Chapter 1 “The Midnight Death”

The first scream came at exactly midnight.

Princess Seraphina woke violently, her chest tightening as cold air flooded her room. Moonlight spilled across the marble floor, pale and ghostlike.

Again.

Her hands trembled beneath silk blankets.

The candles had gone out.

That was always the first sign.

“No…” she whispered weakly.

Her breathing quickened.

From somewhere inside the darkness came the sound she feared most.

Scratch.

Scratch.

Scratch.

Like claws dragging slowly across stone.

Seraphina stumbled from her bed, barefoot against the freezing floor. Her golden nightgown tangled around her legs as panic rose inside her throat.

“Guards?” she called shakily.

No answer.

Never an answer.

The palace became empty during the deaths.

Always empty.

The scratching grew louder.

Closer.

Tears burned her eyes. “Please stop…”

A shadow moved across the far wall.

Too tall. Too thin. Not human.

Her body froze.

The creature slowly emerged from the darkness near her balcony doors. Long black limbs twisted unnaturally as silver eyes opened across its face — dozens of them blinking at once.

Seraphina nearly collapsed.

“No… no… not tonight…”

The creature tilted its head.

Then smiled.

Every candle in the room suddenly reignited in violent blue flames.

Seraphina screamed.

The monster lunged.

She ran toward the doors, but invisible hands grabbed her wrists from the darkness. Cold fingers wrapped around her throat.

She couldn’t breathe.

The creature approached slowly now, enjoying her terror.

“Please…” she cried.

Its voice entered her mind instead of her ears.

“Death number ninety-three.”

The shadows pierced through her chest.

Pain exploded through her body.

Seraphina’s scream shattered across the palace halls as blood stained her white gown crimson.

Then—

Silence.

Morning sunlight touched her face gently.

Seraphina opened her eyes.

Alive again.

Her body jerked upright as she gasped for air.

No blood. No wounds. No monster.

Only soft sunlight pouring through golden curtains.

The same morning.

The same nightmare.

Again.

Tears slid silently down her cheeks as servants entered the room.

“Good morning, Your Highness,” one maid said cheerfully.

Seraphina stared at her with hollow eyes.

“How can you smile?” she whispered.

The maid blinked in confusion. “Princess?”

Of course.

They didn’t remember.

None of them ever remembered.

Seraphina climbed out of bed weakly, her hands shaking uncontrollably. Her reflection in the mirror looked paler each day.

More broken.

More tired.

She touched her chest where the shadows had pierced her.

No scar remained.

But she could still feel the pain.

A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.

The door opened carefully.

A young palace servant stepped inside carrying fresh flowers.

Kael.

The moment his silver eyes met hers, something inside Seraphina cracked.

Because unlike everyone else…

He looked devastated.

As if he remembered everything.

Kael lowered his gaze quietly. “You died painfully last night.”

Seraphina stopped breathing.

The flowers slipped from his hands onto the floor.

For the first time in months…

Someone believed her.

And in his eyes, she saw something even more terrifying than the curse itself.

Guilt.Kael quickly closed the chamber doors behind him, his breathing uneven.

Seraphina stared at him as fear slowly turned into disbelief.

“You remember?” she whispered.

Kael’s jaw tightened.

“Yes.”

The single word shattered the loneliness she had carried for months.

Seraphina’s knees weakened. She grabbed the edge of the vanity table to steady herself.

“How?” she asked desperately. “Why are you the only one?”

Kael looked away, pain flickering across his face like a wound he could not hide.

“I shouldn’t remember,” he murmured softly. “But every time you die… I see it too.”

A cold silence filled the room.

Seraphina’s chest tightened.

“You see it?”

Kael nodded once.

“The pain. The blood. The final moment.” His silver eyes darkened. “Last night the shadow pierced your heart.”

Her hands immediately flew to her chest.

Even now she could still feel the phantom pain.

Tears gathered in her eyes again. “I thought I was losing my mind.”

“You are not,” Kael said firmly.

For the first time, someone spoke to her like the curse was real.

Like she was not insane.

Outside, cheerful music echoed faintly from the palace courtyard. Servants laughed somewhere beyond the walls, unaware their princess died screaming every night.

Seraphina suddenly hated the sunlight.

Hated the normalcy.

“What if tonight is worse?” she whispered.

Kael slowly stepped closer.

“Then I’ll stay with you.”

And somehow, those five words frightened her more than the monster itself.

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