Love's Unexpected Awakening Elowen's Choice novel Chapter 18

Chapter 18 A Slap Heard Across the Hall

Seeing the boy’s face clearly, Elowen couldn’t help but pause.

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His cheeks were streaked with dirt and dried blood, making him look pitiful and wild. But his eyes-those striking, bright eyes-held a gleam so sharp it made her breath catch. The tilt of his eyelids, the slight upward curve at the corners… he looked startlingly like Alaric.

Had she glimpsed him at night, she might have mistaken him for the Crown Prince himself.

But unlike Alaric’s distant, cold arrogance, this boy had an eerie softness to him, the kind of beauty you’d find in a venomous snake hidden in shadows. Beautiful in a dangerous, glittering way.

“You’re still smiling?” the servant growled.

He kicked the boy again, then turned to Elowen Your Grace, he broke Lord Lucien’s writing brush and can’t pay for it. I was just-well-disciplining him. But don’t worry, I’ll get him out of your sight right away.”

He moved to grab the boy. The boy raised his head and looked at Elowen, those eyes rimmed with a soft pink flush.

“Hold on,” Elowen said.

The servant paused, confused.

“If he broke the brush and can’t pay, beating him won’t get the money back,” Elowen said calmly. “And you’ll only tire yourself out for nothing. Seems like a bad deal.”

The boy chuckled again. His lashes lowered slightly, and the corner of his mouth curled. He lifted his gaze to her again, pupils glinting like onyx under sunlight.

“In that case,” he said softly, “why doesn’t the Lady take me in?”

His voice dropped, husky and smooth. “I’m good at everything.” The words lingered, slow and deliberate, carrying a quiet promise of trouble-like a predator testing the air, already certain of its hold on her.

Gerda’s instincts flared in alarm.

She had served in the royal court long enough to smell trouble before it arrived. Everything about this scene screamed setup. The sudden beating, the strange boy, the perfect timing- this wasn’t an accident. Someone had orchestrated this so that Elowen would stumble upon

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10:27 Wed, Feb 11 D GO.

Chapter 18 A Slap Heard Across the Hall

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And then there was the boy’s face. That resemblance to the Crown Prince wasn’t something you could fake.

Gerda stole a glance at Elowen, wondering-what would the young Duchess do?

The boy tilted his head, voice like honey and smoke. “So? Take me in. I’ll make sure you’re… very well taken care of.”

Elowen frowned in confusion. “You taking care of me doesn’t get the brush paid for. I still wouldn’t have the money.”

The boy faltered.

She turned to the servant. “Let’s be honest—beating him is pointless. Instead, take him to the stables in the back. He can work off the debt by feeding horses. Pay him the standard wage for stablehands. Once he’s earned enough to cover the brush, he can leave.”

The servant blinked, caught completely off guard. The boy looked equally stunned. “Stables…?”

Elowen narrowed her eyes at him. “Didn’t you just say you could do anything? Then go take care of the horses. Make sure they’re… very comfortable.”

The boy opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

That… wasn’t what he meant by “serving.”

“Your Grace…” the servant tried to interject, panicking now. This wasn’t what he’d been told to do. His orders were to get this pretty, brazen boy into Elowen’s bed, not the stables.

“What is it?” Elowen asked.

Before he could fumble for words, she added helpfully, “I get it. You’re worried he might run off. No problem-I’ve got two guards with me, both former soldiers. Very reliable. I’ll assign one to go with you. He’ll make sure the boy does his job.”

The servant’s smile twitched, nearly collapsed.

She wasn’t joking. She waved over one of her guards-a hulking man who stood like a wall and had a stare sharp enough to skin a man alive.

The servant recognized him immediately. He’d once heard this man had snapped an assassin’s neck clean in one motion. Forget the boy. He himself might not come back from the stables in one piece.

As for Elowen-mission complete, she walked away lighthearted and unconcerned. Gerda watched her go, lips twitching with suppressed laughter.

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10:27 Wed, Feb 11 D GO

Chapter Is A Slap Heard Across the Hall

Sometimes, being sweet and naive was its own kind of weapon.

Back at Duskmoor Manor, Bran had just finished administering the Duke’s medicine.

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He lit up when he saw Elowen. “Your Grace! That bamboo strip trick you taught us-it works like a charm! I’ve never had such an easy time giving His Grace his tonic!”

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