Without wasting another second, he carried her out of the room, keeping her close as they disappeared back into the structure of the night. Hak didn't stop moving. Ulyana stayed secure in his arms, unconscious but stable, her breathing now even.
Giuseppe moved ahead, clearing the route through the abandoned building until they reached an emergency exit that led back into the darker edge of the city grid. The night outside felt colder now.
"We need a car," Giuseppe said quietly.
Hak nodded once. "And a change of clothes."
Giuseppe glanced at him. "Old shopping centre two blocks south. Closed hours several ago. Minimal staff presence at night; maintenance only."
Hak didn't need more. "Good," he said.
They moved fast through side streets, staying out of main lighting and avoiding open intersections. Hak kept Ulyana close against him, one arm firmly supporting her while the other stayed ready for movement.
The old shopping centre came into view quickly.
A large, dim structure on the edge of the district, half-lit signage flickering faintly above shuttered entrances. Most of the exterior was locked down, but there were service access points around the back.
Giuseppe led them through a maintenance entry. Inside it was quiet.
Shops closed, escalators still, the entire space frozen in an in between state of night and shutdown. Dim emergency lighting cast long shadows across polished floors.
Hak scanned immediately. "Security?" he asked.
"Two patrol cycles," Giuseppe replied. "Maintenance staff only on lower level."
"We'll move fast," Hak said.
They moved through the corridor, staying off reflective surfaces and cameras where possible. Giuseppe went ahead to locate a service storage area while Hak adjusted his grip on Ulyana slightly, making sure she stayed comfortable.
She shifted faintly once but didn't wake.
"That way," Giuseppe said, pointing toward a staff access door behind a closed retail outlet.
Hak kicked it open without hesitation. Inside was a storage and uniform area, racks of basic staff clothing and maintenance gear. Not ideal, but functional.
"We change here," Giuseppe said.
Hak nodded once.
He carefully lowered Ulyana onto a secure bench, keeping her supported so she wouldn't jolt awake. Only then did he begin checking the available clothes quickly.
They were simple uniforms with neutral colours and nothing traceable.
"Keep it clean," Hak said. "No patterns."
Giuseppe already started changing.
Hak worked quickly but carefully, still monitoring Ulyana between movements. When she stirred slightly, he paused immediately, checking her breathing before continuing.
Once they were ready, Giuseppe moved to the door.
"I'll get a vehicle," he said.
Hak nodded. "I'll bring her."
Giuseppe disappeared into the corridor.
Hak turned to Ulyana, adjusting her position gently before lifting her again into his arms. He checked her face once, ensuring she was still stable. Then he looked toward the exit.
"We're almost there," he said quietly, more to her than anyone else. And with that, he moved deeper into the shopping centre, ready to take whatever came next.
They left the shopping centre without incident.
Giuseppe had found a vehicle in the lower service car park, something unremarkable enough to blend into late night traffic. The doors closed quietly behind them as Hak settled into the back seat with Ulyana still in his arms.
She had shifted slightly during the transition but remained asleep, her breathing steady now rather than strained. Hak adjusted his hold once, making sure she was properly supported before looking out the window.
The city outside had changed again. Quieter. The chaos from earlier felt like it belonged to a different night entirely.
Giuseppe started the engine and pulled out smoothly into the road.
For a while, none of them spoke. After several minutes, Giuseppe glanced at the rearview mirror.
"Orders? Where to?" he asked simply.
Hak looked down at Ulyana for a moment before answering.
"Not straight back," he said."Not just yet."
Giuseppe nodded once. "Understood."
Hak added, quieter, "Take us to the lookout."
Giuseppe didn't question it. "Which one?"
"The coastal one," Hak said. "The private one overlooking Silvercrown."
"Got it."
The car changed direction, leaving the city grid behind and moving toward higher ground.
Ulyana stirred faintly at the change in motion but didn't wake. Hak adjusted his grip slightly again, instinctive and careful, keeping her close as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Giuseppe kept the drive smooth, avoiding the main roads as they climbed. The city lights began to fall away beneath them. The ocean starting to reappear in the distance, dark and endless under the night sky.
When they finally reached the lookout, Giuseppe parked a little back from the edge, engine idling softly before shutting it off.
Silence settled.
Hak didn't move immediately. He just looked out over the coastline, Ulyana still resting against him.
For a long moment, there was nothing but a genyle breeze and distant water.
Then Giuseppe spoke quietly. "We're clear for now."
Hak gave a slight nod. "Good," he said. He looked down at Ulyana again, expression softening just slightly.
"We wait here," he added. "Until sunrise."
