Chapter 51 --51
Elara almost smiled. "Having second thoughts?"
"Every single day." But he smiled too. "Still better than watching you slowly get poisoned by court politics while I filed paperwork for princes who didn’t know my name."
They stood in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the dark water flow past.
"Your Highness," Dimitri said carefully, "can I ask you something? And will you actually answer honestly?"
"Depends on the question."
"What’s the real plan? Not the merchant contracts and preservation magic—that’s real enough. But what are you actually trying to build in Port Crestfall?"
Elara considered lying. Giving him the official answer about business development and imperial revenue. But he’d followed her out of the palace, left behind everything familiar, put his life at risk for her.
He deserved better than political deflection.
"Independence," she said quietly. "Real independence. Enough money that I don’t need palace funding. Enough influence that I can’t be easily killed or disappeared. Enough distance that my father and sisters have to actually negotiate with me instead of just eliminating me."
"That’s... ambitious."
"That’s survival. If I go back to the palace in three months with nothing but a failed business venture, I’m dead within a week. But if I go back with established merchant partnerships, steady revenue, and leverage..." She trailed off.
"You become someone they have to work with instead of work around," Dimitri finished. "That’s smart. Terrifying, but smart."