Wasn't he supposed to be a honey badger?
Why would someone like him even waste his time talking to a bunch of skunks?
But Primrose figured that wasn't the most important question right now.
"If I had been there," Salem finally said, his voice low but steady, "maybe you wouldn't have had to go through that awful experience."
He looked her straight in the eyes, and for once, there was no teasing, no sarcasm. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I should've been by your side."
Primrose held her breath. She could hear the sincerity in his voice, see the guilt written across his usually smug expression.
Salem wasn't pretending. He wasn't saying those words to save face or play the part of a loyal knight.
He genuinely meant it.
For the first time, it felt like she truly mattered to him, not just as a business partner, but as someone he genuinely cared about.
But hadn't he once said they weren't even friends?
