Chapter 9
Adrian remained unconscious for an entire day.
The physicians checked his pulse again and again. It was steady, strong, and completely normal, which somehow made their expressions even more nervous. Since they could find no obvious cause, they ordered the room kept quiet and said we would wait through the night.
I sat beside his bed until well past midnight.
At some point, exhausted beyond reason, I fell asleep with my head resting near his arm.
When I woke again, I was under the covers.
The blankets had been carefully drawn up around me.
The space beside me, however, was empty.
My heart lurched.
I threw off the quilt and rushed to get down, only for my feet to tangle in the bedding. I pitched forward, bracing for the impact.
It never came.
A strong arm caught me around the waist and pulled me against a hard chest.
Sandalwood.
The same familiar scent.
Relief flooded me before I could think. “Adrian, you’re awake—”
Then I looked up.
And my voice died.
The eyes looking down at me were no longer wide, bright, and childlike.
They were clear in an entirely different way now—cool, controlled, fully awake.
In an instant, I understood.
The man holding me was not my foolish, clingy Adrian.
He was the true Prince Adrian.
The prince he had once been before the injury.
Cold spread through my back.
I pulled away at once and lowered my head. “Your Highness.”
He stayed still for half a beat, as if the sudden change in distance surprised him. Then he withdrew his arm and answered with a quiet, composed hum.
The same smooth voice.
But none of the easy sweetness that had once wrapped around me like sunlight.
A strange pain twisted in my chest.
Had he forgotten me?
I pressed my lips together and forced the formal words out.
“I am Evelyn Hart. The bride bestowed upon Your Highness by the Dowager Empress.”
Before I could finish the sentence, he lifted me effortlessly and set me back on the bed.
Then he leaned over me, bracing both hands on either side of my body.
The bed dipped beneath his weight.
“Why aren’t you calling me Adrian?” he asked.
I blinked, confused enough to forget my fear for a moment.
“What?”
He gave the faintest sigh, as though I were the difficult one.
“Earlier, you called for Adrian the moment you woke up. Why is it that the fool can be called Adrian, but I cannot?”
I stared at him.
Was he…
Was he jealous of himself?
He kept his face expressionless, but I could see a trace of displeasure in the set of his mouth.
I had no idea what to do with that.
Calling him Adrian when he looked at me with that cold princely gaze felt impossible.
So, after a helpless pause, I tugged gently at the sleeve of his robe and said the only thing that came to mind.
“Your Highness.”
The next second he pulled the blanket over both of us, wrapped an arm around me, and settled me against his chest as naturally as breathing.
“It’s still early,” he murmured. “Sleep a little longer.”
I had been tense, unsure, almost frightened. Yet held in his arms like that, I found I did not feel repulsed or resistant at all.
Instead, I listened to the firm, steady beat of his heart and slowly drifted back toward sleep.
Just before I lost consciousness again, I felt soft warmth brush against my forehead.
Then his low voice touched my ear.
“Evelyn,” he said quietly, “I remember everything.”
Everything.
Every kiss. Every embrace. Every foolish word. Every night.
By morning, news of his recovery had already reached the palace.
The Dowager Empress immediately summoned us both.
On the carriage ride there, I sat rigid with nerves, hands clasped tightly in my lap. Without warning, his hand covered mine.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said.
I looked at him in surprise.
His thumb rubbed slowly over the back of my hand.
“Mother likes you very much.”
I almost asked how he could possibly know that, considering he had only just recovered.
Instead, I stayed silent.
He read my thoughts anyway.
“If she did not like you, why would she have chosen you for me?”
I misunderstood him completely.
After thinking it over, I answered honestly, “The Dowager Empress likely did it for the dignity of the royal house. I saved Your Highness. I deserved a reward. And after we fell into the lake together in front of so many witnesses, marriage was the most convenient way to protect your reputation.”
He let out a laugh that sounded halfway between amusement and disbelief.
Then he pinched my cheek.
“You really are slow.”
I made a faint sound of protest but did not dare pull away. He kneaded the spot gently afterward, almost absently.
“From now on, stop calling yourself this humble wife in front of me,” he said. “And in private, you are not allowed to call me Your Highness either.”
I blinked. “Then what should I call you?”
His hand paused.
His tone cooled just slightly.
“Figure it out.”
Great.
I was already anxious. Now I was anxious and confused.
A heavy silence settled between us as the carriage crossed several streets. Just when I thought he would say nothing else, he glanced at me again.
“Still nervous?”
I nodded.
His throat bobbed once.
“I know a way to fix that.”
Before I could ask what he meant, he caught my wrist and pulled me straight into his lap.
Then he kissed me.
This Adrian was nothing like the sweet fool who had once let me guide him.
His kiss was deep. Demanding. Devouring.
By the time his hand found the tie of my robe, my mind was a blur.
He pressed his mouth to my ear.
“Do you want this?”
Reality crashed back into me.
We were in a moving carriage. Outside, the city streets were full of people. Aiden was only one thin door away.
My face burned. “Someone will hear.”
He went still, then laughed softly against my skin.
“Then wife should be quieter. A secret between us should remain a secret.”
And before I could stop him, he pulled the loosened tie free.
By the time we finally arrived at the palace, nearly an hour late, my legs were too weak to trust.
And when we entered the Dowager Empress’s residence, I discovered my stepmother kneeling there with a palace maid already at her side.