บททั้งหมดของ Sold To The Ruthless Alpha Prince: บทที่ 61 - บทที่ 70

Third person’s POVA full year passed after the funeral of the former Luna, and in that time the balance of power across the surrounding territories changed in ways few had anticipated. The royal palace waited for Rafael's return during the first few weeks after his departure, believing grief would eventually fade and duty would call him home, but the days stretched into months, and the months into a year, until even the most loyal members of the old royal court accepted a truth they had never imagined possible. The former Crown Prince had no intention of reclaiming the throne he had willingly abandoned. The palace gates remained open to him by royal decree, though everyone understood that the invitation existed more for appearances than reconciliation. Rafael never crossed those gates again.The Alpha King publicly declared that his eldest son had turned his back on both his family and his kingdom, insisting the line of succession would continue through Karl without interruption, ye

Nora's POV I woke before the sun had fully climbed above the mountains, not because an alarm had disturbed my sleep but because little Fiona had inherited her father's unfortunate habit of greeting every morning with endless energy while the rest of the world was still trying to wake up. The soft sound of tiny feet pattering across the wooden floor reached my ears before I even opened my eyes, followed by a delighted giggle that could only mean she had escaped her own bed again, and a second later the bedroom door creaked open just enough for a little gray-eyed face to peek inside."Mama?" The tiny voice was barely louder than a whisper, as though she believed speaking quietly somehow excused the fact that she was sneaking into my room before sunrise.I smiled without opening my eyes. "I can hear you standing there." I said.A dramatic gasp escaped her before another fit of giggles filled the room. "You cheated." I heard I tiny voice."I didn't cheat." I finally opened my eyes and p

Rafael's POV The usual reports that came in had become a routine I hated. Every evening, without fail, stacks of parchment found their way onto my desk from every corner of the neighboring territories. My scouts wrote with remarkable detail, documenting villages they had searched, merchants they had questioned, refugees they had interviewed, and every rumor that even remotely resembled the woman I had spent the last year trying to find. Most of the time I already knew how the reports would end before I reached the final page.There was either no sign of her, or it was the wrong woman. The words had repeated themselves so often that they had begun to lose all meaning.I set another report aside and rubbed the bridge of my nose, exhaustion settling deep in my bones. Outside my study, the camp remained unusually lively despite the late hour. Warriors laughed around the fire after returning from another successful raid against a bandit camp that had been terrorizing nearby villages. The

Rafael's POV I stood in the middle of the marketplace long after Nora disappeared. The crowds continued flowing around me as though nothing extraordinary had happened. Merchants resumed calling out their prices, children chased one another between the stalls, and the pigeons Fiona had been feeding scattered before settling back onto the stone pavement. Life simply carried on, yet I remained rooted to the same spot, unable to convince my legs to move because my mind was still trapped in those few unbelievable moments.She was alive.After an entire year of searching every lead, following every rumor, and preparing myself for disappointment over and over again, I had finally found her."Nora..." I whispered under my breath, almost afraid that saying her name aloud would somehow make everything I had just seen disappear like another cruel illusion.It hadn't been a dream.The mate bond still pulsed inside me with a strength I hadn't felt since the day she fled the palace. Even now, thou

Nora's POV I closed the front door a little harder than I intended, the sound echoing through the small house before silence settled over everything once again. My heart refused to slow down, my thoughts refusing to stay where they belonged, and no matter how many times I reminded myself that I had done the right thing by walking away from Rafael without listening to whatever apology he had prepared, my mind kept drifting back to the flowers resting on the bench outside the courthouse and the small wrapped package beside them that I had stubbornly refused to touch.I hated that I was even thinking about them.I hated that after everything, after all the pain and loneliness and nights I had cried myself to sleep wondering why I had never been enough for him to fight for, a tiny part of me still noticed the effort."No," I muttered under my breath as I leaned against the door. "Stop it." That wasn't my life anymore.I wasn't the frightened omega who waited for Rafael to look at her an