Awakening Love Reborn to Be His Duchess (Elowen Hale) novel Chapter 107

hapter 107 Marrying You Is No Hardship At All

The tactic worked on Cassian just as it had on others.

Just one look at her, and his heart melted into a soft pool.

He felt a sharp pang of regret for his earlier coldness. I was a fool.

His voice lowered. “I wasn’t ignoring you, nor refusing to look at you. I just…”

He hesitated. I just felt too old, that you should have married a man your own age.

The words were right there, but they stuck in his throat.

Elowen watched him unblinkingly. “Just what?”

His throat worked. “I just thought… marrying me might have been a hardship for you.”

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Fin het

“How could it be!” she refuted instantly. “After my family fell in battle, and I was left alone, many people began to slight me, openly and in secret. If the King hadn’t spoken of treating the Hale orphan kindly, I might not even have been able to remain in Vanelle…”

Cassian’s brow furrowed.

He had been away at war for so long. He had heard of the Hales‘ losses and knew she must be grieving.

He thought she liked Alaric, and with Alaric by her side, things wouldn’t be that bad.

He never expected this.

“Perhaps the Hale family’s former glory was too bright, and they resented it. Our fall was the perfect opportunity. So they took it out on me.”

A trace of sadness entered her voice.

But such things–given enough time–she could learn to live with.

She sighed, then offered a small, soft smile. “Anyway, only the King and you have been truly kind to me. Marrying you is no hardship at all.”

She looked up at him, her expression utterly sincere, and added emphatically, “Truly!”

“Alright.”

Cassian’s gaze softened. His thumb brushed gently across her cheek. “Shall we go to bed?”

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10:53 Fri, May 8

Chapter 307 Marrying You Is No Hardship At All

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Canished

Elowen looked troubled. “But I haven’t washed up yet…”

She pouted slightly. “But I’m so very tired. I’ve never stayed up this late. I don’t want to go wash…”

Cassian conceded readily. “My fault.”

Then he indulged her. “If you’re tired, you needn’t wash tonight.”

Her eyes lit up. “Really?”

His voice held a smile. “Really.”

Elowen wavered, feeling a twinge of guilt. “But… is that alright?”

Her mother had taught her from childhood to be clean–to wash before bed, to rinse after meals. Even when she was dropping with sleep, eyes closed, her mother would gently steer her to the basin.

That teaching was bone–deep.

Even after her mother’s passing and after marrying into Duskmoor Manor, she had strictly followed the rule.

Now, for the first time, she wanted to be willful, but her conscience pricked her.

Cassian said, “Just once. It’s fine.”

His voice was low, pleasing, and utterly persuasive.

Elowen was convinced. A satisfied smile spread across her face. “Then let’s just go to sleep!”

With that, she lifted her head and got up.

They merely removed their outer robes before settling into bed.

Cassian, however, still had something on his mind. He lay on his back for a while before speaking slowly into the dimness. “Do you feel like I’m too old?”

He received no answer.

Turning his head, he saw that Elowen was already on her side, fast asleep.

Cassian wasn’t annoyed. A faint smile touched his lips.

The resilience of youth. Asleep in an instant.

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Cripter 107 Marrying You Is No Hardship At All

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His gaze drifted down, settling on her jawline, and his expression softened noticeably.

There was a faint, reddish mark there, shaped vaguely like a palm.

Her skin was so delicate that it had retained the imprint from where it had rested in his hand earlier.

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