Yae was smiling to herself at the royal table, eyes half-closed, like the room had faded and only one thought remained.

  Amanda noticed.

  “You look… happy, Your Majesty.”

  Yae didn’t deny it. She kept eating with that quiet little smile, then finally breathed out through her nose like she’d been caught.

  “Today I have a commitment.”

  Amanda tilted her head. “Sounds important.”

  Yae’s gaze drifted for a second—somewhere far beyond the hall.

  “It is.” Her voice softened. “It’s… mine.”

  Amanda watched her, trying to read what she wouldn’t say.

  Yae set her utensil down with a careful clink, then looked at Amanda like she’d just remembered she had a weapon sitting across from her: someone who actually knew him.

  “Tell me,” Yae said, pretending it was nothing. “What does Isaac like to eat?”

  Amanda froze for a heartbeat.

  A stupid memory hit her—him at a table, complaining, stealing food off her plate, acting like he didn’t care and then eating everything anyway.

  She kept her face steady. Professional. Smooth.

  “I know,” Amanda said.

  Yae’s eyes lit up immediately—too fast, too honest—and she tried to hide it by lifting her cup.

  “Good.”

  Amanda almost smiled. Almost.

  Yae leaned forward just a little, lowering her voice so the nobles wouldn’t hear.

  “Don’t guess,” she warned, but it came out more like a request. “If I’m doing this… I’m doing it right.”

  Amanda nodded once. “Then listen.”

  Yae held her gaze, fully focused now.

  And for the first time that morning, the Queen ate without tasting anything at all—because she was already planning the night.

  Isaac stared up at the sky, trapped inside his own thoughts.

  Footsteps.

  Two guards.

  Isaac’s eyes narrowed.

  “What do you want?”

  They didn’t answer.

  One of them grabbed his arm. The other clipped a thin magical wire into the collar around his neck.

  The moment it connected—Isaac’s body locked.

  He could still move his legs… barely. Everything else felt like stone.

  Isaac clenched his jaw.

  “…Of course.”

  They yanked him out of the cell.

  As he was dragged through the corridor, he saw other prisoners—faces hollow, eyes dead.

  Then—

  Derek.

  Behind bars. Bruised. Still breathing.

  Derek slammed his hands against the iron.

  “Great King! You’re alive!”

  Isaac’s eyes widened.

  “Derek—”

  The wire tightened. His throat cut the word in half.

  He was pulled forward, forced to keep walking.

  Isaac swallowed hard, staring straight ahead like he hadn’t heard anything.

  But his voice slipped out anyway, low, almost to himself:

  “…At least you’re alive.”

  They shoved him into a royal room and left.

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  The door shut.

  Silence.

  Isaac turned, confused—then—

  A mantle of electrical sparks wrapped around him like a net.

  His breath hitched.

  Before he could react, the world snapped.

  He appeared in a different room.

  A balcony.

  A table overflowing with food.

  And Yae.

  She stood beside the table in a gala dress—beautiful, polished, calm… like she’d been waiting for hours.

  Isaac froze for half a second, then forced himself to move, stepping closer with that guarded stiffness he always wore when he didn’t trust the floor under his feet.

  Yae smiled.

  “Hello, Isaac.”

  Isaac’s throat went dry.

  “Hello, Yae…”

  He looked her up and down, then exhaled.

  “You… look beautiful.”

  Her smile grew—smaller, warmer.

  “And you’re handsome.”

  She tilted her head. “Just… not in those old clothes.”

  Isaac let out a short laugh through his nose.

  “Yeah. I noticed.”

  Yae pulled out a chair for him like it was the most normal thing in the world.

  “Sit. I made something for you.”

  Isaac hesitated—then sat.

  Yae placed a plate in front of him. The food looked hot, rich, and strangely comforting.

  “Go on,” she said softly. “Eat.”

  Isaac stared at the plate for a second like it might bite him, then took a bite.

  His eyes shifted—surprised.

  Yae leaned closer, watching his face like she was reading a verdict.

  Isaac chewed, then nodded.

  “…It’s amazing.”

  Yae’s eyes lit up.

  She clapped once—quick, excited, almost childish.

  “Yes!”

  Isaac couldn’t help smiling at that. He looked past her toward the balcony.

  Outside, the sky wasn’t a normal sky.

  It was a deep, endless darkness filled with stars… and the room felt like it was floating in nothing.

  Isaac stared.

  “Where are we?”

  Yae sat beside him, close enough that her shoulder almost touched his.

  “A dimension. A refuge.”

  She spoke like it was simple. “This room used to be Lyra’s. I found it… and I took it.”

  Isaac glanced around again, absorbing the idea.

  “So you can shape it.”

  “Yes,” Yae said. “However I want. It’s safe here.”

