chapter 5

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There he was.

Standing under the moonlight, his silver hair shimmering like stardust, his eyes glowing with a warmth she hadn't seen in years. He looked so beautiful, almost unreal, as though the light itself was drawn to him.

Was he always this beautiful? Cecile thought as she took in the sight of him. Her heart felt heavy as she saw the familiar smile she once knew, now directed at someone else—a girl who wasn't her.

What is this pain? Why does it hurt so much? she wondered. Is it because it's been so long since I last saw him? No... she knew the truth.

It wasn't the time apart that hurt. It was the realization that the last glimmer of happiness she had held onto for so long was no longer hers. He belonged to someone else now—her sister, the princess of tonight's ball.

With tears welling up in her eyes, Cecile turned and fled back to her dark world. A world that embraced her broken soul without questions or conditions. A world where the pain was constant but predictable—her only escape.

The days after that fateful night brought bitter revelations.

Cecile learned that her childhood friend was now the crown prince. And not only that—he was engaged to her sister, the very person who had made her life unbearable.

She wanted to be happy for him. Truly, she did. But the weight of her broken heart was too much to ignore.

If he had come to this mansion, why hadn't he searched for her? Why hadn't he asked for her? Did he forget her completely? And why did he call her sister "Cece"? That was her name. The special nickname he had given her so long ago.

Every day, Cecile watched them from the shadows of her attic. Through the dusty window, she saw them laughing together in the sun, their radiant happiness in stark contrast to the darkness that surrounded her.

It didn't take long for jealousy to take root. Slowly but surely, it consumed her.

She became envious of the sunlight that caressed their faces, the happiness they shared so easily, and most of all—of him.

She wanted the warmth of the sun.

She wanted to feel joy.

She wanted him.

Cecile's longing began to twist into something deeper, darker, and undeniably human. Her heart, once so innocent and kind, now burned with an insatiable greed.

Because, after all, the purer a soul, the easier it is to taint.

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