~Y/N POV~

The next morning begins the same way as every other morning.

My alarm goes off before the sun rises.

I dress in the dark.

I eat nothing until I get my small bread loaf from the bakery.

I leave my apartment with my bag over my shoulder and make the familiar walk toward Blackthorn Estate.

By the time I reach the gates, the sky is beginning to lighten.

I enter through the servants' entrance, greet no one and begin my work.

For the first few hours, everything is normal.

I clean the west corridor.

Then the library.

Then one of the smaller sitting rooms.

I'm halfway through polishing a long wooden table when someone speaks behind me.

"Y/N."

I turn immediately.

It's Kang Minseok.

The estate's personal assistant.

He's a cat hybrid, although he rarely displays much of his animal features while working. Today, a pair of tabby brown ears sit neatly among his dark hair, twitching occasionally whenever someone moves nearby.

I've spoken to him before but that's not often. It's usually only when he has instructions for me.

"Yes?"

"You're needed upstairs." Minseok

I straighten.

"Upstairs?"

He gives me a brief nod.

"You're serving drinks." Minseok

I stare at him for a second.

"Me?"

His expression doesn't change.

"Yes." Minseok

I hesitate.

I've never served the Seven Crowns directly.

I've worked in this estate for six years, but there are still rooms I've never entered unless I've been cleaning them after they've been vacated.

Serving them is normally someone else's responsibility.

Seo Haejin.

A doe hybrid.

She's very pretty and quiet.

Always perfectly dressed and, from what I've seen, pleasant.

She works much closer to the seven than I do. She knows their preferences, brings them things when they're working and occasionally accompanies them when they travel within the estate.

I've never understood why she was chosen for it.

Perhaps because she's graceful or beautiful.

Or maybe because she belongs in rooms where people like me don't.

"Where is Haejin?" I ask before I can stop myself.

Minseok glances at me.

"Sick." Minseok

That's all the explanation I get before he turns away.

I look down at my cleaning cloth.

Then toward the kitchen.

The bear chef is there, preparing something at one of the counters.

Our eyes meet.

I don't know why I look at him. Maybe I'm asking whether this is really what I'm supposed to do.

He looks at Minseok.

Then at me.

He gives one small nod.

Go.

So I put down my cloth.

I wash my hands and I follow Minseok upstairs.

**********

I realize something is wrong before I even enter the room.

I can smell alcohol. It's strong enough that I notice it before the door is fully open.

Alcohol isn't unusual in Blackthorn Estate. It's the time of day that makes my stomach tighten. It's barely morning.

I stop outside the doors for half a second. There is already a bottle of whiskey waiting on the tray with several glasses.

Whiskey smells sharp enough to make my nose sting.

They don't usually drink this early. At least, not in my experience.

If alcohol is being served first thing in the morning, this isn't going to be a pleasant meeting.

I take a breath, then I enter.

All seven are there.

For a moment, I forget to breathe again. I've seen each of them separately before.

Passing in corridors.

Across rooms.

From a distance.

But all seven together are different.

They fill the room without trying.

Seven powerful predators.

Seven heirs.

Seven men who could probably make an entire room fall silent simply by walking into it.

Namjoon is standing near the windows, silver wolf ears visible through his dark hair and his tail hanging behind him.

Jin is sitting farther back, white tiger ears flicking occasionally.

Yoongi sits with the lazy stillness of a black panther, dark eyes watching the others.

Hoseok is near one of the tables, his red fox tail moving faintly behind him.

Jimin sits elegantly, pale snow leopard ears barely visible from under his blonde hair.

Taehyung is alone on a single couch near the fireplace. His shadow lynx features are subtle today, almost hidden, though his dark ears occasionally twitch.

And Jungkook is leaning back in his chair, his black jaguar eyes fixed on the others.

I lower my head. I don't stare. I've learned better than that.

Minseok gestures toward the drinks.

I take my position near the table and the conversation begins.

**********

"The Council confirmed the date yesterday," Namjoon says.

His voice is calm, too calm.

"The eclipse is in three weeks." Namjoon

Jungkook lets out a quiet scoff.

"Of course it is." Jungkook

Jin lifts his glass without looking at me.

I understand the gesture.

I step forward and fill it.

He lowers the glass again without ever looking in my direction.

"How many?" Jin

"Thirty-two confirmed families," Namjoon answers.

"Thirty-two," Yoongi repeats flatly. His mouth twists.

"They really think one of them is going to be our soulmate?" Yoongi

"No," Jimin says.

"They think if they put enough people in front of us, eventually we'll stop refusing." Jimin

Hoseok sighs.

"The Council doesn't particularly care whether we're happy." Hoseok

"They care about heirs," Jungkook says.

"Bloodlines," Yoongi adds.

I keep my eyes lowered. I shouldn't be listening, but I can't exactly leave.

My job is to stand here.

So I listen.

