CYPRIEN'S POV
I left for Crimson Ridge before dawn.
I sent no advance notice. I did not summon the gilded carriage bearing Aurelia's royal crest, nor did I travel with the escort that ordinarily accompanied the Crown Prince wherever he went.
Instead, I took an ordinary carriage with nothing but a single coachman.
There would be no banners announcing my arrival. No servants scrambling to prepare a feast. No officials waiting in neat rows to bow as I stepped down.
I wanted none of it.
I wasn't returning to Crimson Ridge as the Crown Prince of Aurelia.
I was returning because of one girl. A girl who had haunted my thoughts for weeks.
I had no idea what awaited me there. I wasn't even certain she'd want to see me.
Even so, I needed answers.
Who was she?
Why had my wolf reacted so fi
