Chapter 1
## Chapter 1 – The Princess Who Ran 👑💨
The palace clock struck midnight, its golden hands glinting in the moonlight. Inside the vast marble halls of **Elyndria Palace**, echoes of music still lingered from the engagement ball — a celebration meant to announce Princess **Seraphina Althea Valenor’s** betrothal to Prince Damien of Valmont.
Everyone smiled that night. Everyone except her.
Seraphina stood by her bedroom window, the tiara still pressing against her temples like a crown of thorns. The kingdom saw her as the perfect heir — graceful, obedient, composed. But her reflection showed something else: a girl suffocating under the weight of expectations she never chose.
Her mother’s words replayed in her mind:
> “You will make the perfect queen someday, Seraphina. Love can wait — duty cannot.”
But Seraphina didn’t want a love that could *wait*. She wanted one that *burned*.
That night, she made her decision.
She packed a small backpack — jeans, a hoodie, sneakers, a bit of cash she’d secretly saved, and a silver locket with her family’s crest. Her fingers trembled as she removed her royal ring — the seal of Elyndria — and placed it beside the untouched bouquet from the engagement.
Then she climbed out of her window.
The night wind was cold against her skin as she crossed the palace gardens barefoot. The air smelled of roses and rain, and her heart pounded with each step away from everything she’d ever known.
By dawn, she was gone.
---
## The City 🌆
The city was alive in a way she’d never seen before — noise, color, people laughing in cafés, car horns echoing down narrow streets. It was wild, messy, *real*.
That’s when she met **Liora**.
Liora was wiping tables at a small café, her curly hair tied in a messy bun, a cheerful smile lighting up her face despite the rush. When she noticed Seraphina hesitating by the door, she waved her in.
> “You look lost. Coffee or tea?”
Seraphina blinked. “Uh… tea. Please.”
> “Name?”
There it was — the question that could shatter everything.
She swallowed. “Sera.”
Liora grinned. “Pretty name. Welcome to *Milo’s Café*, Sera. You new around here?”
Sera nodded, forcing a smile. “Just… traveling.”
That was how it started — the life she’d always dreamed of.
No palace, no guards, no betrothal. Just mornings filled with laughter, city noise, and freedom.
---
## The Secret 🔒
But freedom had a price.
Every newsstand and every TV screen flashed the same headline:
> **PRINCESS SERAPHINA OF ELYNDRIA MISSING. PALACE OFFERS REWARD.**
And with each passing day, *Sera* wondered how long she could keep her secret —
and what would happen when her past finally found her.
---
### Next Chapter ➤ *Chapter 2 – The Lies We Tell*
