"I don't think we need to linger any longer, Your Highness."
Seraphina's voice was light, but her eyes were still fixed on Eleanor with a quiet, careful attention as though she hadn't quite made peace with how different this encounter had felt.
Eleanor didn't move right away. She let the brief silence settle before dipping her head slightly.
"Then I won't take up any more of your time," she said evenly.
Reginald gave a casual nod, though his gaze followed Eleanor a beat longer than it should have. Something was nagging at him, he just couldn't name it yet.
"It was good to see you, Lady Eleanor. We'll speak again another time," he said.
Eleanor returned the smile thin, measured. "I look forward to it, Your Highness."
She turned slowly and signaled Mira to follow. But as she stepped out of the garden, something inside her was still unsettled.
Not because of Reginald. Not because of Seraphina. It was something else, a feeling she couldn't quite shake.
"My Lady, did everything go according to plan?" Mira asked quietly as they moved away.
Eleanor didn't answer immediately. Her eyes swept the wide garden corridor as though searching for something she hadn't yet identified.
"Not yet," she said finally. "That was only the first observation."
They made their way back inside, passing through a long corridor lined with tall pillars and large glass windows. Sunlight streamed in generously, wrapping everything in a warmth that felt deceiving.
But Eleanor knew. Beneath all this beauty, something was slowly spreading like poison.
"My Lady, shall we head back now?" Mira asked.
Eleanor shook her head. "No. I want to see more."
Her pace slowed as she turned into a different corridor, a part of the palace she had rarely visited in her previous life. It was quieter here, more removed from the heart of activity.
And perhaps because of that, it felt more honest.
"This place feels different," Mira murmured.
Eleanor nodded. "Because here, people don't have to pretend quite so hard."
They kept walking until Eleanor's steps came to a sudden stop.
At the far end of the corridor, someone was leaning lazily against a tall window.
A man. His hair was slightly unkempt, his clothes neat but worn as though he'd never given his appearance a second thought. He was gazing out the window with a bored expression, one hand propping up his chin.
Prince Arthur.
"…That's Prince Arthur," Mira whispered.
Eleanor didn't respond. Her eyes stayed fixed on him. She remembered that name the second prince, widely known to be idle, uninterested in politics, and generally considered harmless.
In her previous life, she had barely paid him any attention. He wasn't a threat. Or at least… that was what she had thought back then.
"He looks exactly like people say he does," Mira added quietly.
Eleanor moved a little closer — just enough to see his face clearly.
Arthur appeared not to notice them. Or at least, he was doing an excellent job of pretending not to.
Is he, though? Eleanor thought.
As if sensing her gaze, Arthur finally turned. Their eyes met only for a second.
But in that single second, something shifted.
Eleanor saw it. Not boredom. Not laziness. Something sharp, alert, and very much aware.
Maybe he's not what I assumed.
Arthur blinked slowly and just like that, his expression reset. Easy, vacant, as though nothing had happened at all.
"Well," he said, his tone flat and almost drowsy, "I didn't expect this corridor to get so lively today."
Mira bowed quickly. "Your Highness."
Eleanor stood straight, meeting his gaze without hesitation. "Your Highness, Prince Arthur," she greeted him calmly.
Arthur raised an eyebrow, looking mildly entertained. "Oh? You know who I am?"
Eleanor smiled faintly. "It would be difficult not to recognize a prince."
Arthur let out a quiet laugh, his voice easy but his eyes, for just a fraction of a second, sharpened again.
"Most people only know what they can see," he said lightly.
Eleanor took one step closer.
"And some people see a little more than that," she replied.
A brief silence. Arthur looked at her longer this time as though weighing something, measuring something.
"Interesting," he murmured.
He pushed off from the window and straightened, though the effortless, unhurried air never left him.
"People don't usually say things like that to me," he continued.
Eleanor lifted her shoulder slightly. "Maybe because they haven't been paying close enough attention."
Arthur smiled — not the lazy kind.
"And what do you see, Lady…?" He let it hang deliberately.
"Eleanor," she answered.
"Lady Eleanor," he repeated, quietly. "What do you see when you look at me?"
Behind her, Mira had gone visibly tense clearly sensing the conversation had drifted somewhere beyond the usual.
But Eleanor didn't hesitate. She had misread people too many times before, and she was not going to ignore her instincts this time.
"Someone who has chosen not to be seen," she said softly.
Arthur went still. And for the first time, his expression genuinely changed.
Not a performance. Not a mask. A real reaction.
"…You're dangerous," he said quietly and it sounded almost like a compliment.
Eleanor's smile stayed quiet. "I've just learned from my mistakes."
Arthur held her gaze for several seconds longer, then let out a small laugh.
"Fascinating. Truly fascinating," he said.
He leaned back against the window again, but now the laziness felt deliberate like something he was putting on rather than something he was.
"Well then, Lady Eleanor. I have a feeling we'll be running into each other quite often after this," he said easily.
Eleanor gave a slow nod. "I was thinking the same thing."
Mira glanced at Eleanor with open confusion, clearly lost as to where any of this was going.
"My Lady, we really should be heading back," she whispered.
Eleanor finally pulled her gaze away from Arthur.
"Yes," she said simply.
But before she turned to leave, Arthur spoke again. "Lady Eleanor."
She stopped and glanced back slightly.
Arthur was watching her with that same faint smile.
"Be careful in this palace," he said lightly. "Not everything that looks dangerous truly is."
Eleanor met his eyes and for the first time since returning to the past, she didn't feel entirely alone.
"And not everything that looks harmless truly is," she replied.
Arthur's smile widened. But this time, there was something different behind it.
Something alive.
"Exactly right," he said softly.
Eleanor turned and walked away, Mira falling quickly into step beside her. But in her mind, one thing had become clear.
Reginald and Seraphina were not the only players on this board.
And Prince Arthur was no pawn, he was someone who could become either a very valuable ally or a far more dangerous threat.
"My Lady… who is he, really?" Mira asked quietly as they moved further away.
Eleanor didn't answer right away, her gaze fixed straight ahead.
"Someone who has been overlooked for a very long time," she said.
And this time, she wouldn't make the same mistake of overlooking him too.
"And people like that," Eleanor continued softly, "are usually the most dangerous of all."
Her steps stayed unhurried, but her mind was already moving, replaying every detail of Arthur's gaze. It hadn't been coincidence, and it hadn't been her imagination. She was certain of it. That man was hiding something far larger than what showed on the surface.
Mira glanced at her uncertainly. "Do you trust him, my Lady?"
Eleanor gave a slight shake of her head. "Not yet. But I won't underestimate him either," she answered.
They continued through the palace corridors, but the atmosphere around Eleanor had quietly shifted. The board was wider than she had expected more pieces in play than she had first accounted for.
And for the first time since coming back, she understood something she hadn't fully grasped before.
"This game," she murmured, almost to herself, "is far more complicated than it was."