The room was empty...or so Leor thought.

He closed the door behind him quietly, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead as his glasses slipped slightly down his nose.

His hands trembled, clutching a small folded piece of sheet music he'd copied during lunch.

It was quiet here.

No bustling hallways, no stares from nobles judging a commoner in uniform.

Just a piano and the moon.

Leor took a slow breath and sat before the instrument, fingers hovering nervously above the keys.

"Just for a few minutes…"

He murmured to himself.

"Then I'll leave."

The first notes he played were soft and hesitant.

Like footsteps testing the ground before stepping fully onto it.

The melody was a simple one.

Nothing like the grand concertos nobles admired.

But it calmed him.

Until the sound of a violin string broke the silence behind him.

—*Ting!

He froze.

His heart skipped.

Someone else was here.

When he turned, his entire body stiffened.

Under the pale moonlight stood a girl with golden hair tied in a neat ribbon and she had yellow eyes.

Even if Leor had never met her personally, there was no mistaking her identity.

Talia Veloria.

The Third Holy Princess of the Empire.

Leor shot up from the piano stool so quickly it screeched against the floor.

"Y-Your Highness!"

He stammered, bowing so deep his glasses nearly fell.

"I...I didn't realize anyone...

I mean..."

The princess's gaze flicked to him.

She adjusted her violin's chin rest, her expression calm as a lake.

"…You're from Professor Noel's class," she said softly.

"Dawsen?"

He swallowed.

She remembered his name?

"Yes, Your Highness."

His voice cracked embarrassingly at the end.

Her eyes flickered toward the piano.

"You play?"

"J-Just a little....I mean...I"

"If I'd known you were in here... that is...if I disturbed you..."

"You didn't."

"I came here only to… check the acoustics,"

She said, resting her violin on the edge of the stand.

Leor blinked.

"Oh. I...um..see

I was just— cleaning the piano.

He immediately regretted the excuse.

Cleaning the piano? At night? Really?

Her brows rose slightly, but she didn't question it.

Instead, she walked past him, the hem of her academy cloak brushing lightly against the floor.

The faint scent of violets lingered in her wake.

"Then… continue cleaning, if you must."

She said, setting her violin under her chin.

Leor hesitated.

"You're… going to play?"

Talia gave a curt nod.

"It's quiet here...and I don't like wasting silence."

That answer alone told him more about her than rumors ever did.

She drew the bow across the strings, and the note that filled the room was low and hesitant...almost like his own earlier piano tone.

Her fingers trembled slightly on the strings. The sound wavered.

For someone so flawless in image, her music was… uncertain.

Leor found himself listening.

The princess, known for her perfection, her composure, her grace...played as though she feared the violin might betray her flaws.

When she finished, she exhaled quietly and lowered the bow.

"Too sharp."

She muttered.

"Always too sharp."

Leor swallowed, debating whether to speak.

His mind screamed Don't.

His curiosity whispered Say something.

"…I thought it was okay..."

He said, barely audible.

Talia's gaze flicked toward him again, and he tensed under it.

Her lips parted slightly.

"You… think so?"

"Yes.

It... it sounded alive...and honest"

He said quickly.

For a moment, the princess looked at him as though she couldn't decide whether to be insulted or touched.

Her lips curved faintly.

"Honest....

That's a strange compliment for a melody."

He scratched the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly.

"Sorry, I just meant... it sounded like… it was really yours."

Talia looked away, as though trying to hide the faintest flush at her ears.

"You speak strangely, Leor Dawsen."

"I get that a lot..."

He murmured.

Minutes slipped by.

She began playing again, slower this time, and Leor sat back at the piano, hesitant but curious.

Eventually, the two melodies began to overlap unintentionally at first.

The piano's steady notes weaving softly beneath her trembling violin.

Neither spoke.

The music carried their words for them.

Then came the click from the door

Both turned and saw the handle rattle.

Leor stood quickly, crossing the room and tugging at it twice.

"It's...uh...it's not opening!"

Talia sighed, her tone calm but with a hint of exasperation.

"Of course it isn't...The janitor likely locked it from the outside after inspection."

He blinked.

"So… we're locked in here."

"For now."

Leor rubbed his neck

"That's… fine..."

He muttered, clearly not fine.

Talia placed the violin back down and sat on the nearby bench, folding her hands on her lap.

"Then we wait.... It's not the worst place to be trapped."

Leor stood awkwardly near the piano, unsure if he should sit.

Her gaze flicked toward him again.

"You can sit, Dawsen.

You look like you're about to bolt."

He sat farther than necessary but close enough to hear her faint sigh.

"May I ask something?"

Talia said after a pause.

Her tone was calm again, regal but curious.

"Why are you truly here?"

Leor blinked.

"Oh I told you, I..."

"Cleaned the piano."

Her tone was dry.

"Yes, a perfectly believable excuse at midnight."

He flushed.

"And you?

Checking acoustics?"

She turned her gaze toward the window, moonlight brushing against her golden lashes.

"If I tell you, you must answer honestly as well."

Leor hesitated but nodded.

"Alright."

Her voice softened.

"I come here because… my tutors say my playing lacks soul.

That I rely too much on form and thhat a princess should play flawlessly.

She paused, a faint tremor crossing her expression.

"So I come here when no one can hear me fail."

Leor's throat tightened.

He hadn't expected honesty especially not from her.

"…I see."

He murmured.

