"There are eight floors here, right?" I asked, keeping my tone as casual as I could manage. However, inside, my mind was already reeling, trying to comprehend the sheer size of the place. The walls seemed to stretch endlessly, and every corner I turned led to something even grander.
Kai gave a small nod, his expression neutral. "Nine, if you count the underground floor."
"Underground?" I repeated, arching an eyebrow in disbelief. "What's down there?"
He gave a nonchalant shrug, but there was something in his eyes that I couldn't quite read. "You'll see soon enough," he said vaguely, offering no further explanation.
I decided not to press for details. Whatever was down there wasn't my concern just yet. I had more pressing questions, and curiosity was quickly overtaking me. "Your inner circle—do they live here? All of them?" I asked, glancing around at the opulent hallways, trying to take in everything around me as we made our way up the grand staircase.
Kai nodded again, his voice casual but unwavering. "They live."
"So, each of them gets an entire floor to themselves? Or is it some kind of shared living arrangement?" My curiosity couldn't be contained, and I had to know more about how this place functioned.
He turned his head slightly, casting me a quick glance as we climbed higher. "Exactly. It's good to have a private space just for you. The ground and underground floors are the only ones we share, well, kind of," he added, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.
I almost snorted at his tone. "How well-organized," I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes. The audacity of it all—it was like this place existed on a different level of absurdity.
Kai caught my sarcasm and didn't miss a beat. "Someone has to be, right?" he said with that smug grin I was already beginning to despise. I hated how effortless he made it all seem.
"Interesting," I said, trying my best to mask the sarcasm, though I'm sure it slipped through. "Who set up the project for this place? It looks like it cost a small fortune."
His smile returned, though this time it had a sense of pride behind it. "Me," he said, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
"Of course, it was you," I said, barely able to hide my bitterness. I wasn't surprised in the slightest. "You probably designed every inch of it yourself, didn't you?"
He didn't respond to the jab, instead continuing on as if my tone meant nothing. "When you have visitors, where do they stay?" I asked, shifting the subject. I didn't feel like continuing to play his little game.
"They always stay in the second royal residence," Kai said matter-of-factly, glancing over his shoulder at me. "The one we use most informally. It's located above the mountains."
I frowned, perplexed by the specific details. "Why am I here, then?" I asked, more to myself than him. "I don't exactly fit the profile for an honored guest, do I?"
Kai came to an abrupt halt on the fourth floor landing, and I almost bumped into him. He turned to face me, his eyes unreadable. "You're a rare exception to the rule," he said, voice flat but certain.
"A rare exception?" My voice was tinged with confusion and skepticism as I tried to process his words. "And why is that?"
His eyes narrowed slightly, but there was no trace of anything resembling an explanation in his gaze. "I want you close to us," he said, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
I stared at him for a moment, trying to understand what he meant. His words were strange, and my mind was racing with the implications. "And where am I supposed to stay?" I finally asked, needing something solid to hold onto, hoping he'd give me something that made sense.
Kai didn't answer immediately. Instead, he started walking again, but this time there was a slight smirk playing at the corners of his lips, like he found the entire situation entertaining.
"The top floor," he said, the words slipping from his mouth like they were the only option. It was said with finality, as though there was no other place for me to be.
I froze in my tracks, disbelief taking over. "The top floor?" I repeated, my voice rising in confusion and anger. "Why the hell am I supposed to stay on the top floor?"
Kai stopped as well, but this time he didn't look back at me. He didn't need to—his amusement was clear from his posture alone. When he finally turned to face me, his eyes gleamed with something I couldn't quite name. "Because I want you there," he said with such casual arrogance that I almost felt dizzy from the audacity.
"But… wait—" I stammered, struggling to wrap my head around it. "The top floor isn't your floor?"
"Yes," Kai replied simply, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
That one word hit me like a brick wall. My mouth went dry, and my thoughts scattered in every direction. "Why the hell are you putting me so close to you?" I asked, my voice sharp with frustration. "Are you out of your mind? You're the King! I don't like people in your position, and I especially don't like people from your race. And first of all, I don't like you. At all. I could easily kill you if I wanted to."
Kai's smile widened into something wicked, something that chilled me to my core. "I know," he said, his voice dripping with amusement. "But I love danger. I don't care about what you said, to be honest. It's actually what I like the most about this whole situation."
I ground my teeth together, fury threatening to spill over. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I growled, feeling the heat of my anger rising up in my chest.
"You'll grow accustomed to me pissing you off," he said with a shrug, as if it was a minor inconvenience in his otherwise perfect world. "Don't worry. It'll be funny."
I stood there, utterly speechless, as he turned and continued up the stairs with that infuriating smirk still plastered across his face.
"Are you mocking me?" I managed to spit out, though my voice was tight, each word laced with the venom I could barely contain.
"I am," Kai said simply, his tone almost playful. And that smile—God, that smile—never left his face. I hated it. Every second of it.