"Is this how it feels to have a child?" Adrian asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper as he stood beside his fiancée.
They were in his room, standing quietly in front of the bed where a certain black-haired girl was sleeping soundly—completely still, her breath calm and even.
Annabelle.
A fierce warrior, hardened by countless battles and brutal experiences. Someone who had stared down horrors most would never survive.
But none of that made her immune to pain… or exhaustion.
She had sprinted across half a nation in barely two hours, just to reach him.
And the mental toll it took—knowing the man she cared for might be trapped in a war zone—had worn her down completely.
After a light dinner, she'd simply slumped forward onto the table and drifted off.
It was Ariana who had suggested letting her sleep here for the night.
"Well," Ariana replied with a soft smile, "she does behave like a child sometimes. I'll admit that much."
