A few hours passed after the last message… before Adrian returned.
Adrian: I thought about it.
He paused for a moment… then added:
Adrian: I don't mind meeting.
Murad read the message calmly, as if it was expected… but it hadn't lost its importance.
Murad: Good
Adrian: But in a normal place.
Murad: As agreed.
They quickly exchanged details this time.
The place: a café in the city center.
The time: afternoon… when it is not too crowded.
Adrian: I'll be there.
Murad: Me too.
---
On the day of the meeting…
The preparation wasn't ordinary… for either of them.
In the palace…
Murad stood in front of the mirror a little longer than usual. He wasn't choosing royal clothes or formal attire… but something simple, elegant, yet not shouting the identity he carried.
His hair, longer than he used to keep it, was left as it was with only a light touch of arrangement.
He looked at himself… then said in a low voice: "Just a meeting."
But inside him… it wasn't exactly that.
---
On the other side of the city…
Adrian stood in front of a small wardrobe, running his hand over simple clothes, hesitating in a way he hadn't felt in a long time.
He chose something clean, simple… but made sure it looked "neat" more than usual.
He looked at himself in the small mirror.
His light blond hair reflected the light, and his pale skin gave him an unusually calm appearance.
He took a deep breath.
"Just a meeting."
But he wasn't fully convinced.
---
A few minutes later…
Murad left the palace.
It wasn't a normal car.
A black vehicle with tinted windows that revealed nothing of its passengers, carrying a diplomatic plate that allowed it to pass without stopping.
He sat in the back seat, watching the city pass behind the glass… as if it were another world that didn't fully belong to him.
"To the location," he said calmly.
---
He arrived first.
The car stopped a few steps away from the café.
He didn't step out immediately.
He simply… watched.
Until he saw him.
A young man walking with calm steps… his blond-white hair shining under daylight, and his pale skin reflecting unusually soft features.
Murad… froze for a second.
He hadn't expected this.
"Beautiful…" he said internally without realizing.
Then he opened the door.
---
At the same moment…
Adrian was approaching the café, searching with his eyes for someone whose face he didn't know.
Then he stopped.
The car.
The door opening.
And the person stepping out.
One second was enough.
His eyes widened.
"This… is impossible."
He recognized him immediately.
Not as the Murad he spoke to last night…
But as a name everyone knew.
The Crown Prince.
---
They approached each other.
The steps were slower than they should be.
The conversation… didn't start immediately.
Until Murad said calmly:
"Adrian?"
The other nodded slowly.
"…Murad?"
A faint smile appeared on Murad's face.
"Yes."
A short silence followed.
The confusion was clear.
Adrian looked at him again, as if trying to confirm reality.
"You… you're him?"
Murad didn't deny it.
"Yes… but today, I'm just Murad."
The sentence wasn't enough to fully erase the shock.
But it was a start.
---
A few hesitant exchanges…
Short sentences.
Avoiding then returning gazes.
Until Murad said:
"Let's go somewhere quieter."
Adrian didn't object.
---
They returned to the car.
This time Adrian sat with less hesitation, though still cautious.
The car moved smoothly.
After a few minutes…
It stopped in a quiet place near the sea.
No visible guards.
No noise.
Only the sound of waves… and a light breeze.
They stepped out.
They stood side by side… silent at first.
Adrian looked at the horizon: "This is nicer than the café."
Murad: "Because it doesn't try to be anything."
Adrian smiled: "Like you?"
Murad looked at him: "I try."
A moment of silence.
Then Adrian said, without looking at him: "Do you trust me?"
The question wasn't simple.
Murad didn't answer immediately.
Then he said calmly: "I don't know you well yet… but I chose to meet you."
He paused… "…and that's the beginning."
Adrian nodded lightly.
Then said: "That's enough for now."
---
They sat on a low edge near the sea.
The distance between them… was no longer what it had been at the beginning.
Not close enough…
But no longer cautious.
Murad said after a pause: "Do you regret coming?"
Adrian looked directly at him.
"…No."
Then added, in a calmer tone: "And you?"
Murad didn't need time this time.
"No."
---
The air moved gently…
And the sun began to tilt toward the horizon.
They sat in silence.
Not because they had nothing to say…
But because silence was enough.
Murad looked at the horizon… then said calmly: "Let's go back."
He stood first, then turned to him: "I'll take you."
Adrian didn't object.
---
On the way back…
The conversation wasn't completely silent anymore.
