Intro. In the corridors of that cursed palace, Viktor embodied death in its most magnificent physical form. He stood before the massive window, bare-chested, revealing a back as broad as a granite wall, where sinewy muscles—tightened like steel cables—intertwined with tattoos of predatory beasts that seemed to breathe with every expansion of his massive chest. Adrenaline surged through his protruding veins with a primal fury as he watched Loren perform her ballet drills under his relentless gaze. Loren, with a body that was a miracle of grace and nearly zero fat, moved like a butterfly trapped in a hurricane; her sculpted leg muscles and narrow waist trembled with exhaustion, yet she dared not stop. With a single, mercy-less look from his piercing eyes, Viktor clamped his massive hand over her sharp jawline, forcing her to look into his frozen features that had never known softness. His hoarse voice sliced through the silence, warning against the slightest negligence, before he shattered her.