The musician arrived at dusk.
No grand announcement. No procession.
Just silence.
That alone told me everything.
Power doesn't need spectacle.
Claude stood beside me in the receiving hall, expression unreadable.
"You can still withdraw," he said quietly.
"No."
He studied me for a moment longer.
Then the doors opened.
The man who entered did not look ancient.
He looked… unfinished.
Long dark hair. Eyes too still. Hands ungloved despite the cold.
When his gaze landed on me.
It felt like being dissected.
"So this is the princess," he murmured.
His voice was soft.
Wrong.
"I prefer Rihanna," I replied calmly.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Ah. The one who sees."
Claude's posture shifted instantly.
Subtle.
Protective.
"You were told nothing," Claude said evenly.
"I was told very little," the musician corrected.
He stepped closer.
I did not move.
"You carry the future scent," he said. "Broken timelines cling to you."
Silence flooded the hall.
Claude's hand brushed lightly against the small of my back.
"You believe her then?" Claude asked.
The musician did not look at him.
"She does not lie about her power."
Relief did not wash over me.
Confirmation meant exposure.
"And?" Claude pressed.
The musician's eyes sharpened.
"She intends to use it to remove someone."
Great I didn't tell him yet I guess he gotta know. I thought to myself rolling my eyes.
"Dangerous ambition," he continued softly. "Especially when the thread she seeks to cut is knotted around the empire's spine."
Landon.
Claude's hand stilled.
"Can it be done?" I asked.
The musician's gaze pierced mine.
"Yes."
The word was simple.
Cold.
"But."
There's always a but.
"If you remove him, the future does not become peaceful. It just becomes livable."
"I don't need peace," I replied quietly. "I need survival."
For a moment.
Something flickered in the musician's eyes.
Interest.
"You are not afraid of blood."
No, I definitely am. I'm not want to really get involved, but I already had two shitty lives at least one of them has an ending where I'm alive.
I sighed just thinking about it
"I am afraid of losing."
Silence.
Then.
He laughed softly.
"Very well, Rihanna. I will not stop you."
Claude's voice was dangerously calm. "You're encouraging this?"
"I am observing," the musician replied. "Whether she succeeds depends on who stands beside her."
His gaze shifted.
To Claude.
That was deliberate.
The air tightened.
"Your Highness," the musician continued, "if you shield her, you tie your fate to hers."
Claude did not hesitate.
"It already is."
The words landed heavier than any confession.
My breath caught despite myself.
The musician smiled faintly.
"Then I suggest you both prepare."
"For what?" I asked.
"For the moment she realizes," he said softly, "that the person she fears most… may not be Landon."
Great now Claude knows the person I wanna kill is Landon.
Silence.
Wait
If not Landon, then who?
"What does that mean?" I demanded.
The musician stepped back.
"You see futures when you touch others," he said. "But have you ever considered that someone may see yours?"
The room felt colder.
"Be careful, child of fractured time," he murmured.
Then he turned.
And left.
When the doors shut, the silence felt heavier than before.
Claude did not remove his hand.
"You were going to kill him," he said quietly.
I didn't really want him to know, but it's too late now. Guess I gotta tell him the truth…
"Yes."
"And you still might."
"Yes."
He exhaled slowly.
"Then don't do it alone."
That wasn't permission.
That wasn't approved.
That was a decision.
I looked up at him.
"Why?"
I paused.
There it is again.
That tone.
That dangerous sincerity.
For a split second, something in my chest tightened.
No.
Stop.
Four months.
That's all this is.
A political contract. A temporary alliance. A name on paper.
After that?
Divorce.
He marries Eliana.
That's how this ends.
That's how it has to end.
I'm only looking for Eliana to secure the future.
not to compete with it.
He doesn't get to speak like that.
Not when I know exactly where this story is supposed to go.
"You won't," I said evenly. "When the contract ends, you'll be free. You'll marry properly. Align with the right family. This won't follow you."
His brow shifted slightly.
"What makes you so certain?"
Because I've seen enough futures to know I'm not in yours.
Because I refuse to be.
Because I'm not stupid enough to mistake proximity for permanence.
I forced a calm expression.
"Our arrangement was never meant to last, Your Highness."
There.
Distance restored.
Professional.
Clean.
But his gaze didn't waver.
"Is that what you want?" he asked quietly.
This again.
Why does he keep asking questions like that?
What I want is irrelevant.
What I need is survival.
What I need is Landon to be removed.
What I need is Eliana found.
"I want stability," I replied.
A partial truth.
He studied me for a long moment.
As if trying to decide whether to press further.
Then finally.
"As you wish," he murmured.
There it was again.
That phrase.
Not mocking.
Not distant.
I almost resigned.
I shifted slightly away from him.
Not enough to be obvious.
Enough to remind myself.
Four months.
Don't forget that.
If he chooses to fall with me, that's his mistake.
I won't let it become mine.
But for the briefest, most dangerous second.
I wasn't sure whether his words scared me…
Or steadied me.
And that uncertainty was far more dangerous than any future I'd seen.