Chapter 5: Invisible book

Morning arrived quietly.

A pale winter sun slipped through the frost-covered windows, painting thin streaks of gold across the wooden floor.

Anna had barely slept.

Every time she closed her eyes, she heard the same voice.

"You came earlier this time."

The stranger's silver-gray eyes lingered in her thoughts like an unanswered question.

Who was he? More importantly...

How could he possibly know her?

A knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts.

"Anna?"

Katya stepped inside carrying a small basket filled with neatly folded linens.

"I thought you were still asleep."

"I'm awake." Katya smiled.

"Good. Housekeeper Vera has everyone cleaning the west wing today."

Anna forced a nod.

"I'll be there."

Katya placed the basket on the table before leaving as quickly as she had arrived.

The room fell silent once more.

Anna rubbed her temples.

Everything that had happened yesterday replayed in her mind.

The banquet.

The little prince.

The mysterious noble.

The strange sentence that had appeared inside the book.

She frowned. The book.

Her eyes instinctively searched the room.

Nothing. The bedside table was empty.

"...Did I leave it somewhere else?"

She checked beneath her pillow.

Nothing. Inside the drawer.

Nothing.

A strange feeling settled in her chest. Had it all been a dream?

She turned toward the wardrobe.

The blue cover peeked out from beneath her neatly folded maid's uniform.

Anna froze.

"I didn't..."

She was certain she hadn't placed it there. Slowly, she reached inside and pulled it free.

The leather cover was cold, as if it had been lying in snow instead of inside a warm room.

She stared at it for several long seconds.

Then opened it. The pages flipped by themselves.

Not quickly. Almost lazily.

As though invisible fingers were turning them.

Finally, they stopped. A blank page.

Silence.

Nothing happened.

Anna let out a quiet breath.

"...Yesterday really was my imagination."

The moment the words left her lips—

Silver ink spread across the page.

One elegant letter after another.

Reader.

Her heartbeat quickened.

The next line appeared.

Curiosity is the beginning of every tragedy.

Anna swallowed hard.

"...Who's writing this?"

No answer.

Only more words.

The first thread has changed.

The story has begun to resist.

She stared at the page, trying to understand.

"What story?"

"What thread?"

Before another sentence could appear—

"Anna?"

Katya's voice echoed from outside.

Anna flinched.

Without thinking, she snapped the book shut.

The door opened.

Katya poked her head inside.

"There you are."

"I've been looking everywhere."

Anna quickly slid the book behind her back.

"What is it?"

"Housekeeper Vera wants everyone downstairs."

Katya smiled.

"You've been standing here for so long I thought you'd fallen asleep."

Anna hesitated.

"...Katya."

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

Anna slowly brought the blue book into view.

"What do you think of this?"

Katya blinked.

"...Think of what?"

"The book."

Confusion crossed Katya's face.

"What book?"

Anna frowned.

"This one."

She lifted it higher.

"The blue one."

Katya's eyes followed the movement of Anna's hand.

Then drifted to the empty space beside it.

"...Anna."

"There isn't anything there."

Silence.

Anna's grip tightened around the leather cover.

"You... can't see it?"

Katya laughed nervously.

"Should I?"

Anna stepped closer.

"It's right here."

She placed the book on the table between them.

"There."

Katya looked down.

Then back at Anna.

The table was empty.

At least...to her.

A chill ran through Anna's entire body. She slowly opened the book again.

Katya's gaze never changed.

She wasn't pretending. She truly couldn't see it.

"...You're scaring me."

Katya reached out and touched Anna's forehead.

"You still feel a little warm."

"Maybe yesterday's fever hasn't gone away."

Anna barely heard her.

Her eyes remained fixed on the open page. Fresh silver ink spread across the paper.

Only she watched the words appear.

Only the Reader may witness the story between the lines.

Another sentence followed.

Hide this book.

Trust no one.

The ink disappeared almost immediately.

Anna closed the book before Katya could notice anything strange.

"...I'm alright." She forced a smile.

"I just didn't sleep well."

Katya looked unconvinced but eventually nodded.

"Come on."

"If we're late again, Housekeeper Vera will have our heads."

The two girls stepped into the corridor.

Servants hurried through the palace carrying polished silver, fresh flowers, and baskets of firewood.

Outside the towering windows, snow continued to fall over Petrova.

Everything looked peaceful.

Ordinary.

Yet Anna couldn't stop thinking about the book tucked beneath her arm.

No one could see it.

No one could read it.

It had chosen her.

But why?

As she walked through the western hallway, something made her stop.

A portrait hung alone on the wall.

It hadn't been there yesterday.

A young man dressed in black military uniform gazed calmly from the canvas.



His silver-gray eyes were impossible to mistake.

The same man from the corridor.

Anna felt her heartbeat quicken.

She stepped closer.

A small golden plaque rested beneath the frame.

It read—

His Imperial Highness, Prince Aleksandr Volkov.

Anna's breath caught.

So...

That was his name.

And for reasons she still couldn't understand...

He had looked at her as though he had known her long before she ever entered The Winter Crown.

To be continued....

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