Page 30 of Dragon King’s Duty Bride

Celeste was dancing with his mother. Actually dancing and not just standing stiffly at the edge. Not just watching from behind guarded eyes.

She was laughing. Full, unrestrained laughter.

It was Sia who had coaxed that from her over the past weeks. Patiently. Never pushing too hard. Sitting with her when she refused lessons. Listening when she spoke about her mother. Letting her grieve without trying to replace anyone.

Lucas had seen it. Celeste trusted Sia. That alone should have been enough to soften him.

Instead, it made the stakes unbearable.

“You’re pulling away,” Sia said under her breath. “Every time it starts to feel real.”

“This is real,” he replied.

“Is it?” Her chin lifted. “Because it feels like you’re dancing with a stranger you’re obligated to tolerate.”

The words struck.

He lowered his voice. “We agreed on what this is.”

“Yes,” she said. “An arrangement. I remember.”

The faint emphasis stung.

“You don’t want it to be that?” he asked in a tone sharper than he intended.

Color rose in her cheeks. “That isn’t what I said.”

“But it’s what you meant.”

Her fingers loosened at his shoulder. Not completely but enough to let him know she was pulling away.

“I meant,” she said carefully, “that I don’t want to be treated like a threat every time you feel something.”

The honesty of it disarmed him. He pulled back then, enough to cool the air between them.

Sia blinked and confusion flickered across her face before she smoothed it away. She arranged her expression into something pleasant and controlled.

Below them, the girls had formed a small circle, attempting to copy the adults. Luna waved frantically at them.

“Papa! Sia! Look!”

Celeste caught Sia’s eye and grinned, a rare, unguarded thing. Lucas felt a fierce, almost painful surge of gratitude.

Celeste was happy tonight because of Sia. And here he was, freezing her out because he did not trust himself.

“Thank you for the dance,” Sia said politely. Formality where warmth had been.

He nodded and she stepped away. The loss of her was immediate and unwelcome.

The girls swarmed her at once. Stella wrapped herself around Sia’s waist. Luna grabbed her hand. Celeste hovered a moment before slipping her arm through Sia’s.

Sia bent down to Stella’s height and laughed at something whispered in her ear.

Lucas stood where he was while the music played and the celebration continued around him. For the first time in years, he felt something dangerously alive beneath the careful layers he had built over his grief.

Wanting. And deeply inconvenient.

Across the floor, Sia looked up and met his gaze. There was no accusation in her eyes now, only questions and hurt.