Chapter 20

Roman

As Mars, Leo, and I walked through the palace gardens, I couldn't help but think about Audrey. A few days had passed, and we had not interacted, and it was almost time for the royal banquet.

Once in a while, I would steal a glance at her and watch her with Dalton, who she had been spending an awful lot of time with. I wanted to believe my friend was only looking out for her, but their friendship bothered me more than I cared to admit.

Why could she allow herself to get close to him, but not me?

"Daddy, can we go outside the palace?" Mars interrupted my thoughts, looking up at me with hopeful eyes.

Guilt washed over me, knowing I couldn’t fulfill his request. He was just a child, he deserved his freedom—but unfortunately, Penevia just wasn’t big enough to go unnoticed.

Especially now, with the royal banquet around the corner, we just couldn’t take any risks.

It wasn’t fair to him, and yes, I was a hypocrite, a horrible person, absolutely terrible—because I brought him into this s