The rain came suddenly.
It slammed the palace roof in waves, thunder rolling in like drums before war.
Haken stood alone in the training yard, eyes closed, soaked to the bone.
He hadn't meant to shift.
But the pressure was building.
His skin prickled. His breath grew short. His hands—his claws—shook.
He gritted his teeth. Growled low.
No. Not here. Not now
And then he heard her voice.
"Haken?"
Vivi.
She was on the stone path, veil clinging to her skin in the rain, her hair wild. She stepped forward—and his back hit the wall.
His eyes were no longer human.
They glowed like silver fire.
"Don't come closer," he snarled.
"I can't—control it,
But she didn't stop.
Her heart raced, but something inside her knew.
"You said you lose yourself when you shift," she said.
"Then remember this."
She reached out—hand to his chest, over his pounding heart.
And suddenly,
The rain stopped around them. Not everywhere. Just… in a perfect circle.
The storm bent around her.
Haken gasped.
His eyes flickered—silver, then brown, then silver again.
"What are you?" he whispered.
Vivi didn't know.
⚜️ Hours later – the palace library
She found it by accident.
A book so old it was hidden beneath a false floor in the library's east wing. Dusty. Sealed with black ribbon and a wax mark—half moon, half rose.
She opened it.
"The Cursed Bond."
A single sentence was underlined in red ink:
"When beauty meets the beast fated to destroy her, the world shall either fall… or change forever."
🕯 Elsewhere…
The priestess lit a candle in the dark.
And miles away, a man with a serpent's smile paused over a chessboard—still unseen, still unnamed.
He moved a piece forward.
"Ah… it begins."