The Shadow of the Crown

The silver elevator hissed open at the private penthouse level. **Jaehyung** hobbled out, leaning heavily on a crutch he’d scavenged from the back of the dance studio. Every step was a jagged needle of pain in his knee, but the ache in his chest was worse.

The lights in the foyer were dimmed, but the heavy scent of expensive sandalwood incense filled the air. Jaehyung froze. His mother didn’t use that incense.

Only one person did.

"You’re late, Jaehyung," a raspy, authoritative voice echoed from the darkness of the living room.

Jaehyung braced himself and limped into the room. Sitting in the high-backed velvet chair, silhouetted by the moonlight, was **Jeon Sang-hoon**—the Chairman of the Jeon Group and the man who had pulled the strings of Jaehyung’s life since the day he was born.

"Grandpa," Jaehyung breathed, his voice tight. "What are you doing here at 1:00 AM?"

The old man turned his head. His eyes were a faded version of Jaehyung’s light-blue, but they still held a predatory sharpness. "I heard about the divorce. Hana’s agency is already calling me, begging for a settlement. You handled that poorly. A scandal now, during your comeback?"

"I don't care about the scandal. I want her away from my children," Jaehyung snapped, ignoring the throb in his leg.

The Chairman stood up slowly, leaning on his gold-headed cane. He walked toward the hidden wing's door. "Your children? You mean *my* legacy. I saw the footage from the nursery cameras yesterday, Jaehyung. Aria’s eyes."

Jaehyung stepped in front of the door, blocking it despite his injury. "You aren't going in there."

"They are glowing, aren't they?" The Chairman’s voice trembled with a terrifying kind of excitement. "The **Cherry Red**. It hasn't appeared since your great-grandfather’s time. A century of silence, finally broken. Do you have any idea what this means for our family’s standing? She isn't just a child, Jaehyung. She is a miracle. A divine sign of our right to lead."

"She is a four-year-old girl who is scared of the dark!" Jaehyung growled. "She isn't a 'sign' for your boardroom meetings. She's my daughter."

"She is a Jeon," Sang-hoon countered, his eyes narrowing. "And once the public sees those eyes, the world will bow. I’ve already contacted the private tutors and the security teams. We will begin her 'presentation' when she turns five."

"Over my dead body," Jaehyung whispered. "I won't let you turn her into a puppet like you did to me. I won't let you sell her bloodline to the highest bidder."

The Chairman leaned in close, the scent of sandalwood overwhelming. "Look at you, Jaehyung. You’re thirty-five. You’re a broken idol with a ruined knee and a failing marriage. You think you can protect her? Without my money, without my PR teams, the press would tear those children apart in a week. They would call them monsters. Hybrids. Freaks."

Jaehyung flinched. Hana’s words—*freakish children*—echoed in his head.

"Sign the settlement with Hana," the Chairman commanded. "Give her the money. Then, give me the girl. I will raise her as the Empress she was born to be. You can keep the boy—he only has the blue eyes, anyway. He’s common."

"Common?" Jaehyung’s voice cracked. "Leo is my son."

"He is a spare," Sang-hoon dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "Think about it, Jaehyung. Your knee is gone. Your career is ending. What else do you have left but the Crown?"

The old man turned and walked toward the elevator, his cane clicking rhythmically on the marble.

Jaehyung stayed pinned against the nursery door long after his grandfather had left. His leg gave out, and he slid to the floor, his head in his hands.

Inside the room, he heard a small sound. The door creaked open, and **Aria** stepped out, her **Cherry Red eyes** glowing like embers in the dark. She was holding a small, tattered blanket.

"Papa?" she whispered. "Is the loud man gone? He made my eyes feel hot."

Jaehyung pulled her into his lap, ignoring the agony in his joints. He held her so tight it hurt. He realized then that he couldn't do this alone. He couldn't fight Hana, his Grandfather, and the K-pop industry while his body was failing him.

He needed help. He needed someone who could treat his knee without reporting to his grandfather. Someone who could look at Aria’s eyes and see a patient, not a princess.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card he’d tucked away months ago.

**Dr. Arine - Orthopedic Specialist.**

He stared at the card for a long time.

"Aria," he whispered into his daughter's hair. "I think it’s time we met someone special."

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