Shackled To The Enemy King

Happiness.

It wasn’t something Catherine trusted easily anymore. Not after everything she had lived through, everything she had lost. Now she stood in a life that felt eerily similar, and yet completely different. Maximilian was here again. So was she. The threads of fate had woven them back together, but the pattern had changed.

Or at least... she hoped it had.

Her thoughts drifted to him without permission.

To the way he looked at her...To the quiet steadiness in his presence...To the way he had stood firm, not hesitating, not questioning, when it came to defending her.

And beneath all of that... To the fear.

Because loving him again meant risking everything again. It meant believing that this time would be different.

That he would be different.

That she would make different choices.

Catherine exhaled slowly, her gaze lowering for just a moment before she looked back at Sammy.

"I think..." she began, her voice softer now, stripped of its usual certainty, "I’m trying to be."

It wasn’t a perfect answer.

But it was honest.

And maybe, for now... That was enough.

-----

When Catherine stepped out onto the patio, the three men were deep in discussion. She paused for just a moment and found Maximilian bent slightly over a set of blueprints, his attention fully captured.

It was the layout of the residential compound.

He traced something along the edge, his expression focused, brows faintly drawn as he studied the security placements, the access points, the blind spots. Catherine didn’t interrupt him. She let him be.

This—this was how he cared. Quietly, thoroughly, without needing to announce it.

William noticed her first.

"Sammy?" he asked, his voice carrying just enough concern to reveal what he hadn’t said earlier.

"She’s fine," Catherine replied gently. "She had breakfast... and now she’s watching her favorite series."

William nodded.

But it wasn’t just a nod.

In that single motion, Catherine caught everything he didn’t say aloud—the relief that loosened his shoulders, the gratitude he didn’t put into words, the quiet happiness that Sammy was steady again, and beneath it all... the unmistakable love of a father who had been worried far longer than he had shown.

Catherine smiled, soft and understanding.

By then, Maximilian had straightened, the last of the details already sent to his phone. He slipped it away with a quiet exhale, as though setting aside one responsibility before moving on to the next. Catherine watched him for a brief second longer than necessary, something thoughtful flickering in her gaze.

Her brothers trusted him. Not just tolerated him. Not just accepted him. They trusted him.

Which meant... They had already made their decision about him.

And that realization brought something unexpected with it.

A sharp, fleeting ache in her chest.

Don’t change, Maximilian... please. Don’t betray me, no matter what.

The thought came unbidden, quiet and almost desperate, as though she were trying to hold onto something that hadn’t yet slipped away.

Maximilian turned toward her, so suddenly and so precisely that for a brief moment it felt as though he had heard her, as though her thoughts had reached him.

"Didn’t you want to meet your father?" he asked, his tone gentle, grounding. "Shall we?"

Catherine blinked, the weight of her thoughts dissolving just enough for reality to settle back in.

She had almost forgotten.

A small smile touched her lips as she nodded. "Yes."

"Max asked to borrow your jet sometime next week," Jonathan added, his voice carrying an unusual lightness. There was even a hint of a smile there; something Catherine didn’t see often.

She glanced at him, a flicker of curiosity rising. "Oh?"

But then, it clicked.

He wanted to return to Meridon. The timing... and the quiet certainty in Maximilian’s actions...

Suddenly, the pieces aligned in a way that made her breath catch.

A proposal?

The thought bloomed before she could stop it.

And just like that, warmth rushed to her cheeks, soft and unguarded, coloring her expression before she could hide it.

She turned quickly, stepping ahead as if the movement alone could steady her, could hide the way her heart had begun to beat just a little faster than it should.

Behind her, Maximilian followed, close enough but not quite touching..

"Have you decided to settle here, Catherine?" he asked.

The question stopped her. Maximilian closed the space between them in a few strides, coming to stand beside her, his gaze steady, thoughtful rather than pressing.

"No matter how I look at it," he continued, his tone calm, deliberate, "your family compound is the perfect place—for your research, and for your safety."

