CHAPTER SIX(CONFUSED ALARIC)

CHAPTER SIX

Alaric’s POV

Sleep refused to come. I rolled to and fro until the sheets tangled around my legs like chains. My mind wouldn’t rest. Every time I closed my eyes, her face flashed before me, the softness in her voice, the strange calm in her eyes.

That wasn’t Elara.

It couldn’t be.

Elara was a storm in human form sharp-tongued, cruel when angered, proud beyond reason. The woman I married hated everything I stood for. She mocked my patience, disobeyed my rules, and made sure I felt like a stranger in my own bed.

But tonight… she smiled.

And that smile: gentle, uncertain, human, has been haunting me ever since she stepped out of my chamber.

What changed?

Why did her eyes look… different?

The same woman who once spat venom now looked at me like I was someone she wanted to understand. There was warmth where there should’ve been fire, hesitation where there used to be pride.

She tripped earlier, fell right into my arms, and for a moment… everything else disappeared. Her scent, the way her hand clung to me, her heartbeat pressing against mine- it felt too real, too unfamiliar to belong to Elara.

It’s madness. I must be losing my mind.

I sat up, rubbing my temples. Maybe the royal physician was right — maybe she hit her head too hard when she fell from that horse. 

They think i didnt know…know that she's been sending letters to someone and meeting them secretly. 

I know but haven't gotten enough energy to confront my heartbreaks

But no injury could change a soul that deeply. I’ve lived long enough to know that.

What if she’s pretending?

What if this is another one of her mind games to make me look foolish before the court?

Still… her words echo.

“I would like to spend the night with you, my lord.”

Elara never called me that before. Never my lord. She called me Alaric only when she wanted to remind me how little power I had over her. Yet tonight, she said it like a prayer, like she meant it.

I exhaled heavily and stood, pacing across the room.

Maybe I’m cursed….cursed to want the woman who detests me. Cursed to crave a love that will never exist between us. I swore before the heavens that I’d never be weak again, never let anyone break me… yet here I am, haunted by her every word.

She mentioned a charity.

A charity.

I almost laughed. The Queen of Earldom, known for punishing servants and humiliating nobles, now wants to feed the poor?

It’s absurd.

It’s impossible.

And yet, I saw something real in her eyes when she spoke about it. Something like sincerity.

Could she truly mean it this time? Or is it another act to gain favor from the court?

Still, curiosity burns within me like a quiet fire. I’ll go. I’ll see what she’s really up to.

If she’s pretending, I’ll expose her.

If she’s changed, I’ll find out why.

I walked to the tall mirror across the room. The moonlight spilled over my reflection… the tired eyes, the crown that felt heavier than usual, the scar across my jaw from battles that seemed easier than marriage.

People call me the King: cold, ruthless, untouchable. But if only they knew what it took to survive loving someone like Elara.

I touched the golden band around my finger, the wedding ring I once believed would bring peace. Now it’s a chain, a reminder of vows I no longer understand.

And yet tonight, when she fell into my arms, it almost felt… right.

I shook the thought off, forcing a small bitter smile. “You’re losing it, Alaric,” I muttered to myself. “She’s still the same woman who’d rather see you dead than in love.”

Still, my heart betrayed me.

Because deep down, I wanted to believe she was different.

Tomorrow, I’ll go to her charity. I’ll watch her from the shadows if I must. Maybe then I’ll know what game she’s playing or if, by some cruel twist of fate, I’m the one being played by destiny itself.

Whatever this is, it’s dangerous.

Because if that wasn’t Elara…

Then who was she?