Chapter 83: Proof of Life

Nothing is more seductive than an answer that arrives too easily.

The pursuit collides with the regent who framed her family and arranged her execution, forcing an alliance that neither Lady Elara Wynn nor Duke Rowan Ashford is ready to name.

The evidence survives, but reaching it requires a choice that exposes the group to a new enemy.

Lady Elara Wynn keeps the larger goal in view: assemble the evidence and place the rightful young queen on the throne. The immediate problem is smaller, sharper, and impossible to postpone.

They stand close enough to feel the argument beneath the silence. Neither mistakes desire for trust, but neither can pretend desire is absent.

Their attraction grows through competence, danger, and the first honest confession.

The recurring signs of black roses, court masks, winter return with a different meaning, linking this choice to what came before.

The evidence points toward someone they have both been protecting.