Chapter 4 Four

Opportunities truly come, just that only the prepared get to use them.

My desire to escape didn't match up with the preparedness that I needed, but I didn't know that then.

"The palace will host a soirée tonight, it's the Queen's orders. Every maid is expected to help."

"Even me?" I asked, eyebrows arching.

"Especially you," Mary grimaced. "The queen insists everyone works. You will be assisting with the main hall prep. Think of it as...another punishment."

Wonderful, I thought, at least I would have more opportunities to look around instead of just staying in the kitchen. Who knows if I could find a much better means to escape.

As I worked with the other maids, different scents drifted from roasted meats, soups drenched in sweet wines; the kitchen was alive like a beehive.

"You look exhausted," Mary added.

I shot her a look. "We get five hours of sleep, Mary."

"That's a luxury here," she whispered.

When Peter barked orders again, Mary moved away, leaving me alone with mountains of dishes and my thoughts.

My transmigration secret was still mine alone. I didn't trust anyone here, not even the sweet, thoughtful Mary.

My police training had taught me some things: trust slowly, observe first, and speak last.

So, I worked silently, listening to the kitchen gossip.

"The queen wants the best for tonight, because Prince Caleb is finally attending, though he had not attended a soirée in months."

Hmm... Prince Caleb, I wonder what the gist about him is? As if the maids cutting vegetables could hear my inner rambling, another gossip floated to me.

"Prince Caleb is cold and very dangerous, especially when his wolf is restless; we need to be careful when we serve tonight."

They kept whispering with fear and an obvious hunger; whoever this prince was, he clearly wasn't a joke.

Still, none of it mattered to me. I wasn't here to climb the ranks. I wasn't here to impress a Lycan royal.

I just needed to survive long enough to understand this world, regain strength, and maybe escape before someone found out I wasn't really Gina.

I rubbed my wrists where the shackles had been days earlier.

"Don't die again, Sheila," I murmured under my breath.

But the kitchen swallowed my voice whole.

****

By the time we were summoned to assist with the evening preparations, my arms felt like wet noodles and my back screamed in seven languages. But the palace hall?

It stole my breath.

The modern designs blended with old-world grandeur, with digital temperature regulators, their polished marble counters, and sleek security scanners flanking the entrances.

Lycans didn't just live in a hidden world; they lived in a highly advanced hidden world.

"Don't stare," Lila hissed again, pushing a tray into my hands. "And don't trip. If you embarrass me, I'll-"

Her sentence cut off as a wave of energy rolled over the hall, heavy and charged.

I could sense a strange but unique scent I could not fully place; it was like smoky pine mixed with the smell of earth after it had just rained. The scent provoked a warm feeling in me. It was strange yet exhilarating.

While distracted by my own emotions, I saw the maids straighten like they were slouching before; some guests at the soirée had stopped their conversations.

"What's happening?" I whispered to Mary.

"Prince Caleb is here," Mary breathed beside me.

Ah! That explains the charged atmosphere.

Everyone moved with rehearsed elegance as the Queen entered first. She was tall and pretty, draped in a midnight-blue silk gown.

Her eyes swept the hall, sharp and calculated gaze, until she seemed satisfied.

Then he walked in, Prince Caleb.

Suddenly, the room felt too small, and I could not help but think: what a tall guy!

He was taller than anyone else present, with broad shoulders, showing sculpted lines beneath his dress shirt.

His hair was dark, slightly tousled like he had just woken up, and his jaw was sharp enough to cut diamonds, but it was his eyes that froze me in place.

Steel-gray in colour with a terrifying but mesmerizing gaze, especially when he looked my way.

I think I stopped breathing for a second.

He moved like the world bent around him, like gravity didn't apply unless he allowed it. Every Lycan bowed their head as he passed.

He seemed to have stopped to talk to some noble.

I looked away quickly, remembering the rules, but something in me had shifted. It felt like I had seen him before, maybe a long time ago.

But I am certain, if I had, I would remember him, right?

"Gina!" Mary hissed, elbowing me. "Go take that tray to the Queen's table."

I nearly dropped it. "Me?!"

"You're standing close. Go!"

"What sort of setup is this?" I grumbled beneath my breath.

My heart in my throat, I approached the royal table. My steps were too loud in my ears, and I felt a sense of dread but also anticipation, even though I didn't know what I was anticipating. I reached the Queen's table. I bowed slightly, careful not to meet her gaze.

She accepted the glass from my tray without acknowledgment.

I turned to retreat, walked back, and that's when it happened.

Someone was walking towards me, and the air shifted. I felt an electrifying presence so intense my breath locked in my throat, and before I could stop myself-

I looked up, straight into Prince Caleb's eyes.

For a heartbeat, everything stopped.

His steps halted.

His gaze narrowed.

His nostrils flared just slightly, like he caught me doing something wrong.

My heart jumped painfully. No, no, stupid, look away, Sheila.

I turned my gaze downward, bowing quickly, heat flooding my face.

He didn't move, and I wanted to leave, but he was blocking my way.

The silence stretched, and it seemed people noticed because I could hear some murmurings.

Even the Queen turned towards us in a question, I guess.

I was wondering if I had offended him in a way or if he had heard my grumbling previously, but then the prince spoke in a deep, gravelly tone. "You."

I froze.

I swallowed and said, "Y-Your Highness?"

His boots clicked as he stepped closer. The tray shook in my hands, his scent enveloped me, intense, warm, unreasonably intoxicating. It pulled at something deep inside me that I didn't understand.

He stopped directly in front of me, towering above me.

"You're new."

It wasn't a question, more like an accusation or statement wrapped in curiosity.

"I-I work in the kitchens, Your Highness," I managed.

He stepped closer again.

My breath caught as I felt heat radiate off him in waves. His gaze scanned my face, lingering on my eyes, my mouth, then returning to my eyes with unsettling intent.

"Look at me," he said.

My chest tightened. The rule against making eye contact clashed with the command in his voice. I raised my gaze cautiously.

His eyes changed, darkened, I think.

Something registered in his gaze, interest? Recognition? Did he also think he knew me?

Before I could ponder more on it, the Queen's voice cut sharply through the tension.

"Caleb."

He didn't look away from me.

"Leave the servants be," she continued, her tone light, "This is hardly the time for an interrogation."

Interrogation? Was that what this was?

Caleb's jaw flexed. "She looked at me."

"She's human," the Queen replied dismissively. "Humans make mistakes."

He stared at the Queen briefly, and finally, he stepped back from my path and passed me to his seat.

Only then did I breathe properly again. I walked quickly to where the maids were on standby.

My eyes went up and met Lila's angry eyes; her whisper was venomous. "You're dead."

Probably.

Mary rushed to my side, with eyes wide. "Gina...what did you DO?"

"I didn't do anything," I hissed back.

But even as I denied it, my heartbeat refused to settle; that dangerous prince seemed to have his eyes on me, and I wonder if my already bad fate was about to turn worse.