It was difficult for Isabelle, knowing there was nothing she could do to make Aedric stay. And it wasn't as if he didn't want to. All he could think about was the kiss they shared in the library. It's not that he didn't try, he did. For months. He was asked for his return ever since the end of the battle. He finished what he came here for, there's no reason for him to stay anymore. His kingdom needed him. His siblings needed him. He couldn't keep them waiting anymore. But he didn't want to leave the woman he loves either. When she asked him for his hand in marriage he knew she didn't mean it, not from the bottom of her heart. She was hurt, alone. And he knows, he knows she still loves Jacob.
"Richard, how is she holding up?" Aedric queried from the family's trusted guardian. Aedric's cham
