Chapter 197

Elvira POV

I swallowed hard, my hands curling into fists at my sides. How many times had I pushed him away? How many times had I convinced myself that his presence would only suffer if I let myself stay close? But tonight, I couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t sleep. I had tried. I had tried to drown myself in the heat of a bath, letting the water mask the ache in my chest, the guilt that clawed at my heart. Yet nothing worked. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his silhouette, his jaw tight, his eyes guarded, the tension in his shoulders that spoke of the distance I had forced between us.

I shook my head, stepping closer, my bare feet silent against the cool stone floor. Guards and maids, the usual bustling of the tower, had been questioned, corners checked, halls scoured—and still, he had eluded me. It was as if he was deliberately hiding from the world, from me, from the pain I had