Page 112 of The Princess and Her Grand King

Her steps were tentative as she closed the distance between them, her delicate fingers reaching out to touch his arm. "May I?"

“You never need to ask, Riel,” he drawled. “Touch me whenever, however you wish.”

Her cheeks colored again, his subtle double meaning not lost on her.

Maintaining silence, she removed his cloak with careful hands, folding it neatly, and setting it aside before turning her attention to his arm.

Eyes on the dark trails of blackened blood. “How is it?”

“It doesn’t hurt as much anymore,” he said, his tone reassuring. “My soul is healing, and with it, the symptoms are fading.”

Her hand trailed along the faint marks. “Yes, they are not as black or as many as they used to be,” she murmured. “I remember when I first saw them…” Her voice dipped. “It was terrifying.”

I have nothing left to give you,she had told him that day in the woods.

Yet standing here now, watching her, Daemonikai still didn’t believe it—just as he hadn’t believed it then.

“It’s cleared from your wrist,” she whispered, completely focused. “The trail is shortening. It truly is healing.”

Look at you, Riel, fretting over me. You still care.

Reaching out, he tucked the silky strands of hair that had fallen across her face behind her ears. One side, then the other. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

Her hand stilled.

Slowly, she looked up, her luminous eyes meeting his.

“For returning, even when you were still hurting,” he continued, his voice heavy with meaning. “Thank you for being here. You saved my life.”In more ways than one.

“You saved mine, too.” Her hand rested lightly on his chest. “But why would you do something so dangerous? Drawing the poison into yourself—”

“I’ve done many dangerous things in my lifetime, Emeriel,” he gave a faint smile. “So many, in fact, that if you become a bard and write them all down, you’d need an entire library to store the tales. But this? This was not one of them.”

Her head dipped, and he saw her throat tighten as she swallowed against the emotion rising within her. “But you shouldn’t have—”

Gently, he tipped her chin up, his gaze locking onto hers. “I would do it again. Over and over. If you walked out there and caught ten poisoned arrows, like flies to a feast, I would suck every single venom from your body and into mine, even if it meant my death.”

Her breath shuddered out, eyes shining with unshed tears. “But why?”

“I think you already know why.”

“No, I don’t.” Voice breaking, she stepped back, her hand falling. “I don’t know, I c-can’t. I can’t.”

He finally got emotions.

That’s progress.Daemonikai should be happy. But seeing such despair on her face was agony.

No one he cared for should ever hurt like this, and worst of all, he knew it was his fault.

Closing the distance between them in a single stride, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. His hold was firm, strong, ready to hold her even if she struggled to break free.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she trembled, her fragile body tense against his.

“Your Grace…” she said, her voice was a broken whisper.

“I would take all the pain away,” he brought his lips near her ear. “If I could, I would draw it out of you like poison and make it my own.”

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