Chapter 260: Night Before The Banquet 2
Alaric walked beside Lara, their steps quiet against the stone path winding through the the middle of the garden’. The air was thick with the scent of flowers—rich, layered, alive. Jasmine clung to the breeze like a whispered memory, but Alaric barely noticed. His attention was fixed on her.
She moved with that effortless grace she never seemed aware of, her eyes occasionally flicking to the glowing lanterns that hung like stars brought down to earth. They flickered softly, casting golden light on the carved columns of the gazebo ahead.
The man and the woman stepped into the gazebo nestled in the heart of the garden. The flickering lantern light illuminated the intricately carved pillars like fireflies, casting playful shadows that danced against the dim backdrop.
Lara and Alaric settled across from one another on the weather-worn stone benches, a round marble table separating them. The silence between them was not empty, but electric—charged with unspoken thoughts and memories.
Alaric cleared his throat, the sound quiet but deliberate.
"I heard that Prince Reuben approached your father on the day the king revealed he would inherit the throne, and asked your hand in marriage." Alaric’s voice hung in the air, rich with a bittersweet resonance that deepened its huskiness, as if each word carried a weight of unspoken emotions. Beneath the composed delivery was a tremor of something he couldn’t quite suppress.
Lara’s head snapped up. "What?" she blurted, her voice sharp with disbelief. Her eyes widened, confusion flashing through them like a sudden gust through still leaves. "When did you hear that? Who told you?" Her words tumbled out in a breathless rush, the weight of the revelation crashing over her. "No one mentioned anything to me," she added, her tone softening into hurt. Her brows furrowed. Why had they kept it from her?
On the day General Odin and his sons returned from Prince Reuben’s palace, they had spoken to her mother in hushed voices behind closed doors. Freya, ever protective, had long rejected the idea of her daughter being entangled in royal politics. She wanted Lara to live simply, to marry a man who loved her and only her—not to be swallowed by the scheming labyrinth of life in the palace.
Didn’t her friend, Alaric’s mother, die because of someone else’s scheme? She only had one daughter and did not want Lara to suffer the same fate.