Chapter 2 THE SCENT OF IRON AND THE WRONG KIND OF WARMTH
With trembling hands, Nora pulled her grandmother’s recipe book closer.
Her fingers turned page after page of fragile, dark brown paper. In the middle of the book, her eyes stopped on a title written in the upper corner.
Black Velvet Cake.
Yet everything beneath the title was completely blank.
The ink appeared to have been deliberately scraped away with a small knife, tearing lightly into the fibers of the paper and erasing every detail about the ingredients and preparation process.
“Your grandmother was the one who erased that recipe, Nora.” Tilly’s voice broke the silence of the bakery.
Nora looked at Tilly with a furrowed brow. “Grandmother?” she repeated curiously. “But why?”
“I don’t know,” Tilly said regretfully. “I asked her about it once, but Grandma Martha simply remained silent.”
Another unanswered mystery.
Why had her grandmother erased the recipe for that strange cake?
That night, the shop was completely dark.
A light drizzle had begun to soak the cobblestone street outside. Nora had just locked the cash drawer when her ears caught a faint creak coming from the kitchen corridor.
She froze.
The sound of metal hinges being jostled came from outside.
Someone was trying to force the back door of the shop open.
Nora swallowed hard.
Who could it be this time? She had only inherited her grandmother’s bakery a few days ago, yet so many strangers had already come looking for one thing or another.
Nora gripped the wooden rolling pin lying nearby and moved as quietly as possible toward the kitchen door, her back pressed against the wall as she tried not to make a sound.
Her breath caught in her throat when she noticed a narrow gap beneath the wooden door.
A dark shadow moved across the sliver of moonlight shining through it.
Then a low, hoarse whisper slipped through the thin wood, so close it sounded as though its owner were standing right beside her ear.
“We know the recipe is here.”
Nora raised the rolling pin high, her eyes fixed sharply on the back door where the voice had just whispered. She was ready to strike anything that dared to break its way inside.
Heavy footsteps sounded as they moved away, growing faster until they finally disappeared into the dark alley outside the shop.
Nora held her breath, her heart pounding hard against her ribs as though it wanted to leap out of her chest.
She gathered her courage and turned the lock. Her trembling hand made the simple movement feel far more difficult than usual.
The door slowly swung open, its hinges creaking softly as they welcomed the cold night air.
There was no one there.
Only a puddle of water remained on the stone floor, the remnants of someone’s footprints already too distorted to make out.
The smell of burning ash lingered in the air, sharp and unfamiliar, completely different from the sweet, buttery aroma that usually filled her bakery.
Who was trying to break into the bakery in the middle of the night? she wondered as she looked around, making sure the intruder was truly gone.
Nora then went back inside and firmly locked the back door.
After making sure the bakery was secure, she headed upstairs to her room and tried to sleep.
The next morning, the kitchen felt bitterly cold despite the oven having been lit since dawn.
Nora cleaned up the small pieces of porcelain scattered across the floor, remnants of a glass that had somehow broken during the night when she had been too exhausted to notice.
Her hands were still trembling slightly, whether from the cold or from the fear that had yet to completely fade.
The lack of sleep left her head heavy, and her eyes stung every time she blinked.
The bell above the front door rang loudly.
Nora looked up quickly, her heart skipping a beat before she remembered that it was already morning and she should be safe.
She assumed Aurelius had arrived, remembering the prince’s promise to return.
Instead, Kael stood in the doorway, his armor still damp with the morning dew.
Kael had not come as a customer.
The man stepped inside with a watchful gaze, his eyes sweeping over every corner of the room as though searching for something invisible.
He could smell the same dark magic in the air outside, something that made his jaw tighten the moment he crossed the threshold.
The shop was being watched, and he knew exactly what that meant.
Nora carried a bowl of dough carelessly, her thoughts still divided between the events of the previous night and Kael’s sudden appearance.
Her hand slipped from exhaustion that had been building since before dawn.
The bowl nearly fell to the floor.
Nora closed her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable mess and the sound of shattering porcelain that would surely follow.
But a large hand caught her wrist before the bowl could actually slip from her grasp.
Cold, rough skin pressed directly against hers.
A tiny electric shock traveled across Nora’s skin, so sudden that she flinched in surprise.
She looked at the man, startled to realize just how close Kael was standing.
Kael pulled Nora closer without hesitation, his movement quick and instinctive, as though he cared more about saving the bowl of dough than maintaining a polite distance.
The space between them vanished in a single second.
The sharp scent of cold iron rose from his armor.
The smell of the night air still clung to Kael’s dark cloak, mingling with something warmer that Nora could not quite explain.
“You didn’t get enough sleep,” Kael said flatly, his eyes fixed on Nora’s pale face.
“None of your business,” Nora snapped back, though her voice was not as strong as she wanted it to be.
“Close this shop,” Kael said again, his tone sounding more like an order than a suggestion.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Nora shot back, trying to pull her hand away even though Kael had not released it.
Their faces were incredibly close, close enough that Nora could have counted every one of Kael’s eyelashes if she wanted to.
Their breaths lightly mingled in the air, creating an awkward and strangely intimate silence.
