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“I’ve missed you, Ava,” he said.

“Buddy, you’ve got no idea.”

Chapter 40

Luc

“Did you just call me buddy?” I couldn’t help but laugh.

Ava grinned at me. “What, you’ve got a problem with nicknames?”

“Not at all. I’m just getting my head around the idea of having a princess like you.”

Her smile turned sly. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think you know exactly what it means. You’re a princess unlike anyone in that ballroom has ever seen before. You’re beautiful, graceful, and stylish, like any royal ought to be. But you’re more than that. You’re brash, you’re independent, you’re bold. I’ve known these traits of yours before, of course. Seeing them in action tonight has been something else.”

“Is that right?” She traced her finger around the rim of her glass as she spoke.

“It’s the truth. I have to be honest, Ava. When you told me that you were done with your lessons, done with trying to be a princess, I was a bit worried. Seeing you tonight… God, it makes me feel so damn stupid that the solution to you comfortably stepping into your role was so obvious.”

“Yeah? How do you mean?”

“I mean that all we had to do was let you be, well,you. You didn’t need lessons, didn’t need training. All you needed was permission to be yourself. Then again, not that someone like you would ever need permission for much of anything.”

She laughed. “Yep. I just figured that if Edoria’s going to accept me, they’re going to accept me for who I am, not someone I’m pretending to be.”

There was something about her at that moment. Maybe it was the way the moon above cast her features in silvery light, maybe it was the way her body looked in that dress. Maybe it was how goddamn proud I was to see her stepping into her own and being the princess that I knew she could be.

It didn’t matter what it was, really. Whatdidmatter was how I felt.

I loved her. I was certain of it.

“You OK?” Ava cocked her head to the side, seeming to sense that something was off. She was right—I’d been lost in my own head, my own feelings.

“I’m fine. Yes. Fine.”

“You don’t look fine. You look like you have something serious on your mind.”

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Ava grinned, then stiffened her posture, squaring her shoulders and standing ramrod straight.

“Luc, my loyal subject. I hereby command you to tell me what’s on your mind.”

I laughed. “You know, until you go through with the naming ceremony, you don’t have any official rule over me or anyone else here.”

She shrugged, her normal, casual posture returning. “Well, in that case, can you tell me as a friend what’s on your mind?”

“It’s… just what you said. You are my princess, and one day you’ll be my queen. I want you to know, without a doubt, that you have my heart, my loyalty. If you choose to stay here in Edoria, I’ll give you my oath that I’ll serve you and kneel, just as I did for your father, and your mother. I’ll be whatever you need.”

I couldn’t help but lower my head to her as I spoke. My words weren’texactly what I felt, but they were pretty damn close. After all, there was another component to our relationship that I hadn’t mentioned, one that wouldn’t be appropriate there at the ball.

Ava reached up, taking my face into her hands.

“I appreciate that, Luc. But I don’t need you to be what I need.”

I lifted my eyes. “How do you mean, Princess?”

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