Satisfied, my husband's ferocity lted away in an instant. "And if you allow a word about my true identity to leak out of this room, I'll tell Sigmund all about your plans and we'll get beheaded together. Got that?"
I rolled my eyes and elbowed him. "You're such a drama queen."
"What's a drama queen?"
"A saying from the countryside, I imagine," Mariela said with a slight laugh, saving once again.
I pounced on her explanation gratefully. "Yeah, it ans an overly dramatic person."
Al shook his head fondly at . "You say the strangest things sotis. I really ought to visit the countryside soti and see where you picked them all up."
That would be impossible, since people near the earldom of du Pont spoke nothing like but I wisely chose not to say anything. The likelihood of the two of us ever traveling there was minimal. The Kanta region was quite far from there.
Now that our business was complete, I changed the subject, asking what Franz needed us to do as spring grew nearer. He seed surprised, since we had not been actively involved in his attempts to win people over until now.
The circumstances had changed. He absolutely had to beco king or Al would never get his people's lands back. We were more invested now than before.
I wished I could at least bank on the earl's vote but that was impossible because he was one of the higher nobles who didn't care one whit about anyone without a title. Even if Percy was the one with voting power, I highly doubted I could convince him either.
Our hands were tied. Al had no connections in the palace or with other nobles whatsoever since he had been so secluded. Franz said he would prefer being able to pick my brain behind the scenes as needed and suggested we focus on trying to round up the remaining mbers of the Kanta clan.
That would be quite an undertaking. Ayana might know where so of them had gone but if she didn't, the only clansn they would be able to take back were her and her children.
We had already promised to go back and visit her so we would have to find a way to sneak out again soon. If Al was truly going to take over leading what was left of the clan, he would need to know everything about their culture and the duties of the clan leader.
Having the sister of the forr clan leader nearby was an incredibly stroke of luck. She would likely be able to tell Al everything he needed to know and then so.
I was more worried about how it was going to get progressively more difficult to sneak out once court was in session. We only had a few months left before nobles would co pouring in from their country estates.
That creepy duke who was obsessed with would be back in the palace too. Joy.
Duke Orla worried the most as Sigmund's right hand man. I did not like his interest in now a married womanone bit. It was obvious he still had feelings for the last ti I ran into him. I had a sinking suspicion that he would be on the lookout for any hint of wrongdoing on Al's part so he could boot him out and bind to his side.
The last thing I wanted was to spend my life shackled to that boring old villain. It was the entire reason I had gotten married to Al in the first place!
We plotted with Franz and Mariela until it was ti for lunch. Afterwards, back in our quarters, Al cornered about my embarrassing statent earlier. I knew he wouldn't let this go!
"Soabout what you said earlier."
I sniffed, trying to avoid his obvious question. "I don't know what you an."
"Co on Katie, don't be like that," Al said earnestly. "Why did you say I was yours? I want to know."
Why did I say that? Was it only because I was trying to prove a point that Al couldn't be pushed around by his fake family anymore? Or was it because I really did think of him as mine?
It didn't seem like it had been that long since I even agreed to give him a chance and we started 'dating.' I couldn't deny that I held a deep amount of affection for my husband even though he sotis drove crazy with his inconsistent personality and teasing.
Back then I decided to give staying with him a shot. Now I was thinking about how to plan out the rest of our lives together. I had said on multiple occasions that I had his back no matter what so I guess I had already decided in my heart of hearts that I wasn't going anywhere.
But was it because it was easier to do that or because I loved him? Staying with the one person I knew I got along with in this fantasy world was heartless but practical. Staying because I was in love with him was a different story.
Having never been in love, I wasn't entirely sure what it felt like. The only example I really had to go off of was my parents. They had fun together, supported each other, and were pretty cuddly.
I did all of those things with Al. I was protective of him, defending him against others, and held him through it (literally) when it seed like his world was falling apart. Plus I rather enjoyed kissing him and sotis even wanted more.
It hit like a brick. Oh. I guess I was in love with him.
He wasn't anything like what I thought my type would be but here we were. Goofy, moody, and apathetic as he was. Warts and all, he was my husband and I loved him.
I let out a slight laugh at myself for not realizing it sooner before answering his question. "Well, it's probably because I love you."
Al stared at as if his brain had stopped working. He was supposed to say sothing back to that kind of declaration, wasn't he?! But he didn't. Or, perhaps more accurately, couldn't. I had broken him.
"Al?"
He finally snapped out of it when I called his na. "You love ? Really? When did you figure that out?"
"just now, actually."
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