  Isaac’s eyes narrowed, thoughtful.

  This feels like that concept… Elysia.

  He looked back at her.

  “I understand.”

  Yae’s expression shifted.

  The confidence was still there… but something else slipped in under it.

  Nervous.

  She looked at her hands for a moment, then back at him.

  “Isaac… I want to ask you something.”

  Isaac set the fork down.

  “Ask.”

  Yae swallowed—then met his eyes.

  “I want you to become my king.”

  Isaac blinked, caught off guard.

  “…Huh?”

  Yae leaned in, voice steady but trembling underneath.

  “Be the king of this land. Rule with me. You and me—together.”

  Her fingers found his hand. “I want you beside me. I want you to be mine… and I want to be yours.”

  Isaac stared at her.

  Her eyes weren’t playing.

  They were determined. Bright. In love.

  Yae tightened her grip gently, like she was afraid he’d disappear if she let go.

  “Stay with me forever, Isaac. Live in peace with me.”

  Her voice lowered. “I swear… I’ll respect you as a leader. Love you as my husband. Protect you with my life.”

  Isaac looked down at their hands.

  Then back up.

  His voice came out quiet.

  “…I’m sorry, Yae. I can’t.”

  Her face cracked.

  “Why?”

  Isaac swallowed.

  “Because I already have a kingdom.”

  Yae shook her head instantly, desperate.

  “But—”

  “I can’t accept,” Isaac said, and it hurt him to say it. “I’m going back. To my world. To my home.”

  Yae’s eyes filled.

  She dropped her gaze. Tears slid down, fast and silent.

  Isaac leaned closer, wiping them with his thumb like it was instinct.

  “Thank you…” he said softly. “For making me feel happy here. Meeting you… was incredible.”

  Yae laughed weakly through tears and pulled him into a hug.

  Isaac held her back.

  Then she whispered, shaking:

  “Then I’ll go with you.”

  Isaac pulled away just enough to see her face.

  “What?”

  Yae stared at him like it was obvious.

  “I’m going with you. Take me to your kingdom. I’ll love you there. I’ll take care of you until my last day—no matter where it is.”

  Isaac’s breath caught.

  “Yae… I—”

  And then his eyes moved.

  Just for a second.

  A framed object on the wall.

  The amulet.

  Yae followed his gaze and smiled faintly.

  “That caught your attention too, didn’t it?”

  Isaac forced his face neutral.

  “What do you mean?”

  Yae took his hand again, pulling him closer to the frame.

  “I found it in a laboratory in the middle of the forest.”

  She traced near the frame with her finger. “It has a magic in it… something strange. I can feel it.”

  Isaac’s eyes stayed on the amulet.

  “It does.”

  Yae looked up at him, still smiling—soft now, affectionate.

  Then she kissed his chest and pushed him backward onto the bed.

  Isaac landed, surprised.

  Yae climbed over him, brushing his hair back, and kissed him—slow at first, then deeper.

  Isaac’s hands slid to her waist.

  She breathed his name like she didn’t want the room to hear it.

  The world narrowed to skin, warmth, and that dangerous feeling of comfort.

  And when the night finally swallowed the rest…

  The room stayed quiet.

  Midnight

  Isaac jolted awake, chest tight, skin cold.

  For half a second he didn’t know where he was—only the smell, the silence, and the heavy warmth beside him.

  Yae lay naked at his side, asleep, one arm loose across the sheets like nothing in the world could reach her.

  Isaac swallowed hard.

  Now.

  Isaac slid out of bed, moving slow, careful, like the air itself might betray him. He grabbed his pants from the floor and pulled them on in silence, hands shaking just enough to piss him off.

  He didn’t look back.

  Isaac crossed the room barefoot, eyes fixed ahead. The amulet was still there—framed like decoration, like it wasn’t the only door out of this nightmare.

  He stopped in front of it, breathing through his nose.

  “...Sorry,” Isaac whispered, not sure if he meant Yae, or himself.

  Isaac hooked his fingers behind the frame and lifted it off the wall. The metal was cold. The amulet sat there, staring back at him like an eye.

  Isaac eased it out of the frame.

  The moment it left the molding—

  A shadow moved.

  Isaac turned—

  Too late.

  Something slammed into the side of Isaac’s head.

  A brutal, dull—like iron meeting bone.

  Isaac’s knees buckled. The amulet slipped from Isaac’s fingers and clinked against the floor, spinning once… twice…

  And Isaac went down.

  Darkness swallowed everything.

  When Isaac’s vision faded out, the last thing Isaac saw was a figure standing over him.

  A helmet fully closed, packed with long, thick spikes.

  Clothes stained dark, like dried blood.

  In its hand—an ugly piece of iron shaped like a club.

  The creature stared at Isaac’s unconscious face without a word.