Lin Wan frowned slightly, taking a small step forward. "Safer? What do you mean?"

Jarek looked toward the heavy ironwood doors, as if checking to ensure the spatial barrier was fully active, before looking back at her. He let out a low, heavy breath, his broad shoulders dropping just a fraction beneath his heavy steel chest plate.

"I have watched you for the past week, little female," Jarek said softly, his amber eyes locked onto hers. "I have stood outside these doors every single day. I have heard the way you shout at him. I have seen the way you refuse his gifts, his gold, and his gowns. Every single soul on this mountain treats the new king like a god, crawling in the dirt just to breathe the air he leaves behind. But you look at him as if he is nothing but a monster."

Lin Wan’s heart gave a sudden, sharp thud. She backed up a step, her body tensing as she prepared for the worst. "Are you going to punish me for my disrespect, Captain? Are you going to tell your king that his prisoner is still stubborn?"

"No," Jarek said immediately, raising his large, calloused hands in a calm, non-threatening gesture. "If I wanted to report you, I would have done it on the first day. I came here to tell you that you are right."

Lin Wan blinked, her dark eyes widening in complete shock. "What?"

"He is a monster," Jarek whispered, his voice dropping into a very low rumble that barely carried across the quiet room. "I am the captain of the palace vanguard. I have served the royal house for forty years. I served his father, and I served his elder brothers. I was there during the three days of blood. I watched Prince Cassian tear through the inner citadel like a shadow storm. I saw what he did to the third prince. I saw the way he ripped the crown prince’s soul core apart with his bare hands while the male was begging for mercy."

Jarek’s jaw clenched tightly, his amber eyes darkening as he remembered the horror of the battle. "He did not just win the throne, little female. He wiped out his entire bloodline without blinking an eye. He possesses a heart made of cold stone. He is a supreme predator, and a man like that does not know how to love a gentle creature. He only knows how to break, conquer, and possess."

Lin Wan felt a cold shiver run down her spine, her fingers digging into her palms. "He won’t let me leave," she sobbed softly, her defenses finally cracking in front of this large soldier. "He built this room, but it’s just a cage. I feel like I am suffocating here, Captain. Every single day, I feel like the walls are getting tighter. If I stay here... if I stay under his shadow, I will die."

Jarek stepped closer to the table, his large hand resting on the wooden frame. He looked down at the steaming bowl of broth, his expression heavy with a deep, solemn determination.

"A gentle female like you does not belong in a lion’s den," Jarek said quietly. "You saved him when he was broken in that iron cage. The stories of your actions in the border city have spread among the low-tier guards. You gave him medicine. You treated him like a living soul when the rest of the world treated him like trash. And in return, he drags you here and locks you in a room like a stolen jewel."

He lifted his amber eyes, staring directly into her soul. "I respect your spirit, Lady Lin. I have seen many strong warriors break under the king’s pressure, but you are still standing in your rags, refusing to bend. I do not want to see him break you until there is nothing left but an empty shell."

Lin Wan’s breath caught in her throat, a sudden, blinding ray of hope piercing through her dark despair. She rushed forward, stopping just a few feet away from the large guard, her hands trembling violently. "Are you... are you saying you will help me?"

"The midnight guard shift change happens in six hours," Jarek said, his voice firm, low, and fast. "The vanguard warriors stationed at the outer gates will be replacing the internal guards. For exactly five minutes, during the rotation, the command token in my hand can create a small blind spot in the palace’s grand spatial array. The isolation barrier on this room will drop for three hundred seconds."

Lin Wan felt her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. "Five minutes..."

"It is all the time you will have," Jarek nodded gravely. "I will leave a servant’s gray cloak inside the linen closet at the end of the western corridor. When the lock clicks open at midnight, you must slip out immediately. Do not run through the main courtyards. Take the narrow servants’ staircase behind the kitchen wing. It leads straight to the outer mountain paths."

He leaned forward slightly, his amber eyes filled with a terrifyingly serious warning. "But you must understand the risk, little female. The moment Prince Cassian returns and finds this room empty, he will know someone helped you. He will track my residual energy on the lock. He will execute me before the sun rises, and his shadow hounds will sniff out every single inch of this mountain to find your scent. If you leave these doors, you can never look back. You must run as if the god of death himself is behind you."

Lin Wan looked at the large wolf warrior, her eyes filling with thick, warm tears. She couldn’t understand why this stranger would risk his life, his position, and his head just to give her a chance at freedom.

"Why are you doing this for me?" she whispered, her voice cracking with pure emotion. "He will kill you, Jarek. You know what he does to traitors."

Jarek let out a soft, low chuckle—a rough, tired sound. "I am an old soldier, Lin Wan. I have spent my entire life serving cruel masters, watching innocent lives get crushed in their games for the throne. For once in my miserable life, I want to do something that feels right. I want to ensure that the one gentle soul who showed mercy to a broken beast gets to keep her freedom."

He turned back toward the doors, his heavy armor clanking softly. "Eat the broth. You will need your strength to cross the mountain paths. The fog tonight will be very thick, and the stones are sharp. When midnight comes, do not hesitate. Run, and do not let him catch you again."

Without waiting for her response, Jarek stepped out of the bedroom, pulling the heavy ironwood doors shut behind him.

*Click.*

The lock turned once more, but this time, the heavy sound did not feel like a death sentence to Lin Wan. It felt like a countdown.

She rushed over to the marble table, her hands shaking as she picked up the small silver spoon. The broth was warm, smelling of simple wild herbs and clean water. She forced herself to swallow it down drop by drop, ignoring the slight wave of nausea that rose in her throat. She needed the energy.

Every single drop of strength would matter when the clock struck twelve.

Inside her head, Weiwei’s digital interface gave a small, sudden spark of green light.

[Host... the guard captain’s plan is highly dangerous, but it is our only chance,] Weiwei spoke, her voice carrying a nervous flutter. [I am already calculating the layout of the servants’ staircase based on my old memory files. The moment the barrier drops, I will give you a navigation route. We are going to get out of here, host. We are finally going to leave this place.]

Lin Wan clutched her stomach with one hand, her dark eyes staring at the clear crystal window as the dark night completely swallowed the upper world. "We are leaving, Weiwei," she whispered into the quiet room. "No matter what happens tonight, I am never coming back to this cage."

...

The darkness that settled over the mountain peak was thick, heavy, and absolute.

Lin Wan sat perfectly still on the edge of the large bed, her eyes fixed on the small silver clock resting on the marble bedside table.

The hands of the clock moved with a agonizingly slow, rhythmic click.

*Tick.*

*Tick.*

Every sound felt amplified in the dead silence of the room. Her palms were slick with cold sweat, and she had wrapped her fingers tightly into the fabric of her ragged dress to keep her hands from shaking.

Her stomach was still churning with that familiar, low wave of morning sickness, but the raw adrenaline pumping through her veins kept the nausea at bay.

"Weiwei," she breathed internally, her voice nothing more than a faint tremor in her mind. "How much time is left?"