Bound to The Enemy of My Mate 의 모든 챕터: 챕터 71 - 챕터 80

The journey to the palace passed in a silence thicker than the carriage walls. Borin sat opposite them, his gaze fixed on the passing scenery, but Elira could feel the weight of his attention like a physical touch. He was studying her, waiting for a flicker of gold, a hint of the beast.Kael’s leg pressed against hers on the velvet seat, a solid, warm line of contact. Every bump in the road jostled them together, each touch a spark that traveled straight to her core. She stared resolutely out the window, but her entire awareness was narrowed to that point of contact, to the scent of him—clean wool, steel, and that indefinable note that was just Kael—that filled the enclosed space.When the carriage finally rolled through the palace gates, the silence shattered into a cacophony of courtly life. They were swept into the gilded cage.The throne room was a study in intimidation. King Theron sat elevated, his face an unreadable mask of power. His advisors flanked him like carved statues. Ka

The world narrowed to the small, red mark on Kael’s throat.It was a violent brand against his pale skin. In the space of a single heartbeat, Elira saw it all: Ilyana wrapped around Kael like a serpent, her body pressed against his, her lips pulling back from his skin with smug satisfaction.But before the image could shatter her, the scents hit her.They washed over her, a tangled wave of emotion. From Ilyana, a cloying perfume masking the sharp, metallic odor of possession and a hungry, vicious joy. It was the smell of a predator toying with its food.And from Kael… something else entirely. Not guilt. Not desire. It was the clean, cold scent of stone after a rain—a furious, controlled stillness. The smell of a man building a wall inside himself, brick by brick.Her mind, sharp and logical, put it together in a flash. Manipulation. A game. He is not a willing player.This was the truth. A fact as clear as the floor beneath her feet.But then her eyes, against her will, were dragged ba

Kael didn’t argue. He just gave a slow, broken nod. He turned and left Elira’s room without another word, the door clicking shut with a sound of finality.Elira stood frozen in the middle of her room, the echo of that soft click louder than any scream. The space where he had been felt vast and empty. She wrapped her arms around herself, but the cold was inside her bones. She had done it. She had pushed him away for good. And the silence he left behind was a thousand times worse than his painful questions.---The next morning, the royal workshop buzzed with its usual noise, but for Kael and Elira, a thick silence wrapped around them like a fog."Holden, that spring is too weak and you know it," Borin grumbled, his beard speckled with sawdust. "It'll snap after two shots from the tube.""Or it'll give a smoother pull on the ignition lever," Holden shot back, his fingers stained with grease. "We won't know until we test the iron tube."Pyre, a lean man with clever eyes and chemical-stain

The royal workshop was a sanctuary of noise and purpose. The sounds of filing metal and low arguing voices filled the air. Kael and Elira stood at opposite ends of the main table. The space between them felt wider than the whole room. The air was thick with the smell of oil and the heavy weight of things left unsaid.Borin and Holden were arguing over the trigger spring again. Pyre measured black powder with quiet focus. Kael watched Elira's hands as she examined the iron tube's firing chamber. Her fingers were steady, but he saw the faintest tremor. He remembered the shock of touching her hand on the training field. He wanted to speak, to break the terrible silence between them. But the words stuck in his throat. How could he speak of his heart when hers was bound to another man by a force he could not fight?Elira felt his gaze like a physical touch. She did not look up, but her whole body was aware of him. The memory of his broken nod as he left her room was a fresh wound. She could

The stones of the palace held the day’s last warmth, but the air in the shadowed corridors was turning cold. Elira moved through the emptiness, her footsteps the only sound. Her body felt heavy, worn down from hours of standing over the worktable, her mind frayed from the constant, silent war she fought with herself.She found her way to the library, to the small, hidden nook behind the tallest shelf. It was her secret place, where the gold-trimmed books stood as silent guards against the world. She sank into the worn velvet of the armchair, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around her knees. She closed her eyes, trying to push it all out—the memory of Ilyana’s venomous smile, the sharp, unfamiliar scent in her room that haunted her, and the heavy, hurting silence that lived between her and Kael.A chill crept through the room, raising goosebumps on her arms. She shivered, huddling deeper into herself.She did not hear his approach.The first she knew of him was a sudden, overw