The Duke's Bed Warmer

Alina stared at her father in disbelief. His voice echoed in the room. It was probably the loudest sound he had made in months, and he had used it to deny her happiness.

"What?"

"His father was involved with the network," he said, gripping the armrests. "The Moore family funded Serilda for years. You can’t marry into that."

"Austin is not his father."

"It doesn’t matter. His bloodline carries..."

"Bloodlines don’t determine if people are good or bad. It’s choices that do," Alina cut him off.

"You don’t understand what these people can do."

"I do understand," she said, her voice steady. "And honestly, I know more than you. I lived among them."

"And what happened when you went to Arcasedia? They literally tried to kill you."

Alina snickered.

"What does that have to do with Austin?" Alina asked. "Everything that happened there was because of the network your silence helped protect."

The words hit him hard. His face crumpled.

"I was...I just wanted to keep you safe."

"By keeping me in the dark. But it almost got me killed anyway. Everything happened because I didn’t know who I was," Alina replied. "If you had told me...if you’d have kept mother’s promise...maybe things would have been different today."

"You could be dead, Alina" he said. "You would have drawn attention."

"I drew attention anyway. That’s just who I am."

"You’re just like your mother," her father said. "She was also stubborn like you."

Alina’s expression changed. The mention of her mother again softened her. But she didn’t want to talk about her right now. That conversation was over.

"The wedding is happening. Whether you approve or not."

"I know that," he nodded.

Silence hung between them, making the atmosphere around them awkward.

"Tell me about him," her father said softly. "About the duke."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because your mother would have asked. She would have wanted to know about the man her daughter loved," he replied." I’m not her. But I can at least try."

Alina looked away. The request caught her off guard. After everything they had talked about, she hadn’t expected him to ask about Austin.

Her father waited patiently for her answer.

"He is the only person in the world who respects me," she replied, finally. "Even when we were only bound by a contract, he never treated me like something he owned. He respected me before he loved me."

A small smile appeared on her face.

"And that mattered more than anything else."

Her father lowered his gaze in shame.

"He’s not perfect," she continued. "He can be stubborn, overprotective. Sometimes he worries so much that it drives everyone around him mad....But he’s good. He is the type of man who does the right thing even when nobody is watching."

Her father remained silent.

"When I’m with him, I don’t have to be strong all the time," she smiled through the tears forming in her eyes. "When I’m with Austin... it feels like coming home."

A tear slipped down from her father’s cheek. Because every parent hopes their child finds that kind of love. And he knew he had almost taken her chance away forever.

"You sound happy," he whispered as he opened his eyes.

"I am."

He sighed in relief.

"He sounds like a good man," he said. "Much better than me."

"Most people are better than you. That’s not a high standard."

The statement was cruel, but it her father nodded, accepting it.

"I still don’t approve of your marriage," he said. "But I understand why you chose him."

He then reached beside his chair and picked up a small wooden box. He stared at it lovingly then held it out to her with trembling hands.

"What is this?" she asked, curious.

"The letters your mother wrote to you."

"To me?" she said, accepting the box.

"She wrote them during her last months. She told me give them to you when you were old enough. But I never did. Because to me the meaning of old enough kept changing. Twelve felt too young...and by eighteen I had already lost everything.

I should have given them to you before the contract...but I was too much of a coward to hand you your mother’s letters and then hand you to a duke in the same week."

Alina held the box against her chest.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"Don’t thank me. It isn’t generosity. I’m just giving you what belonged to you."

"At least you know that," she stood up and left the room without another word.

Elspeth was waiting for her in the kitchen.

"How bad was it? she asked as soon as Alina came to her.

"Very complicated."

"Did he approve the wedding?"

"He refused."

"I knew that," Elspeth said. "He is too stubborn to change his decision once he makes it."

"But one good thing happened," Alina said as she showed her the small box. "He gave me my mother’s letters."

"Your mother’s letters? He still had those?"

Alina nodded.

"Apparently he has been reading them instead of giving them to me."

"That’s so like him. Hoarding love instead of sharing it."

Alina smiled.

"Come to my wedding, Elspeth."

"I would have been there. Even if you wouldn’t have invited."

Alina laughed and hugged her tightly.

Outside, Austin was still waiting for her at the fence. When he saw her coming out of the door, he straightened immediately.

She rushed and stood beside him, looking back at her home.

"He doesn’t want me to marry you."

"Are you alright?" he asked, worried.

Alina stared at him in disbelief. He didn’t ask why her father turned down their marriage. He didn’t ask if her father could still be convinced. Instead, he asked if she was alright. Something warm and painful tightened in her chest.

"Austin..." she smiled.

"What?" he asked.

"My father just turned down our marriage."

"I know."

"And your first concern is me?"

He furrowed his brows as if he didn’t understand why that surprised her.

"Of course it is."

He replied so quickly that it almost broke her. Alina looked away and wiped her eyes. A few minutes ago, she had been sitting across from a man who loved her but still let her down.

And now she stood beside a man who loved her and never stopped choosing her.

"I’m sad," she admitted. "But not because he refused. But because I thought maybe things would finally be easy."

Austin smiled and took her hand.

"Things never seem to be easy for us."

Alina laughed.

"But they usually work out, though."