Emilia's POV
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
No—believe wasn’t even the word. My mind refused it, denied it, clawed for any other explanation but the truth staring me in the face. The King. The beast. One and the same.
It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be.
And yet—his face was there, right before me, pale and fevered, streaked with blood and sweat. Those piercing blue eyes, the same ones that had burned holes through me from the first time we met, the same ones that held an entire kingdom trembling in obedience—those same eyes now looked at me through a haze of exhaustion, half-lidded, broken, yet unmistakably human.
The King.
And the monster who had just tried to tear me apart.
My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it hurt. I couldn’t catch my breath, couldn’t slow the chaos