The lookout was quiet now, high above the coastline where the wind carried a faint warmth instead of the cold bite from earlier.
Below them, Silvercrown stretched out in layered lights and shadows. Sunrise still two and a half hours away.
Hak got out and stood at the edge of the lookout, shoulders still tense but posture steady, watching the city as if measuring it rather than admiring it.
Behind him, Ulyana had been carefully laid onto a park bench, covered and resting, finally still in proper sleep rather than exhaustion.
Giuseppe leaned against the railing a few steps away, arms folded as he looked down at the same view.
----
At the centre of the city, the caste-like structure was engulfed in flames.
Not collapsing, but fully consumed in controlled chaos. Flames licked up its structure while emergency vehicles circled below like distant moving lights. From this height, everything looked reduced. Small. Almost unreal. People moved like scattered ants.
Giuseppe let out a low whistle.
"What did you do?" he asked, half impressed, half cautious.
Hak didn't answer immediately. His eyes stayed on the building for a moment longer, then shifted slightly as he checked the perimeter of the city below.
"Not just me," he said finally. "We disrupted their coordination. Cut their tracking routes. Removed their access points. Disrupted their communications, the list goes on..."
Giuseppe glanced at him. "And the fire?"
Hak's expression didn't change. "Contained escalation," he said. "They won't use that place again. Not for another year or so."
A pause settled between them.
Below, sirens continued to echo faintly through the distance, but they felt disconnected now, like part of another world.
Giuseppe studied the scene a moment longer, then nodded slowly.
"Message received," he said.
Hak finally turned slightly, glancing back toward the bench where Ulyana rested. His expression softened just a fraction, the only visible break in his focus.
"She's out of it," Giuseppe noted quietly.
"She's safe," Hak corrected.
Giuseppe gave a faint hum of agreement, then pushed off the railing. "What now?" he asked.
Hak looked back over the burning hotel one last time.
"Now," he said, "we wait for sunrise, then Princess goes home."
- -
Hak stepped slightly away from the edge of the lookout, pulling out his phone as the wind shifted around them.
He kept his voice low. "Bear." There was a brief pause before the line connected.
"Status," Bear's voice came through, controlled but alert.
Hak glanced once toward Ulyana on the bench before answering. "Ulyana is secure. Unharmed, but exhausted. Giuseppe and I are both intact. No injuries."
A short silence.
"Good," Bear replied. "Estate is stable. Perimeter secure. You're clear to return when you can."
"We'll be there soon," he said.
"Understood," Bear responded. "I'll notify Nikolai."
The call ended.
Hak lowered the phone and stood there for a moment longer, letting the weight of the night settle into something contained rather than chaotic.
-
Giuseppe had been watching him. "That was clean," Giuseppe said.
Hak didn't respond. He walked back toward the bench and checked Ulyana briefly, confirming her steady breathing before speaking.
Then, quietly, he said, "Grayson wasn't random."
Giuseppe straightened slightly. "Explain."
Hak's jaw tightened a fraction. "He's been a problem before," Hak said. "Fixated behaviour. Escalation patterns. He doesn't understand boundaries, especially with her."
Giuseppe frowned slightly. "Nikolai knows?"
"He knows enough," Hak replied. "But Grayson always managed to stay just within acceptable damage."
Hak's eyes shifted back toward the burning city below.
"Tonight wasn't about her attending an event," he continued. "It was leverage. The hotel was just where it started. The real objective was disruption."
Giuseppe followed his gaze. "So the building…"
"Collateral," Hak finished simply. "Clan war trigger point. Multiple factions already unstable. Grayson just accelerated it by being a bad boyfriend and a shit son."
Giuseppe exhaled slowly. "Convenient timing."
Hak didn't disagree.
"It won't stay contained," he said. "But that's not our concern."
He turned back toward Ulyana. She hadn't moved. Still asleep, still safe.
Hak stepped closer and lifted her carefully into his arms again, adjusting her weight with practiced ease.
Giuseppe pushed off from the railing. "We heading out?
Hak nodded. "Yeah."
He glanced once more at the city below, now fading slightly as dawn began to approach the horizon in soft hints of light.
Then he turned away from it completely.
"She's coming home," he said.
And together, they left the lookout, heading back toward the estate as the first trace of sunrise began to break over Silvercrown.
---
Standing at the foot of Ulyana's bed, Hak watched her as she slept.
For the first time since the start of that night, her face was calm, free from the tension and fear that had gripped her earlier.
The sight should have brought him relief, but instead it only deepened the storm inside him.
Grayson's name lingered in his mind like a stain he could not wash off. The way Ulyana had flinched, the fear in her eyes, the helplessness in her voice, it all replayed with unsettling clarity.