Adrian looked out the window: "I didn't expect the day to end like this."
Murad, watching the road: "Neither did I."
He paused… then added: "And that's good."
Adrian smiled faintly… unseen.
---
A few minutes later…
The car stopped in front of Adrian's neighborhood.
Murad turned off the engine.
A short silence.
Then he said: "We're here."
Adrian nodded… but didn't open the door immediately.
He looked at him: "Murad…"
He paused.
As if he wanted to say something… but couldn't find the right words.
Murad noticed.
He took out his phone, typed something, and handed it to him.
"Take it."
Adrian looked at the screen… then at him: "Your number?"
Murad: "Yes."
He paused… then added: "Not the app this time."
Adrian slowly took the phone… as if the movement itself felt heavier than expected.
He saved the number.
Then said: "So this means we'll talk again."
Murad looked at him directly: "If you want."
Adrian didn't hesitate this time.
"…I want."
He opened the door.
Stepped out.
Paused outside the car… then leaned slightly toward the window:
"Good night, Murad."
Murad: "Good night, Adrian."
The door closed.
He walked away.
Then stopped… and turned back one last time.
The car was still there.
And the person inside… was no longer just a name on a screen.
He smiled faintly…
Then went inside.
---
After that night, communication between Murad and Adrian was no longer a coincidence.
It began with simple messages…
Good morning.
How was your day?
Did you sleep well?
Then it turned into short calls, usually late at night when everything in the palace and the city calmed down.
Murad didn't speak much about his world.
And Adrian didn't ask much at first… he simply listened.
But something was forming between them.
Quiet… unspoken… but real.
And one day…
In quiet city streets, a photo was taken.
Not planned.
Not intentional.
Murad stepping out of a black diplomatic car…
and Adrian beside him, laughing lightly while speaking to him.
Just a moment.
But it was enough.
And within hours…
The image spread.
A simple headline: "The Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Dawn with an unknown common boy."
Somewhere else…
John sat silently in front of a screen.
He didn't move at first.
Then he saw the image.
His breath stopped for a second.
The problem wasn't just the photo…
But the way Murad looked at that boy.
A look John had never seen before.
He clenched his hand slowly.
Then again.
Then the screen shut off violently.
But the image didn't disappear.
It stayed there… inside his mind.
Something heavy began moving inside him.
Not just jealousy.
But something closer to a quiet fire starting to burn from within.
---
In the palace…
Murad didn't care much at first.
Until he received the report.
The advisor said carefully: "The image is spreading… and there are political questions."
Murad looked at him calmly: "Let it."
But inside… he knew it wouldn't stay simple.
Still…
He didn't stop seeing Adrian.
On the contrary.
One day, he invited Adrian to the new palace.
---
When Adrian entered…
He stopped.
He didn't speak at first.
The gardens… the pillars… the gates… the vast spaces…
Everything felt larger than he had imagined.
He murmured softly: "This isn't a palace… it's a world."
Murad, standing beside him: "You get used to it over time."
Adrian: "Or I don't need to get used to it."
Murad turned to him.
A brief silence.
Then he smiled: "That's possible too."
---
They went to the back garden.
Open arches, calm air, a long table under the sky.
They sat.
This time… without the noise of the world.
Adrian was less tense.
But more honest.
He began to talk.
About a small home.
About early responsibilities.
About a dream he never dared to say much:
"I wanted to become a singer."
Murad looked at him: "Why didn't you?"
Adrian smiled faintly: "Because life didn't give me space for it."
Silence.
Then Murad said: "Sing for me."
Adrian looked up quickly: "Now?"
Murad: "Why not?"
He hesitated…
Then, in a soft voice, he began to sing.
It wasn't perfect.
But it was honest.
Quiet.
And full of something Murad had never seen before:
A small freedom in the middle of all restrictions.
When he finished…
Silence filled the air.
Murad looked at him: "You're good."
Adrian laughed lightly: "Not a royal compliment, right?"
Murad: "No."
A pause…
Then calmly: "If you want… I'll help you."
Adrian: "Help me how?"
Murad: "I'll make you heard."
Adrian went silent.
Then said softly: "You're strange… you know that?"
Murad: "I've heard that before."
A faint smile.
Calm.
But somewhere far away…
John, who had seen the image and was no longer the same, felt something inside him shift…
Not just pain anymore…
But a decision.
