The first secret
361 Words
The following morning, Princess Elara woke with the uncomfortable feeling that someone had been watching her.
She could not explain why.
Nothing had happened during the night. No servant had entered her room. No message had been left beneath her door.
Yet the feeling remained.
At breakfast, she noticed Lord Marius speaking quietly with her father.
Marius had served the royal family for nearly twenty-five years. He was a respected adviser, an intelligent diplomat, and one of the few men King Aldric trusted without question.
Elara had never liked him.
She couldn’t say why.
Perhaps it was the way he watched people instead of speaking to them.
Perhaps it was the coldness behind his polite smile.
When Marius noticed her looking, he bowed.
“Princess.”
“Lord Marius.”
Her father continued discussing trade agreements with him.
Elara ate quietly.
Later, she found Adrian stationed outside the library.
She slowed.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, Your Highness.”
His expression was formal.
Too formal.
She stopped.
“Are you avoiding me?”
Adrian looked surprised.
“No.”
“You are.”
He glanced down the corridor.
“Princess, someone saw us last night.”
Elara’s heart skipped.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Lord Marius?”
“I don’t know.”
She lowered her voice.
“What should we do?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“If people believe there is something between us, they could use it against you.”
Elara stared at him.
“And what if there is something between us?”
Adrian went silent.
She immediately regretted asking.
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then he said quietly, “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
Elara walked away before he could see the hurt in her expression.
That evening, she found a book waiting on her balcony.
There was no note.
She opened it.
A dried white rose fell from between the pages.
Elara stared at it.
White roses grew only in the royal garden.
Someone had placed it there deliberately.
And suddenly, she understood.
The secret was no longer only theirs.
Someone else knew.
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