Love's Unexpected Awakening Elowen's Choice novel Chapter 517

A soft warmth settled deep in Elowen's chest.

The arrangement had been handled perfectly. It fulfilled her wishes without sacrificing a fine horse for nothing.

That was exactly the kind of man Cassian was.

Across the courtyard, long after the last flare of fireworks had faded and the sparks dissolved into drifting smoke, Albert still stood there, head tilted up toward the sky, slow to come back to himself.

Liam nudged him, impatience creeping in. "The show's over. You planning to stand there all night? Go say goodbye to the Princess Consort. We should head out, we've got plans with the He family at the Silken Veil Atelier."

Albert blinked, delayed, then gave a dull, "Oh."

From where he stood, with torchlight and iron braziers casting a steady glow across the estate, he caught sight of Elowen and Cassian at a glance.

They stood not far off, surrounded like the center of gravity in the room.

Elowen had turned slightly, smiling as she spoke with the Duke of Falconcrest and Duchess of Falconcrest.

She had always been beautiful, but tonight that beauty felt almost unreal. Her skin seemed to hold the light, smooth and luminous, the warm glow from the firelight softening her features until she looked almost untouchable, like something carved from pale stone and brought to life.

Her hair was swept up in an elegant style, a delicate ornament set into it, strands of pearls swaying faintly with her movement, catching the light in quiet, shimmering flashes.

She didn't need to do anything. Just standing there with that calm, effortless smile, she drew every eye.

Cassian stood at her side, tall and composed, his presence only sharpening the sense of distance around her. Together, they looked like something placed on a high altar, admired, but far beyond reach.

A hollow ache opened in Albert's chest.

It felt like something had been taken out of him, leaving behind an empty space that the cold night air rushed into.

He and Julian could be called old acquaintances.

Back then, after losing a drinking match to Julian, he had felt irritated, unwilling to accept it. So he thought he would get even in some small way, maybe by picking on the sister Julian treasured most.

But whether it was racing horses or shooting at the training grounds, he lost.

Every time, he lost to Elowen.

Back then, he used to watch her from a distance, thinking she looked like the glow of sunrise on the horizon, vivid, breathtaking, but impossible to hold onto, like something that would vanish the moment you reached for it.

There had been a time when he envied Alaric.

Even resented him.

What kind of luck was that, to marry someone like Elowen?

Then everything changed. Hale Manor collapsed piece by piece, loss after loss. Elowen lost the protection of her father and brother.

The next time he saw her, she had grown thinner. The brightness in her expression had faded, yet somehow she had become even more refined, more striking.

Back then, Alaric had privately told their relatives that the Hale family was finished, and Elowen had become dull and uninteresting, no longer worth his attention.

Albert had turned that thought over in his mind more than once.

If he stepped in and proposed, with the standing of the Baker family, wouldn't it be almost guaranteed?

After all, the Hale family was no longer what it had been. Elowen was alone, vulnerable.

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