"That doesn't sound fair."

"It's not about fair...it's about expectations," she said quietly.

"Even if I dislike them."

She turned to him.

"Now, your turn."

He looked down at the piano keys, fingers brushing them absentmindedly.

"Well you see...I come here because I can't sleep sometimes.

The piano helps quiet my head."

"That's all?"

He hesitated.

"…It reminds me of home. My mother used to hum while cooking.

The rhythm...sometimes I can hear it if I play softly enough."

Talia's expression softened, almost imperceptibly.

"…That's not silly."

He blinked.

"It isn't?"

The clock ticked softly in the corner.

Moonlight deepened, spilling like silver paint across the marble floor.

They spoke slowly in intervals.

About trivial things...about their class...

About Professor Noel's unnerving silence during lectures.

Leor stammered through most of it, while Talia's calm replies occasionally hid quiet amusement.

Then came a soft mew.

Leor turned.

At the window, a small black cat with yellow eyes perched on the sill, pawing at the glass.

"Oh!"

Leor stood quickly, nearly tripping over the bench.

"That's...!"

Talia had already risen.

"It's mine."

"Yours?"

Leor blinked.

"Well...not mine, exactly."

She admitted, unlatching the window slightly so the cat could slip inside.

"I found it injured weeks ago...

it had a cut on its leg, so I bandaged it."

Leor stared.

"Wait...bandaged?

On its right leg?"

"Yes."

He blinked again.

"Then it's the same one that visits my dorm window!

I thought it just… wandered."

The cat purred, rubbing against both their legs.

Leor crouched, scratching its head gently.

"So you were the one who patched him up, huh?"

Talia knelt beside him...gracefully, even then and extended her hand towards the cat.

But their fingers brushed as they both reached for the cat's fur.

Leor's heart stuttered.

He quickly pulled back, muttering.

"S-sorry."

Talia blinked at him, expression unreadable. Then, faintly, she smiled.

"You're unusually nervous."

"You're the princess..."

He said quickly.

"And you're Leor Dawsen."

Her tone was matter-of-fact.

"We're both trapped...so drop the formalities..."

He glanced at her, startled by the simplicity in her words.

The cat meowed again, demanding attention, and she chuckled softly.

A sound he hadn't expected.

And in that sound, Leor saw her in a light she hadn't seen her in.

Not as the Third Holy Princess of the Empire,

But a girl who snuck at night to play the violin... and fed stray cats.

Time blurred.

The air grew colder, but neither spoke of it.

They sat side by side near the piano, the cat curled between them.

Talia rested her chin on her knees, still holding her violin loosely.

"Do you ever wonder..."

she murmured.

"...what it would be like to live without all of it? Expectations..."

Leor thought for a moment.

"Every day."

She turned slightly, eyes glinting.

"And?"

"And I still wouldn't trade being myself."

He said quietly.

"Even if I could.

Because… even a small life can feel big when you fill it with things you love."

Talia stared at him for a long moment, then looked away.

"…You speak strangely again."

He smiled faintly.

"Sorry."

"Don't be."

Her voice was soft.

Time passed even more.

The cat purred lazily between them.

Leor adjusted his glasses, his heart still drumming lightly from the conversation that felt far too surreal to be real.

He'd never imagined himself sitting beside the Third Holy Princess, let alone speaking to her like this ...quietly and almost as equals.

But reality tugged at him again, heavy and cold.

He looked at the cat, then at her, her hair glimmering faintly under the pale light.

"Your Highness..."

He said suddenly, the words slipping out before he could stop them.

Talia tilted her head slightly, humming a soft, questioning sound.

He hesitated huis throat feelinh dry.

"Aren't you… worried?"

Her brows lifted slightly.

"Worried?"

Leor rubbed the back of his neck, struggling to meet her gaze.

"I mean...if someone were to come in here, right now… they'd see you with someone like me."

The princess blinked, her golden eyes reflecting the silver of the moon.

"Someone like you?"

He sighed quietly.

"It wouldn't… look right, would it? You're the Third Holy Princess."

For a moment, silence stretched between them again.

Then, her voice cut through it.

"…And what's wrong with you?"

Leor froze, his head snapping up.

Talia's gaze was steady, her tone not scolding, but firm in a way that made the air feel suddenly still.

"You speak as if being who you are is something shameful."

Leor felt something in his chest tighten.

He didn't know what to say...didn't even know how to react.

So he looked away instead, murmuring.

"I… didn't mean to offend."

"You didn't."

She replied simply.

"I just dislike self-deprecation."

The cat meowed softly, brushing against her leg, and she smiled faintly.

Then came a sound from the door.

*Click!

Both of them turned sharply toward the door.

The handle turned once.

And then again.

A shadow stretched under the threshold, followed by the sound of the lock sliding open.

The door creaked, spilling a line of dim corridor light into the moon-soaked room.

And standing there, framed by that light, was a tall man wearing a long grey trench coat, his presence heavy yet composed.

The faint gleam of his silver insignia reflected off the low light, and his sharp eyes took in the scene without so much as a twitch of surprise.

Someone they hadn't expected to see at this hour.

Leor muttered, "P-professor N-Noel..."

His eyes moved between the princess seated by the window and the trembling commoner by the piano.

The silence that followed could have filled an entire hall.

Finally, in that same cool, formal tone that always carried authority without raising its volume, Noel spoke.

"What are the two of you doing in here?"

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