Nora
I spun around sharply, locking onto Ace’s gray-green gaze with an intensity that caught him off guard. “Don’t you call me that,” I hissed, my voice barely above a whisper but filled with resolve.
“Sure, Your Highness,” he replied, smirking playfully as he edged a step closer, testing my boundaries.
“Stay back!” I almost shrieked, my voice cracking from tension. “Back off! Keep away from me!”
Ace stopped immediately, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, moving back a couple of paces. His eyes softened, a concerned warmth flickering in them. “All right, all right, I won’t come closer,” he said quietly, his voice filled with a sincerity that somehow cracked my armor. “I just noticed you didn’t look well and got worried.”
I gripped the railing harder, my knuckles white with s
