Epilogue 2
Marcus gave the approaching figure a languid wave before slipping back toward the manor, though not without casting a sly, mocking grin in Esmeralda's direction.
"Try not to make my brother faint in anger twice in one month," Marcus murmured under his breath as he passed the Crown Prince.
Rael didn't even dignify the comment with a reply, his eyes entirely fixed on the silhouette curled beneath the ancient oak. He was dressed without his usual imperial clothes. He wore a fitted dark coat and white linen, yet every stride across the sunlit lawn was filled with grace.
Esmeralda tugged the edge of the blanket a fraction higher over her shoulders, her heart immediately betraying her by picking up its rhythm.
Ever since she had woken from her coma and pulled him into that desperate kiss, and especially after the breathless afternoon in the conservatory when her father had nearly suffered an apoplexy catching them, her composure around Rael had become a precarious thing.
She liked to think of herself as someone who is unreachable.
But the moment Rael looked at her with those unobstructed, adoring eyes, the 'villainess' melted into a thoroughly flustered young woman.
"You're awake," Rael said softly, stepping beneath the shade of the canopy.
"I was resting until Marcus decided to announce your arrival to the entire province," Esmeralda replied, trying for a haughty tone and failing as heat brushed her cheeks. "Does the Crown Prince not have state affairs to attend to?"
"The state can survive an afternoon without me," Rael said smoothly.
Without asking for permission, he settled himself down directly onto the sprawling roots beside her, his long legs stretching out over the grass. He set a small, ribbon-tied parcel wrapped in baker's parchment onto the flat stone near her.
"I stopped by the pastry district," he murmured, his gaze dipping down to her face with open fondness. "The baker mentioned they had fresh strawberry pastries. I seem to recall my fiancée has a particular weakness for them."
Esmeralda's eyes widened slightly, her stomach performing an undignified flip. "You went yourself?"
"Well, Jack insisted on sending a guard," Rael confessed, a chuckle rumbling in his chest. "I told him that if I let a knight buy sweets for the woman I love, Duke Schuan might actually have a valid reason to banish me from the estate grounds."
The mention of her father made Esmeralda bury her lower face slightly into the collar of her blanket, a muffled groan escaping her. "Please don't remind me. Father had the estate guards double the conservatory patrols after... that afternoon."
"Can you blame him?" Rael leaned in closer, propping his cheek on his hand, a delightfully wicked spark dancing in his gaze.
"You looked so breathtakingly smug when you whispered that trap into my ear, pulling me by my lapels that I just lost all reason. I think about holding you on my lap like that every single day."
"Rael!" Esmeralda hissed, her entire face bursting into a fiery crimson. She reached out and lightly swatted his shoulder. "Keep your voice down! The gardeners are nearby!"
"Let them hear," he whispered, unbothered.
Instead of pulling away, Rael caught her swatting hand in mid-air. His long fingers laced effortlessly through hers, his thumb gently caressing the soft curve of her knuckles. The playful teasing in his expression softened into something infinitely deeper, warm and reverent.
"Your father reminded me this morning that we still have nearly a full year before the wedding ceremony," Rael said, his voice dropping into a low and husky tone that made Esmeralda's pulse stutter. "A full year of keeping my hands to myself in polite company. It feels like cruel punishment."
"It is proper decorum, Your Highness," Esmeralda murmured, though she couldn't bring herself to pull her hand from his grasp. Her emerald eyes softened, a vulnerable shyness peeking through her defensive posture. "...Besides. You're already here. You have me."
The simple admission struck Rael straight to his core.
His breath hitched slightly. Leaning across the short distance between them, he brought his free hand up to cup her warm cheek, his fingers brushing against her skin with infinite tenderness.
"I do," Rael whispered, his eyes locked onto her lips before drifting back up to meet her gaze. "And I'm never letting you go."
Esmeralda closed her eyes, letting out a shuddering breath as Rael leaned down and pressed his lips gently to hers.
The kiss was slow and rich with the lingering relief of survival, and completely intoxicating.
When his fingers tangled softly into her hair, pulling her just a fraction closer against his chest, the quiet breeze through the oak leaves seemed to fade entirely into the background.
When he finally parted from her, resting his forehead lightly against hers with a breathless smile, Esmeralda let out a quiet laugh against his cheek.
"If Father looks out the third-floor library window right now..." she murmured, her cheeks still glowing pink.
"Then let him look," Rael replied, planting one more lingering kiss on the corner of her lips. "I'll simply tell him I'm adoring my beloved future wife."