Catherine turned her head slightly, studying his face—not his words, but the spaces between them. She searched for hesitation. For the faintest trace of reluctance. For anything that might suggest compromise disguised as agreement.

There was nothing.

Only sincerity.

Only quiet conviction.

And that, somehow, unsettled her more than resistance would have.

Because this... this wasn’t the Maximilian she remembered. Not the young man from another life, shaped by pride and distance and selfish choices she had never fully understood. This man beside her felt... grounded. Measured. As though time had carved something steadier into him.

Or perhaps... She had simply never known him well enough to begin with. The thought lingered, uncomfortable in its honesty.

"Are we moving too fast?" she asked.

It wasn’t a challenge. It wasn’t even doubt in the usual sense. It was something softer. More fragile.

Maximilian stilled at that, his attention sharpening slightly, not in alarm, but in focus. "You want to wait?" he asked, his voice quiet but direct. "For what?"

The question hung there.

Catherine let out a slow breath, her fingers unconsciously curling around the bracelet at her wrist. Once, she had touched it constantly, as though it were something she needed to understand, something she could undo if she tried hard enough. But now...

Now she barely noticed it.

Even in this moment, her fingers rested against it without urgency, without the need to pull, to question, to escape.

She thought about his question.

For what?

Would waiting change anything?

Would time give her clarity she didn’t already have?

Deep down, she knew the answer before she could even shape it into words.

No.

Because this wasn’t uncertainty about him. It was fear of what came with choosing him.

She knew, with a quiet certainty that had settled into her bones, that there was no version of her future where she would be happy with someone else. If she married... ever...

It would be Maximilian.

So what, exactly, was she waiting for?

A guarantee? A promise that this time wouldn’t end the way it once had? That wasn’t something time could give.

"Never mind," she said softly.

It wasn’t dismissal. It was a decision.

Maximilian didn’t push. Didn’t question it further. Instead, he reached for her hand—slowly, deliberately, as though giving her time to pull away if she wanted to.

She didn’t.

Her fingers slipped into his, and as they began to walk again, she leaned lightly against his shoulder, the contact natural, unforced.

"I’ll trust you once more..." she murmured.

The words were quiet, almost lost between them, but they carried everything.

Maximilian didn’t respond. Not with words. But the way his hand tightened around hers: firm, steady, unyielding... said more than anything he could have.

"I can settle in Meridon too, you know?" she said, almost lightly, as though offering it didn’t cost her anything.

Maximilian hummed in response. Just that, as though he had heard her, weighed it, and set it aside for later consideration. Not dismissed... but not necessary either.

And for some reason, that told her more than agreement would have.

Catherine’s steps slowed again, her thoughts drifting. "Are you Leon Aureus?" she asked suddenly.

The words came out quieter than she expected, but the effect was immediate.

Maximilian stilled.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, studying him now with growing focus. "I’ve heard that name... so intimately," she murmured, more to herself than to him. "But I can’t remember where from..."

Her brows furrowed as she pressed her fingers lightly to her temple, frustration creeping in

"Come on..." she exhaled softly, almost pleading now. "I know you know. Just give me something. Is it you... or someone else? My mind feels so... jumbled."

Maximilian turned to her fully then. He reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders, firm enough to ground her, gentle enough not to startle.

"Do you not remember?" he asked.

And there it was... Hurt in his eyes.

"How did you forget that?" he added, his voice softer now, but heavier.

Catherine’s breath caught.

Because that tone... It wasn’t the kind you used for something trivial. It meant something.

Something that mattered to him.

Her heart began to beat faster, her thoughts scrambling as she forced herself to look deeper, to push past the fog in her mind, to find it.

Leon Aureus.

Her eyes widened suddenly.

A fragment clicked into place.

"No way..." she whispered, disbelief spilling into her expression.

Maximilian leaned closer instinctively, his focus entirely on her now, anticipation tightening the air between them.

"What?" he asked, quieter than before.

Catherine looked at him... really looked at him this time.

And everything felt like it was about to shift.