The Eclipse Banquet.

I've heard of it. Everyone has. It's held every year during the eclipse.

The most powerful families gather.

Eligible hybrids are invited.

The Seven Crowns are expected to attend.

It's supposed to be a celebration.

An opportunity for them to find their soulmates. But judging by their expressions, none of them seem particularly interested.

Jin holds his glass up again.

I refill it.

He doesn't look at me.

None of them do.

Namjoon continues speaking.

"They're using our parents again." Namjoon

The room changes but not dramatically.

Everyone becomes still.

"My father died at thirty-six," Jungkook says quietly.

"My mother was thirty-nine," Jimin adds.

I keep my hands still around the bottle.

I'd heard the rumours. Everyone had.

The Seven Crowns' parents had died unusually young.

The official explanations varied.

Illness.

Stress.

Old bloodline complications. But the rumours were always darker.

They had failed to find their true soulmates.

They had refused their bonds.

Their bodies had eventually deteriorated because of it.

I had never known whether to believe it.

Apparently, they do.

"We know what happened," Namjoon says.

His voice is quieter now.

"Our parents didn't mate with their soulmates." Namjoon

"They refused them," Jin says.

"Some did." Jin

Yoongi swirls the drink in his glass.

"Some were separated from them." Yoongi

Nobody corrects him.

My fingers tighten around the bottle.

The conversation feels too personal, too private.

I shouldn't be hearing it, but nobody has asked me to leave.

So I stay.

***********

"We're not going to choose someone simply because the Council finds them suitable." Namjooon

"They'll keep pushing," Hoseok says.

"Let them." Taehyung finally speaks.

His voice is quiet.

"If she isn't the one, I won't touch her." Taehyung

The others don't argue and that surprises me.

There is no joking.

No hesitation.

No disagreement.

They all seem to understand.

They would rather remain alone than choose the wrong person.

Because they know what happens when the bond is wrong.

Death.

Perhaps not immediately, but eventually.

I look down at the tray.

For some reason, that thought makes my chest feel strange.

Not because it concerns me.

It doesn't.

A human like me could never be considered by people like them.

I'm barely considered by anyone.

Jungkook holds his glass up.

I step forward.

Pour.

He lowers it.

Jimin does the same.

Then Hoseok.

Then Jin again.

I move around the room quietly, responding to hands raised or glasses lifted without interrupting the conversation.

Sometimes someone gestures toward the bottle.

Sometimes they simply hold their glass out.

Not once does anyone look at me.

I'm not offended.

I'm used to it.

It's easier this way.

**********

Eventually I reach Taehyung.

He's sitting alone on the single couch near the fireplace.

I approach quietly.

His glass is empty and he doesn't look at me.

He simply lifts it slightly.

I understand.

I pour.

The whiskey reaches the right level.

I begin to withdraw the bottle.

Then he stops moving.

His fingers remain around the glass.

I pause.

For a second, I think I've done something wrong.

Then his nose wrinkles.

His eyebrows pull together.

He looks down at the drink.

He doesn't lift it, he simply stares at it.

My heart starts beating faster.

Did I spill something?

Did I pour the wrong drink?

I look at the bottle.

It's the same one everyone else has been drinking.

I don't know what to do.

Then his eyes lift.

Not completely, just enough for the briefest moment, I think he's looking at me.

Our eyes almost meet.

I freeze.

There is something strange in his expression.

Confusion.

His nose wrinkles again like he's smelling something.

Something he can't place.

I instinctively pull back.

Taehyung shakes his head once, almost imperceptibly.

Whatever it is, he dismisses it.

He raises the glass and takes a drink. Then returns his attention to the others.

And just like that, moment is gone.

I stand there for another second before stepping away.

My heart slowly settles.

He probably smelled the alcohol.

Maybe something from the bottle.

Maybe the cleaning solution on my hands.

Something ordinary and meaningless.

I don't think about it again.

At least, I try not to.

***********

The meeting lasts another half hour.

The Council.

The banquet.

Their parents.

Soulmates.

Bloodlines.

Pressure.

I stand quietly beside the drinks.

Eventually, the seven begin leaving one by one. None of them says anything to me.

Jin walks past.

Namjoon follows.

Yoongi.

Hoseok.

Jimin.

Jungkook.

Taehyung is the last. He passes me without looking. I lower my head and he disappears through the doorway.

The room is suddenly empty.

I look down at the glasses.

Seven men.

Seven powerful bloodlines.

Seven people who are expected to find the one person in the world meant for them.

And somehow, after six years of being invisible, I had been allowed to stand in the middle of their conversation.

I pick up the first glass.

Then the next.

I tell myself Taehyung's strange reaction meant nothing.

Of course it meant nothing.

I'm human.

He's a Shadow Lynx. He's one of the Seven Crowns.

I'm the girl who cleans their rooms.

That's all.

I gather the glasses onto the tray and go back to work.