enjoyebooks CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 34
POV: Evangeline
The moment my chamber door closes behind me, the strength drains from my body. I sink onto the edge of the bed and press trembling fingers to my eyes, but the tears push through anyway—hot, fast, uncontrollable. They fall onto my palms, onto my gown, onto the silence that has been tightening around me for months.
I try to breathe, but each breath shudders like a broken string. “I can’t do this,” I whisper to the empty room. “Not all of it. Not like this.”
The truth unravels inside me, thread by thread. I am a queen who must smile. A mother who must soothe. A wife who must be patient. A diplomat who must charm. A woman who must carry every fracture of this family as if it weighs nothing.
But the weight is crushing me.
Marc and Adrian’s fight still echoes in my skull—the screams, the fists, the look in their eyes when they turned on each other as if the other boy were a stranger. “My sons hate each other,” I choke out. “My own children.”
Another sob escapes. I press my hands over my face again, ashamed and desperate. “And Sebastian… he’s slipping away from me. From them. From everything.” The memory of his tired eyes burns through me. “How do I help a kingdom, raise two boys, and hold a marriage together when I’m breaking?”
A knock sounds—soft, cautious.
I scrub at my face. “Yes?”
The door opens and Mira, one of the younger maids, enters. Her expression shifts when she sees my swollen eyes. “Your Majesty… are you unwell?”
“I’m fine,” I lie immediately. My voice is raw. “Just tired.”
She hesitates, unsure whether to believe me. “Forgive me, but… there is a guest waiting for you downstairs.”
“A guest?” I ask, startled. “Maximilian and Georgina arrived this morning. Is it one of their attendants?”
“No, Your Majesty.” Mira shakes her head. “Someone else entirely. He insists he must see you. He arrived without escort, rode through the gates with his own men, and refused to wait in the receiving hall.” She grows nervous. “The guards recognized him, so they… allowed it.”
A flicker of alarm tightens my chest. “Recognized him?”
“Yes,” she whispers. “It’s the Duke of Meridia, Your Majesty.”
My breath stops.
Alexandro.
I rise so quickly the bed creaks. My pulse leaps forward, pushing everything else aside—fear, sadness, exhaustion, all swallowed by sudden, overwhelming hope. “He’s here?”
Mira nods. “Yes. He’s waiting in the main hall.”
I do not bother checking the mirror before leaving. My tears, my swollen eyelids—none of it matters now. I hurry through the corridor, heart pounding with something I haven’t felt in days: relief.
When I reach the top of the staircase, I see him immediately.
Alexandro stands at the bottom, tall and steady and familiar, his cloak dusted from travel and his dark hair tousled by the wind. The years have only sharpened him—broad shoulders, steady gaze, that quiet strength that once held my entire world together when everything else fell apart.
He lifts his head at the sound of my steps.
“Sister,” he says, voice warm and calm and exactly what I need.
I don’t bother with dignity—I run down the stairs and straight into his arms. He catches me effortlessly, the way he always has, holding me tight against his chest. The moment I feel safe, the tears return—not loud, not breaking, just the kind that spill because the heart finally sees someone who knows it well.
“Alex…” I whisper into his shoulder. “What are you doing here? Why didn’t you send notice? I—I can’t believe you’re here.”
He pulls back only enough to see my face. His brows lower, concern deepening. “Because if I had sent notice, you would have written back telling me not to worry.” His thumb brushes a tear from my cheek. “And Georgina’s letter made it very clear that I should worry.”
My breath catches. “She wrote to you?”
“Two days ago,” he says. “She told me my little sister is drowning in responsibilities she refuses to share. And that her husband is buried so deep in state affairs that he has forgotten how to reach out.” His voice softens. “She said you need help.”
I close my eyes. “I didn’t want to burden you.”
“You are not a burden,” he says immediately. “You are my sister.” He squeezes my shoulders. “I will leave Meridia, my lands, my council, anything I must—if it means I can help you breathe again.”
The words hit a place inside me that has been hollow for too long. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you too,” he murmurs. “And I’ve missed the boys. How are Marc and Adrian?”
The question rips through the fragile calm I’ve built in the last minute. My face falters.
He notices instantly. “Evangeline… what happened?”
“They fought,” I say quietly. “Not a child’s quarrel. A real fight. Hitting, screaming, throwing furniture. I had to pull them apart. They—” My voice breaks. “They’re pulling away from each other. And I don’t know how to stop it.”
Alexandro’s expression hardens—not in anger, but in fierce, protective resolve. “Then we’ll stop it together.”
I swallow. “You don’t understand. Sebastian barely has a moment for them. He barely has a moment for me. He’s exhausted, frustrated, drowning in the crown. And I’m drowning trying to hold everything else.”
Alexandro cups my cheek gently. “You were never meant to carry all of this alone.”
“I know,” I whisper. “But knowing doesn’t make it easier.”
“Well,” he says with a soft smile, “that is why I’m here. I’ll stay as long as you need me. Days. Weeks. Until the boys find peace and you find your footing again.”
Emotion wells up again, but this time it is not sorrow—just gratitude, bright and overwhelming. “Sebastian won’t mind?” I ask.
“He’ll have to survive it,” Alexandro replies dryly. “I’m not here for his comfort. I’m here for yours.”
Footsteps echo from the adjoining corridor. Maximilian and Georgina appear, both smiling at the sight of us together.
“See?” Georgina says cheerfully. “I told you he’d come.”
Alexandro smirks. “You undersold the urgency.”
Max lifts a brow at me. “Feel better now?”
I let out a trembling breath—half laugh, half relief. “Yes. I do.”
Alexandro slips an arm around my shoulders, steady and warm.
“Good,” he says. “Because whatever comes next, you won’t face it alone anymore.”