The vast gardens stretch under the late sunlight, and the open stone arches cast calm geometric shadows over the pathways, while the water in the pool reflects the sky as if it were a clear mirror to another world. Everything here feels too large to be just a "palace"… closer to a small state of luxury and organized silence.
Murad was walking beside Adrian in the garden without close guards, only enough distance for both of them to feel a rare kind of freedom.
Adrian was looking around in silence, then murmured: "I never imagined this place was real… not even in movies."
Murad smiled lightly: "Consider it a place where you come to pause from the world."
They stopped at one of the open arches, where a stone table was surrounded by simple white chairs despite the surrounding luxury.
Adrian sat first, then Murad opposite him.
A short silence… not heavy, but strangely comforting.
Adrian looked at him for a long time, then said in a less hesitant voice than before: "Are you always like this?"
Murad: "Like what?"
"Calm… as if you are away from everything, even when you are inside everything."
Murad didn't answer immediately. He just looked at his hands on the table, then said: "I learned to choose what I allow to reach me."
Another silence fell.
But this time… there was no confusion like the first meeting. Something different was growing quietly between them, still unnamed.
Adrian took a light breath, then moved a little closer, as if the distance between them was beginning to lose importance.
"Murad…" he said softly.
Murad lifted his gaze toward him.
In that moment, there was no palace, no titles, no protocol. Only two people sitting in a vast space of silence.
Adrian didn't look away, then said in a low voice: "I think I'm starting to understand you more than I expected."
Murad didn't respond, but his gaze was not defensive this time.
Adrian moved a little closer, as if an internal decision had been made without noise.
Then, in one simple, unforced moment…
He leaned in and closed the distance completely, and kissed Murad.
It wasn't an exaggerated or dramatic kiss… but a calm, short one, as if it were more of a question than an answer.
A few seconds passed…
Then Adrian slowly pulled back and looked at Murad as if waiting for any reaction, any change in expression.
Murad remained still for a moment.
He didn't pull away immediately, nor move forward.
Then he closed his eyes for a brief second, as if trying to understand the feeling instead of escaping it.
And when he opened them again… he was as calm as ever.
But something small in his gaze had changed… not rejection, not full acceptance, but a silent awareness that this moment would remain somewhere inside him, even if he hadn't yet decided what it meant.
Adrian lowered his voice: "Sorry… if this was too soon."
Murad shook his head slowly: "I didn't say it was."
Then he stood calmly.
"But also… I didn't say it was clear."
He looked at him a moment longer, then added: "Come. I'll take you back."
But between them… the conversation was no longer as it was minutes before.
Something had changed, even if it had not yet been named.
On the way back to the palace, the silence inside Murad's car was different from any other time. Not the silence of work, nor the silence of thinking about the state… but a silence filled with the echo of a moment not yet resolved.
When they arrived, he stepped out calmly as usual and entered the palace without looking at the guards or staff.
But something was waiting for him inside his room.
On the table beside the bed… his phone was lit.
One notification.
He opened the screen.
A message from Adrian.
He paused for a moment before opening it.
It wasn't ordinary hesitation… but the kind that happens when a person knows that what they are about to read will not leave them the same.
Then he opened the message.
"Murad…
I don't know how to properly explain what I feel.
I'm not used to this kind of thing, but when I'm with you I feel like I don't have to be someone else.
The kiss today… wasn't a mistake for me.
But it also made me a little scared… because I don't know where this path is taking us.
I just wanted to be honest with you."
Silence filled the room.
Murad stood still, the phone in his hand, without any movement.
He read the message a second time.
Then a third.
But the reply… didn't come.
He didn't write anything.
He didn't even open the typing box.
He just kept looking at the screen, as if the words were no longer text… but something heavier than letters.
He slowly turned off the phone.
And placed it on the table.
Then he sat on the edge of the bed.
He stared ahead for a long time.
His face didn't show clear confusion… but it was different from his usual calm.
Not distress… but deep thinking without a quick direction.
He murmured in a very low voice, as if he didn't even want to hear himself:
"You're entering too fast…"
Silence.
Then after a moment: "But… not in an annoying way."
He closed his eyes for a brief moment.
And in another part of the city… Adrian was waiting.
Looking at his phone from time to time.
No message.
No reply.
Only a sign that the message had been delivered… but had not yet been met with anything.
And between both sides…
There was no decision yet.
But something had begun to move in silence… something not easy to stop, and not yet possible to name.