Page 40 of Maid For The Dark Elf

"This isn't something you can fix, Caelric."

The quiet certainty in her voice stops me cold. I reach out instinctively, cupping her cheek with one hand, letting my thumb trace the delicate line of her cheekbone. The familiar gesture draws a reluctant smile from her lips, and for a moment the shadows lift from her eyes.

"Try me," I say, allowing playfulness to creep into my tone. With Rosalie, the constant weight of responsibility seems to lift. She makes me feel like I can breathe again, like the world isn't quite so complicated.

Her smile falters, replaced by something that looks dangerously close to grief. "I know this can't last."

The words hit me like ice water. "What do you mean?"

"You're the heir to House Vaerith." Her voice remains steady, but I can hear the effort it costs her. "You'll inherit one of the oldest noble houses in the kingdom. You can have your flings, your mistresses if you want them. But we both know this can never be anything more than what it is right now."

"Vaeriths don't take mistresses."

The moment the words leave my mouth, I watch her face crumble. She tries to pull away, but I catch her chin, forcing her to meet my eyes.

"Rosalie, look at me." I wait until her hazel gaze locks with mine. "This isn't temporary for me."

"Caelric—"

"I don't know how to explain it," I continue, the words tumbling out with desperate honesty. "But you're the only thing that keeps me grounded anymore. When everything else feels impossible, when the investigation leads nowhere and the political pressure threatens to crush me—you make it all bearable."

Her eyes search my face, looking for deception and finding none. The tension in her shoulders begins to ease, but doubt still clouds her expression.

"You say that now," she whispers. "But when the investigation ends, when House Ardyn is stabilized and you return to your normal responsibilities⁠—"

"Without you, I wouldn't have made it this far."

The words stop her mid-sentence. I reach for her hands, intertwining our fingers with deliberate care.

"Anyone could have⁠—"

"No." I lift her hands to my lips, pressing a gentle kiss to her knuckles. "Not anyone. You see things others miss because you've learned to survive by being invisible. You understand people in ways I never could."

A tear escapes down her cheek, but she doesn't pull away. "Caelric, I'm terrified."

"Of what?"

"Of hoping for something impossible." Her voice breaks slightly. "Of believing this could be real when I know how these stories end."

I release one of her hands to cup her face, wiping away the tear with my thumb. "What if I told you I don't care how other stories end? What if I said I'm more interested in writing our own?"

She leans into my touch, her eyes fluttering closed. "Your family would never accept it. The nobility would⁠—"

"My family already loves you." The truth of it surprises even me.

"That's different."

"Is it?" I shift closer, until I can feel the warmth radiating from her skin.

She laughs despite the tears still threatening to fall. "You're impossible."

"I'm persistent. There's a difference."

When she finally kisses me, it tastes like surrender and possibility combined. Her hands fist in my shirt, pulling me closer as if she's afraid I might disappear like Lord Ardyn did.

20

ROSALIE