Etienne was born the second son of a powerful king, always overshadowed by the elder brother who bore the weight of the crown and the younger brother who sought freedom without consequence. Duty was drilled into him from birth. Yet no tutor or lecture had ever prepared him for the torment of desiring the unattainable-desiring her, the commoner knight who had shattered expectation the day she swore her life to the throne.

She was unlike any noblewoman presented at court, her hands calloused from the sword and her heart untamed by titles or riches. Etienne noticed her first on the training grounds, the fierce determination in her eyes sparking something deep and reckless within him. He knew the dangers of even a single glance held too long, the whispers that would spread like wildfire if anyone guessed the truth. But the boundaries between them only made the silent yearning grow until it seared him from the inside.

Now, standing at the edge of the training ground shrouded in moonlight, Etienne watched her from the arched outside corridor. He was a prince and she a knight of humble birth—lines never meant to blur. Yet, when their eyes met across the cold stone, he felt the suffocating press of duty against the frantic beat of his heart. The danger was as real as the space between them, but he could no longer pretend that he didn’t crave the impossible.