It ignited something sharp and consuming in Hak's chest. He had spent years building control, discipline, restraint. Yet none of it mattered when it came to her.
The thought of anyone hurting her made something in him fracture in ways he did not fully understand. He swore silently then promised himself and her that nothing would ever be allowed to reach her like that again.
Not her fear. Not her tears. Not Grayson or anyone alike him.
Standing there, Hak let his gaze soften as it returned to her. The anger did not disappear, but it settled into something quieter, more dangerous in its certainty.
She finally looked peaceful. And that was enough to anchor him back to the present.
Still, his mind drifted, pulled backward into a memory he rarely allowed himself to revisit.
-
Ten years earlier.
It was October 10th. A hurricane had torn through the region, reducing the world to wind, rain, and broken silence.
Hak was 17.
Before everything that followed, his life had already been unstable. His father, a detective, drank heavily, and the house was never truly a home. His mother, a nurse, tried to hold things together, but eventually she could not. She left when Hak was nine.
She had told him gently at school, explaining that she had to care for family far away. He had understood even then that it was not the full truth, only what she could manage to say. She was too gentle to fight for herself against his father.
When Hak returned home that day, his father was outside throwing her belongings onto the lawn, shouting into the storm of his own anger. Later, he would claim she would come back.
Hak learned not to believe him especially while under the influence.
After she left, Hak's world narrowed.
School became inconsistent.
He spent more time away, riding his bike beyond the edge of town to a restricted quarry surrounded by forest.
There, he discovered an abandoned cabin.
It was small but intact. A kitchen that still worked, a cramped living space, a mattress on the floor, a television, and a fridge that hummed faintly. Outside, a narrow deck overlooked the trees.
For Hak, it became escape.
He trained there, taught himself discipline from old taekwondo tapes, and filled his days with repetition and survival. It was quiet there in a way his life never was.
By October 10th, he had planned to spend the weekend at the cabin again.
That morning, everything seemed normal.
He woke early, made breakfast, left home for school as usual, and packed his bag with food, water, clothes, and supplies.
By afternoon, teachers warned students to return home early. A hurricane was approaching their small island.
After school, he stayed briefly with classmates at a café for a group project. They were surprised by how prepared he was despite his poor attendance. Eventually, they left one by one.
Hak attenpted to wait out the rain, but it only grew heavier. The sky darkened quickly. A sense of unease followed him as he rode home through the storm.
When he reached his street, he saw his father's car parked outside.
Something in his chest tightened.
His father was sitting on the front step, smoking in the rain.
That alone was enough to make Hak slow down.
When he got closer, he saw it.
Blood on his father's hand.
Then on his shirt.
His father looked up at him, expression unreadable, eyes hollow and distant. "Come inside," he said.
Hak's body moved before his mind could catch up, every step toward the door heavier than the last.
Inside, the house was destroyed. Glass covered the floor. Furniture was overturned.
And then he saw her.
His mother.
Lying motionless on the wooden floor. Hak's world narrowed to silence.
Hak's breath caught, his mind refusing to process what his eyes were seeing. The detail that broke through everything else was something small, painfully familiar. The scar on her thumb.
It was her.
Rage followed immediately after shock.
"She just wanted to be happy," Hak shouted, his voice breaking. "How could you?"
His father responded with anger instead of grief, striking him to the ground. "She left us," he spat. "You still think she deserves sympathy?"
Hak's fear rose sharply as his father leaned closer, voice cold and unsteady. "You're weak," he said. "Just like her."
Then Hak saw the knife. Before he could react, his father moved.
-
Back in the present, Hak exhaled slowly. The memory faded, but it never truly left.
He looked back at Ulyana again. Her breathing was steady now, her expression finally untroubled.
And for the first time that night, Hak allowed himself to step away from the edge of his thoughts, remaining there quietly to make sure she stayed safe.
---
Hak's mind slipped right back into his memories.
Just as he caught a glimpse of the knife, his father lunged.
Hak twisted sharply, narrowly avoiding the strike. He shoved his father away, sending him crashing into the broken glass table. Even so, the blade caught him, slicing into his leg. The wound wasn't large, but it was deep.
Pain flared instantly, but Hak forced himself to stay silent. He staggered back, putting distance between them.
"You bastard!" his father shouted, rage echoing through the ruined house.
Hak turned and ran. He burst out into the storm, rain immediately swallowing the world around him. The seaside town was drowning under the hurricane's force, streets slick and nearly empty. He moved through them instinctively, weaving uphill as the wind howled around him.
Every house he passed was boarded up. There was nowhere safe to stop. Only higher ground remained.
