# Chapter 3 – An Unwanted Guest

Amber woke to the morning sun spilling across her chambers, the light almost too cheerful for the weight of her mood. She groaned, rolling over with dramatic flair, pulling a pillow to her chest. Sylphy, dutiful and bright as always, was already tidying up her nightdress from the floor.

"Sylphy," Amber grumbled, sitting up with her hair tumbling in wild curls, half fire and half night. "Remind me, what’s worse: being stared at by a thousand gossips at a ball or being hunted by an annoyingly persistent noble in a moonlit garden?"

Sylphy’s ears twitched, her lips pursed in thought. "From the way you complained all night in your sleep, I’d say… the noble?"

Amber threw her hands in the air. "Exactly! He was insufferable. That smirk—like he knew something I didn’t. And the way he lingered!" She flopped backward onto her bed. "If the gods love me, I’ll never see that man again."

Destiny, of course, had its own sense of humor.

The sharp *knock, knock* at the front doors of the manor echoed up the hall. Sylphy tilted her head, startled, while Amber froze mid-roll.

"Who in the world would call so early?" Amber muttered, dragging herself out of bed and peeking through the window toward the courtyard.

There he stood. Tall, broad-shouldered, dressed impeccably yet effortlessly, his dark hair shimmering faintly with that midnight-blue sheen that made her jaw clench. And that smirk. That insufferable, tempting smirk.

Amber’s blood ran cold. "No. No, no, no. Not him. Anyone but him."

Sylphy blinked. "Who—?"

But Amber was already storming toward the door. She flung it open, stared at the man she had just wished into nonexistence mere minutes ago… and promptly slammed it shut again with a resounding *BANG.*

She pressed her back against the door, palms spread, heart racing. "Oh gods above, it *is* him."

From the other side came a low chuckle. "Now that’s no way to treat a guest."

Amber covered her face with her hands, muffling a groan. *Why me? Why today?* A hundred questions buzzed in her mind—how did he know where she lived? What did he want? Why was he here? And most importantly, how long until he got bored and left?

The answer, to her horror, came swiftly.

"I do hope you’re not planning to hide in there all day," the man’s smooth voice teased through the wood. "Because I am, unfortunately for you, quite determined to stay."

Amber peeked through the side window and nearly fainted. He had made himself comfortable, hands clasped behind his back as if this were his estate and not hers.

Sylphy whispered in disbelief, "He… intends to stay the whole day?"

Amber dragged both hands down her face. "Oh, perfect. Just perfect. The one man I never wanted to see again decides my home is today’s playground." She stomped her foot. "The universe clearly despises me."

Behind the door, Prince Vlad—though Amber knew him only as an infuriating noble—smiled in quiet triumph. Her fiery reactions, her wit, her refusal to bend easily—it all amused him far more than the polished charm of the court’s ladies. And if it meant spending an entire day pestering her, then so be it. He could think of no better way to pass the time.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***