Chapter 40 Chapter 40

Chapter 40 Chapter 40
Liora’s POV

“I’m so tired,” he said, a heavy sigh following suit.

“I just want to run away,” he said and I chuckled lightly before nodding slowly in understanding.

“Relatable,” I said.

“I’m sorry I did not reach out to you,” he said, and I hummed softly.

“Well, why didn’t you?” I asked and he sighed again.

“I tried,” he said. “They’ve had me watched constantly since the letter they sent to your mother.”

I blinked. “Watched?”

“Guards, Advisors… Family members who suddenly care very much about my ‘schedule’... And my father made my uncle block communications with my drakyn.” His mouth twisted slightly.

I raised a brow. “He can do that?”

He nodded in response, “It’s one of his many powers. Interference”
Ah, that explains it.

“I was worried,” I finally admitted.

His hand turned and wrapped around mine. “Me too. I could not take it anymore and managed to sneak out tonight”

My mind was everywhere, imagining the worst possible scenarios of what would happen, if he got caught.

“Are you okay?” he asked after a moment, his voice lower now.

The question caught me off guard. I wasn’t sure why, but it did.
I nodded softly, “I’m fine”

“I just… I-” I paused, trying to gather my thoughts. “I’m actually more concerned about how you are doing at home. Your family basically accused me of… of-”

“Entrancing me,” he finished flatly.

Heat flooded my face, despite everything. “It’s ridiculous.”

“I know,” he said.
We both knew it was not too far from the truth, but we denied it anyway. I almost laughed.
At that moment, I liked him even more than I already did.

Silence settled in, and we just sat, listening to each other breathing, hand in hand.
Finally, he spoke.

“I didn’t know they were going to send that letter,” he said quietly. “If I had-”

“I know,” I cut in before he could finish.
And I did.
I had seen his face that morning in the cave. The frustration, the weight of expectations pressing down on him from every side.
He wasn’t orchestrating this.
He was trapped in it too, just like I was.

Our families were trying to drive a wedge between us.

His eyes searched mine carefully, “You didn’t doubt me? Not even a little?”

I looked away from him. Because I did. I did doubt him. But that was mostly because I didn’t hear from him.

“I did,” I said, with a soft sigh.
I didn’t miss the slight drop of his shoulders, and I hated so much that I caused that slight movement.

“It’s just… When I didn’t hear from you, I thought…” I hesitated, then forced the words out. “I thought maybe you were choosing them… I thought maybe you really planned this…”

His head snapped up immediately.

“Liora,” he said, the quiet intensity in his voice making my pulse jump. “If I were choosing them, I wouldn’t be sitting on the floor of your room in the middle of the night.”

Yes.
He really was here.
Despite the risk, despite everything…

“Well, I know that now” I said, and he smiled softly.

“I’m attending the meeting tomorrow,” I said finally.

His expression shifted instantly.

“Your mother agreed?”

“Conditionally,” I said with a small, humorless huff. “But yes, she did”

“I’ll be there too,” he said.
And the relief that gave me was insane.

“What’s going to happen there?” I asked. It was honestly more of a statement than a question.

He shrugged, “They’ll mostly press about what is going on between us, but I can bet my wings it’ll turn political”

I nodded, “Right. It already is political”
He nodded once, slow and grim.

“It always was,” he said quietly.

I let out a small breath, staring at the floor in front of us. The stone tiles looked different in the moonlight… pale, cold, almost unreal.

“What are they going to ask you?” I murmured, my curiosity getting the better of me.

Kysen didn’t answer immediately. His jaw tightened slightly, and that alone told me enough.

“They already have,” he said at last. “For the past three days.”

My fingers curled instinctively around his. “What did they say?”

His mouth twitched faintly, but there was no humor in it.

“That I’ve compromised myself.”

The words landed heavy between us.

“That I’ve allowed my judgment to be clouded.”

I swallowed.

“That I’m being manipulated,” he continued quietly. “That I’m… thinking like a boy instead of an heir.”

Something sharp flared in my chest. Maybe from the familiarity of the things I've heard.

“That’s not fair,” I said under my breath.

“It doesn’t have to be fair,” he replied softly. “It just has to be useful.”

That sounded far too much like something my mother would say.

“And tomorrow,” he went on, “they’re going to push for clarity. They want a clear position. A clear boundary.”

My stomach tightened.

“A boundary between us,” I said.
Of course they did. The queen ordered the training, so unless she withdrew her order, there was nothing anyone could do about it. But the whole ‘something is going on between us’ thing was something they would definitely push on.

He didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”

Silence stretched.
“What about you?” he asked after a moment. “What do you think your mother will demand from you?”

I let out a slow breath.

“The same thing,” I admitted. “I do not know if she will stop our training. But control, distance… Proof that I can separate… personal feelings from political duty.”

His eyes flickered slightly at that.

“And can you?” he asked quietly.

The question didn’t sound accusing, not even challenging.
It sounded more careful than anything. Almost like he was afraid of the answer.

I didn’t respond immediately.
Because the truth sat like a stone in my throat.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I want to. I know I have to. But when it comes to you…”

My voice trailed off.
His fingers tightened slightly around mine.

“…it’s hard,” I finished softly.

For a moment, he just watched me. I grew nervous by the second. But I had told my truth.
Then he exhaled slowly, like that answer hurt, but also relieved him at the same time.

“Good,” he murmured.

I blinked. “Good?”

A faint, tired smile touched his lips.
“Because it’s hard for me too.”

My heart ached at that. Why did it have to be this hard?
He leaned his head back against the side of the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“They keep asking me to choose,” he said quietly.
“Family or… you.”

“I hate that,” I whispered.

He whispered too. “Me too.”

Silence followed again, thicker this time.
Because neither of us could pretend that choice wasn’t real.
Or that it wouldn’t come sooner rather than later.

“I don’t want you to lose everything because of me,” I said quietly.

His head turned immediately toward me, eyes sharp.

“You are not something I would ‘lose everything because of,’” he said firmly.

I held his gaze.

“Then what am I?”

The question slipped out before I could stop it.

For a heartbeat, he looked almost startled by it. Like he hadn’t expected me to ask so directly.
Same Dravon. Same. My own question caught me off guard.

“You’re…” he paused, searching for the right word.

“…the only thing that feels honest in my life. The only thing that makes me feel calm… and safe”

My breath caught.
Because I understood exactly what he meant. I mean, I could relate to it.

Everything else… the politics, the expectations, the constant pressure… it all felt like a game neither of us had chosen to play.

But this? Sitting here, hands tangled together on the floor in the middle of the night?
This was real.

“I don’t know what tomorrow will bring,” he continued softly. “But I know one thing.”

My pulse quickened.

He held my gaze steadily.

“I’m not going to stand there and pretend you don’t matter to me.”

The words hit me harder than anything else he had said tonight.
I swallowed, my fingers tightening around his without thinking.

“Tomorrow is going to be a disaster,” I whispered.

A faint breath of a laugh left him.
“Yes,” he agreed. “Most likely.”

Another quiet pause.

Then he added, softer this time, “But at least we won’t be walking into it alone.”

And for the first time since the letter arrived…

That thought made something inside my chest loosen. Just a little.