have? Why had he stepped back when she confronted the men herself? And yet, when the danger had shifted even slightly, his presence had felt overwhelming, almost suffocating. At that moment, for some reason Lysanne was scared but not for him, she was scared that he might hurt those guys very badly.

At times, he didn’t feel human at all.

Her thoughts returned, unwillingly, to his eyes, the way they had glinted, the way his pupils had narrowed into slits, the pressure that had settled in the air around him. It had frightened her more than the bullies ever had.

After a while, she finished her work and then made her way to the library.

Inside, Eric was already there. Drac stood nearby, and four members of the supervising panel occupied the edges of the room, quiet and observant.

Eric sat in a cushioned armchair with a chessboard laid out before him. One seat across from him remained empty. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

He looked up as she entered and smiled lightly, gesturing to the chair.

"Please," he said.

Lysanne sat, her gaze drifting to the board. The pieces were arranged neatly, untouched.

Eric followed her glance and then looked back at her.

"Do you play chess?" He asked.

She blinked. "Uh, yes. But I’m not very good."

"That’s fine," Eric replied easily. "Would you play with me?"

She hesitated, then nodded, still unsure why this was happening.

Eric moved first, advancing a black pawn with unhurried confidence.

Lysanne studied the board for a moment before placing her own white pawn forward in response.

The game began.

"There is some sort of a tension between Hillford and Lowmere, right Miss Lysanne?" Eric began.

Lysanne glanced once at the panel who were watching them sitting at a distance but not out of earshot and then at Drac who stood behind Eric.

"Yes," she sighed.

"Can you please explain in detail?" Eric prompted as he made another move.

Lysanne looked in between the game and then at Eric, she made a move and started.

"Um... Well, it’s actually the internal matter between the people."

Eric looked at her, his eyes unusually sharp this time as he made a move and took out her pawn.

"Please start from the beginning, Miss Lysanne. From what I know, things weren’t always bad and Castermere was one of the very few peaceful territories of the kingdom. So, why is there an internal dispute?"

Lysanne was taken aback and she suddenly realised why this Prince was said to be the next King of the kingdom even after so many hardships.

Lysanne lowered her eyes looking at the chess pieces and started.

"It’s not something that happened overnight," she began carefully. "Castermere used to be... close. The people of Lowmere and Hillford relied on each other. We shared harvests, festivals, even children." Her lips pressed together faintly. "I grew up playing in Hillford as much as I did here."

Eric responded by sliding his bishop forward, neatly removing her pawn.

She paused, noticing it, then continued.

"But as time passed, things... settled too much. My father kept the peace by staying neutral. He didn’t interfere unless it was necessary." She hesitated. "That worked... until it didn’t."

Eric’s eyes lifted briefly from the board, sharper now, more focused.

"Neutrality often looks like fairness," he said quietly, moving another piece. "Until pressure builds on one side."

Lysanne swallowed.

"When the river began to weaken, people panicked. Hillford blamed Lowmere for taking more than their share. Lowmere blamed Hillford for hoarding upstream." She shook her head. "But that wasn’t what hurt the most."

She moved her piece, a little too quickly this time.

"It was the silence," she said. "The distance. People stopped speaking honestly. Old friendships turned into resentment. Children who once played together stopped visiting."

Her voice dropped. "And then... they started seeing us as different."

Eric took her knight.

She stared at the empty square for a moment before looking up.

"Different how?" He asked.

Lysanne met his gaze, steady now.

"Not neighbors," she said. "Not family. But nobles and commoners. Lords and villagers. As if that line had always been there, when it hadn’t."

Behind Eric, Drac remained an image of neutrality as he listened.

"My father never meant to create that divide," Lysanne added quickly. "He believed distance would prevent favoritism. But to them, it looked like abandonment."

"I continued visiting the town until a few years ago but..." She glanced once at the panel and then lowered her voice, "the ones you saw last night... They and I had a fight and since then it became clear that whatever friendship we had, it was long ended."

Eric nodded and made his next move, "Have they been harrassing you or the Young Masters?"

Lysanne was silent for a moment as she made a move without thinking and Eric observed her.

"It’s normal occurence now,"

Eric’s eyebrows twitched and he asked, "The same goes for the others too, right?"

Lysanne nodded, "Hillford and Lowmere have become enemies... Hillford think we are the noble land and we see them as less and that’s why they keep their distance and act hostile against my father and the rest."

Eric then made his move taking out her rook, "Hasn’t the Earl did anything in these years to mend the relationship?"

Lysanne nodded, not really paying attention to the game as she spoke, "My father tried his best but, they won’t cooperate at all, instead they started humiliating my father openly."

Eric could sense the bitterness in Lysanne’s voice as she said that and asked, "Haven’t you arrested any of them for misconduct?"

Lysanne scoffed, "We can’t. That would only increase the problem and besides, we don’t have any proper knight order or even stronger guards."

Eric remained silent and Drac watched in silence hearing the conversation.

"I would like for us to live as peacefully as we did years ago..." Lysanne admitted as she made another move.

Eric watched her pieces and saw a clear check mate that he could do but he didn’t move.

"But I guess it’s impossible." She mumbled.

Eric smiled and leaned ahead looking at Lysanne.

"Would you give me a chance to turn that impossible into possible, Miss Lysanne?"

Lysanne looked at him with a smile, she was surprised but after all these years of failed attempts she had lost hope.

"You’re the impromptu ruler of this territory, Your Highness. We shall accept whatever you decide for us." She said and Eric just smiled at her.

"I’ll try my best."