"H-how did you…" Olessia stammered, her voice trembling. She wanted to ask how he had moved from the far end of the table to right beside her in less than a second, but the words refused to come out. It was impossible, and unreal... like he had vanished and reappeared through air itself. Her breath hitched, and her heart pounded wildly in her chest.
"You'd better answer me this instant," Kaive said coldly, his gaze piercing. "Did you threaten to stab me?"
Olessia's throat went dry. She swallowed hard, shaking her head slightly, unable to form a proper sentence. She was certain she hadn't spoken loudly... she had only muttered it under her breath, barely even audible to herself.
There was no possible way he could've heard her from across the room. Yet here he was, with his eyes glinting with danger, as if her quietest thought had echoed straight into his mind. The realization sent a cold shiver crawling down her spine.
She managed to hide her fear, forcing herself to sit upright. Her trembling hands released the knife and fork onto the dining table... the very ones she had imagined using to stab him.
The clatter of metal against glass echoed faintly in the tense silence. She steadied her breathing, refusing to show weakness. Slowly, she turned her head toward him and met his gaze. His golden eyes glimmered with quiet intensity, which was unreadable yet commanding.
Olessia's throat tightened, and she swallowed hard, the sound loud in her ears. Fear lingered beneath her calm facade, but she refused to look away.
"What are you talking about?" she managed to say, her voice trembling despite her effort to sound bold. "You were sitting all the way at the other end of the table, and now you're claiming you heard my voice?"
Her words came out shaky, breaking near the end. Olessia clenched her fists beneath the table, trying to keep her fear from showing. She wanted to prove he couldn't keep intimidating her, that she wasn't some fragile thing he could toy with. But deep down, her pulse raced wildly, betraying every ounce of courage she tried to hold on to.
"Since you're going to pretend you don't know what you said to me, I'll remind you," Kaive said calmly, though his tone carried a dangerous edge.
He reached for the fork and knife lying on the table, the same ones Olessia had dropped moments ago. Her heart began to race so violently she could hear it thudding in her ears.
As Kaive lifted the utensils, her breath caught in her throat. Those were the very tools she had imagined using to stab him. Now, seeing them in his hands, her stomach twisted in dread. Each slow movement of his felt deliberate, and taunting, as if he knew exactly what she had been thinking.
Olessia gripped the edge of her seat, fear clawing its way up her spine, her mind screaming for her to stay still and silent.
"You said you wished you could stab me with this knife and fork," Kaive said, holding them up for her to see. His voice was low but laced with anger. Olessia swallowed hard, her throat tightening. That wasn't possible... he had been sitting too far away to hear her. There was no way he could've caught those words.
"You even called me a beast," he added, his tone growing louder. Then, with a sudden clang, he slammed the knife and fork against the table. The sound echoed through the dining hall like a thunderclap.
Olessia flinched instinctively, her heart leaping to her throat. His golden eyes burned with anger and disbelief, and she could barely breathe under the weight of his glare. Every inch of her screamed to look away, but fear rooted her in place, trembling beneath his gaze.
"I… I… how?" she stuttered, the question barely forming as confusion and fear tangled her tongue. Kaive studied her for a moment before sighing deeply, his expression unreadable.
"I have questions to ask you," he said evenly, "but go on and eat." With that, he pushed back his chair and stood.
Olessia didn't dare speak as he turned and walked out of the dining room, his footsteps fading into silence. The moment he was gone, she finally exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Her hands trembled as she reached for the fork and knife again, staring at them for a long moment. The same tools that had nearly gotten her killed.
With a shaky sigh, she forced herself to take a bite, though the food tasted like nothing. Fear had stripped flavor from everything.
As Olessia slowly ate, her mind refused to stay still. The food barely touched her tongue before her thoughts began to spiral.
"What just happened?" she wondered, staring blankly at her plate. There was something strange... no, mysterious about this place. About Kaive, because nothing about him made sense.
She remembered the night he found her by the riverbank, how impossibly fast he had been when he lifted her as though she weighed nothing.
And then today... how he'd gone from one end of the dining table to her side in less than a heartbeat. No human could move like that. No normal man could hear whispers carried on lips.
Her mind connected the dots, and dread sank deeper into her stomach. Kaive had to be the one who took her out of the dark room that night. His earlier words echoed in her mind... "Next time, I won't bring you out." Now she finally understood.
Olessia's fingers reached for the small pendant resting against her collarbone. A fragile piece of home she refused to let go of.
This was the very thing that had brought her to this strange kingdom, and deep down she believed it also held the power to take her back. But how? She had no idea.
When she finished eating, she rose from her seat and quietly left the dining room. Her mind was still tangled with questions when she turned a corner, and bumped into someone.
The lady she collided with glared at her, anger flashing in her eyes. Before Olessia could apologize, the woman tilted her cup and deliberately emptied its contents onto her.
Cold juice splashed across Olessia's dress, dripping down her arms as she stood frozen in shock and disbelief.