Chapter 226

Chapter 226: Chapter 226

Lysander

I sat on the edge of the mattress, my legs tucked beneath the wool blanket, watching the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. Its steady ticking was the only sound in the big, quiet room.

On the wooden tray beside my bed sat my evening meal, completely untouched. The bread was dry, the soup had gone cold hours ago, and the glass vial of Dr. Star’s. I didn’t have the appetite to swallow a single bite. My body was exhausted, my lower back aching with a dull throb, but my mind was stuck in an endless, agonizing loop.

Daytime in this place was a quiet, suffocating nightmare.

During the daylight hours, Drake was a stranger carved from stone. From the small balcony window, I could sometimes see him walking across the garden below.

He wore his usual clothes, his posture tall, his face set in a flat, unreadable mask. Standing beside him was Calix, the person he had chosen to replace me.

My replacement was a far more better sight than me, with my little bump I looked like a hot mess considering my emotional state but Calix looked so composed like he had his whole life put together.

Calix walked with smooth, graceful steps, speaking to Drake in soft, polite tones while the elders and guards looked on with approving smiles.

The servants whispered in the corridors outside my locked door, their hushed voices carrying through the air.

"Finally a better mate.."

"Yes, this one would actually do a good job for us.."

"I am so excited for our lord, finally he gets to be happy.."

Every whisper felt like a twist of a blade in my chest. I knew they all thought the worst of me because of all the drama.

I kept my head bowed as shame filled me, it was because of my attitude, that’s what caused all this in the first place.

If I had stayed inside like an obedient boy, I would have Drake by my side instead of treating me like a criminal.

Calix was the opposite of me, so composed and exactly the kind of man Drake needs by his side.

Drake treated Calix with complete public respect. He gave him an official room, seated him at the head table during meals, and walked beside him through the gardens for everyone to see.

He was building a clean, respectable life with a noble partner, while I remained hidden away in the dark like a disgraced, broken memory trapped behind locked doors.

Yet, every single night, the exact same pattern repeated itself.

The lock from my door would click and the door would creak as it is pushed open.

I never turned around when his footsteps sounded in the room. I stayed curled on my side, my hand resting over the rounded curve of my waist, listening to how he walked in like he was about to bed, the one thing that brought him so much pain.

Drake didn’t turn on the lights. He moved through the shadows already knowing the structure of the room. He unbuttoned his shirt, tossed it onto the chair, and stepped onto the bed beside me.

Without saying a word, he reached out and pulled my body backward into his broad chest.

A soft, involuntary gasp escaped my lips as his heat wrapped around my skin. His large, warm hand slid beneath my shirt, resting flat over my stomach.

I melted against his touch and let out a sigh.

Our child responded instantly, giving an energetic, joyful pulse against his palm that thrummed straight into the quiet room.

"Drake..." I whispered, my voice hoarse and raw in the dark.

"Go to sleep," he commanded softly, his tone low, rough, and completely stripped of warmth.

He didn’t explain why he was here. He didn’t offer a single word of comfort, nor did he answer the questions burning in my throat. He simply held me, burying his face in the crook of my neck, inhaling my scent like a drowning man pulling air into his lungs.

The servants didn’t know about these midnight visits. Calix didn’t know that while he slept alone in his grand east suite, the man he was supposed to marry was lying in a locked room, clinging to his former mate as if his very life depended on it.

I knew the truth, even if Drake refused to speak it aloud.

He couldn’t touch Calix. He could give the noble a title, he could present him to the court, and he could put his name on official documents, but his body and his soul remained incapable of sexual desire towards anyone else. He was starving for the connection we shared, tied to me by a bond that no amount of pride or anger could sever.

I turned slowly in his arms until I was facing him in the moonlight. I didn’t weep this time. I didn’t beg him to listen to my story about the gala or fight the wall he kept between us.

Instead, I raised my hands and wrapped my fingers tightly into the back of his shirt, burying my face straight into the crook of his neck. I pulled myself against his broad chest until there was no space left between us, wrapping my legs around his waist as he shifted on the mattress to accommodate my weight.

Drake let out a low, shuddering breath, his arms instantly tightening around my back and waist, keeping me flush against him.

"Don’t leave when the sun comes up," I whispered against his skin, my fingers clinging stubbornly to his shoulders. "I don’t care about the court. I don’t care about the elders. Just stay here."

Drake didn’t answer with words, but his grip didn’t loosen for a single second. He pressed his face deep into my hair, holding me and our child against his heartbeat as the dark hours bled into morning, refusing to let go even as the first light touched the window.