His leg throbbed with every step. Soon he stumbled, dropping to his knees as pain shot through his body. The darkness made it impossible to see how bad the injury was, but he forced himself onward anyway.
He did not notice the blood trailing behind him, quickly washed away by the rain.
Each raindrop stung as it hit his skin. His breath came harder now, his strength fading.
Eventually, he reached a steep incline. At the top, a large mansion stood behind imposing gates. It was the only structure in sight.
Hak used a nearby street sign to steady himself, catching his breath.
Then he heard footsteps behind him.
"I found you," his father said. "You're not escaping again."
He raised the knife.
Hak reacted just in time, twisting away as the blade narrowly missed his face. It grazed his eyebrow, splitting the skin, but he barely registered it.
He countered with a desperate punch, striking his father hard enough to send him back a step. Then he turned and crossed the road, collapsing in front of the mansion gates.
His injured leg could no longer support him. The adrenaline that had carried him this far was fading fast.
His father advanced again, closing the distance.
Hak looked up, breathing heavily. For a moment, everything went still. He felt strangely detached, as if the end had already arrived.
His thoughts drifted, unsteady. His childhood at the quarry. The quiet moments away from home. And, unexpectedly, his mother.
So this is it.
His father was only steps away when a car suddenly turned the corner and struck him.
The impact sent his father flying, his body thrown violently across the road.
Hak barely registered it.
Blood loss and exhaustion caught up with him all at once. His vision blurred, dark spots spreading across his sight. The pain dulled into something distant.
Somewhere nearby, a girl was calling out to him. Her voice sounded panicked, urgent.
"Please… help me," he managed weakly.
Then everything went quiet.
—
"Are you okay? Stay with me, please!"
The voice repeated in his mind, looping like a broken echo. He could sense movement beside him, a silhouette leaning over him, but every time he tried to focus, it slipped away.
When he finally woke, the world was different.
The ceiling above him was high and detailed, carved with elegant woodwork. Soft light filtered through a large window nearby. The steady beeping of a medical monitor filled the silence.
It took him a moment to realise he couldn't fully open one eye.
He raised a hand slowly and felt bandages wrapped around his face. His leg was also carefully immobilised and dressed. Even his hands had been cleaned and treated.
It hurt to move, but he forced himself upright after some effort.
He stayed like that for a long time, staring out the window, letting the silence settle around him.
Eventually, a nurse entered to check his condition. She informed a doctor that he was awake and gently changed his dressings while speaking to him.
She explained that the young madam had brought him in and insisted on helping him. The nurse further reassured Hak that he was safe now, and that his family had already been contacted and would arrive soon.
-
Hak had been alone for several hours.
The room stayed quiet except for the steady rhythm of the monitor and the distant movement of staff outside the door.
Time felt uneven, stretching and collapsing in on itself.
His body ached in waves, but it was the stillness that weighed most heavily.
He drifted in and out of thought, staring at the window without really seeing it.
Eventually, some movement outside caught his attention.
A car pulled through the estate gates below.
Hak's eyes narrowed slightly, trying to focus through the haze of fatigue.
The vehicle came to a smooth stop, and a moment later the back door opened.
A girl stepped out.
She looked to be around his age, possibly older. Even from a distance, there was something immediately striking about her presence. Not loud or attention seeking, but controlled. Composed. Effortless in the way she carried herself, as if the space around her naturally adjusted to her presence.
She spoke briefly to someone out of frame, her voice inaudible from where he was, then began walking toward the house.
Hak found himself watching without meaning to.
There was something about her energy that didn't match the urgency of the moment. While others moved with tension or purpose, she moved with calm precision. Elegant, steady, almost untouched by the chaos around her.
It unsettled him in a way he couldn't immediately explain.
And at the same time, it pulled his attention in completely.
He leaned slightly forward despite the pain in his body, tracking her movement as she entered the building.
A few minutes passed.
Then the door to his room opened.
Hak quickly looked away, forcing himself to regain some sense of composure, though his body was still weak and unsteady. Footsteps entered softly.
When he finally looked up again, she was there.
Closer now, she was even more composed than he had expected. Her presence was calm but undeniably firm, like she was used to being in rooms where decisions mattered. She didn't rush. She didn't hesitate.
Her eyes met his.
For a brief moment, Hak forgot about the pain, the hospital, everything.
There was something in her expression that made him instinctively still.
Not fear.
Just... like she was actually seeing him. And against everything he had just survived, against every thought still tangled in his mind, Hak realised something unexpected.
He was drawn to her.
Not in words. Not in logic.
Just in that quiet, immediate recognition that her presence mattered in a way nothing else in the room did.