76: Do you love her?

Lucien’s POV

The day dragged, endless meetings stacked one after another, parchment and ink blurring into a monotony I’d grown too familiar with. Decisions about trade, disputes among noble houses, military reports—all of it weighed heavily, yet it was the kind of burden I had long since learned to carry without complaint. Responsibility was the marrow of my bones; it kept me upright even when I wanted nothing more than to collapse.

Still, when dusk fell and the halls finally emptied, I felt the weight pressing harder than usual. Natasha’s presence lingered at the edge of my thoughts like a flame behind closed doors, and Abram’s sudden reappearance gnawed at me in a way I hadn’t expected. It had been a while since I’d last shared a drink with him, since I had allowed myself that kind of release, that kind of company. Perhaps it was weakness, or perhaps it was inevitability, but when Abram suggested we go out, I didn’t refuse.

We found ourselves seated in a dim tavern tucked into one o