Love's Unexpected Awakening Elowen's Choice novel Chapter 431

Chapter 431 Cracks Appear

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The attendant looked Rowan over, taking in the bruises, the swelling, the way he could barely hold himself upright, and the displeasure in her eyes was impossible to hide. “You’re in no condition to be standing here, sir. You should head home and have a physician see to you before it gets worse.”

Rowan brushed that off entirely. The moment he heard Maerwyn had been at the royal banquet, his thoughts began racing.

Theodric would be present. Isla would be present. Every noble house and court official would be gathered under one roof.

f he showed up like this and made a scene, if he laid everything out in front of them, then even if Alaric chose to stay silent, Theodric and Isla would not ignore it. The dignity of the court would force their hand.

‘Your Highness?”

The attendant suddenly called out, her voice sharp with surprise as she looked past Rowan toward the far end of the stone Corridor.

Under the steady glow of iron-bracketed wall torches, a lone figure was making her way forward.

་

Maerwyn.

She looked like someone who had lost her way entirely. Her steps were uneven, her posture slack, as if she were walking on instinct alone. In her arms, she clutched a worn manuscript so tightly that her fingers had gone pale. Tear tracks marked her face, her cosmetics smeared beyond saving, her eyes swollen and unfocused.

t took her a moment to even register the voice calling to her.

The attendant hurried forward, concern overtaking everything else. “Your Highness, why are you alone? You don’t look well at all. Where are your ladies?”

Maerwyn parted her lips slightly, as if to answer, but no sound came.

der thoughts were still tangled up in Azure, in everything she had just learned, everything she had done wrong.

‘Your Highness!”

Rowan’s voice cut in, rough and strained, carrying just the right amount of desperation.

That finally drew her attention.

She looked toward him, and when she saw the state he was in, something flickered faintly in her otherwise hollow gaze.

She sniffed lightly, her voice hoarse. “What happened to you?”

Rowan seized the moment. His shoulders sagged as if he were barely holding himself together. “I was attacked. Your Highness, I nearly didn’t make it. I thought I would never see you again.”

Maerwyn’s voice came out distant, almost detached. “That looks serious. Who did this?”

Rowan hesitated, then chose his approach carefully. “Will Your Highness stand up for me?”

She went quiet for a brief moment before answering, soft and uncertain. “I suppose I will.”

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Chapter 431 Cracks Appear

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Rowan stiffened.

That was not the response he expected.

It was vague, noncommittal, nothing like the certainty she used to show.

He pushed forward, unwilling to let the moment slip. “Did Your Highness not send word just days ago that Her Majesty had already given her approval, and that after the festival we would begin discussing our marriage? If your future husband is beaten like this, surely Your Highness would not let it pass.”

The attendant’s expression darkened further, her patience clearly wearing thin.

The audacity of this man was astonishing.

And yet, she fully expected Maerwyn to defend him, just as she always had.

Instead, Maerwyn shook her head slowly. Her voice was calm, almost eerily so. “That will not happen. We are not getting married.”

Rowan froze. “What do you mean?”

She did not answer.

How could she possibly explain that the person she admired most was the very one she had tried to tear down?

How could she admit that she refused to stand by while Isla moved against Azure, and that because of that, there would never be any approval for this match?

The thought made her chest tighten again.

She shut her eyes briefly and pressed her palm against them, forcing the emotion back down.

When she looked at him again, whatever softness had been there was gone, replaced by something distant and steady. “Just tell ne who did this.”

Rowan felt a chill run through him.

Something is wrong. She’s not reacting the way she should.

Still, he had come too far to back down now. He let out a heavy breath, layering his voice with grievance and restraint. “It was Duchess of Duskmoor.”

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