"You're a worker," Seraphina snapped,
voice sharp—too sharp.
"Someone paid to entertain us… royals."
But it was a lie.
A brittle, desperate thing.
And it burned on her tongue.
Because the truth was far more dangerous.
Because she longed for Valeria—
longed for her like a secret aching under the skin.
Another step forward.
"You're lying," Valeria said,
voice low, heavy with anger and disbelief.
Her eyes didn't waver.
Another step.
A slow, deliberate advance.
And Seraphina instinctively stepped back.
"You're closing your eyes to it.
Because if you admit how you feel—"
Valeria's voice grew sharper, harsher,
"—then everything falls apart."
Behind the princess, the forest offered no mercy.
Her heel caught on a moss-covered log,
and with a startled gasp,
Seraphina fell.
Soft grass broke her fall,
but before she could rise—
Valeria was already there.
She dropped to her knees,
straddling the folds of Seraphina's grand, ivory gown.
Her hands sank into the grass beside the princess's head,
caging her in with trembling limbs and fiery breath.
"What. Am. I. To. You?"
Each word fell like a match—
hissed out between panting breaths.
Valeria's body was tense, coiled,
a storm of rage and longing threatening to break.
And in the silence that followed—
in the air crackling between them—
she realized how close they were.
Too close.
Her gaze flickered,
against her will,
to the princess's lips.
Soft. Flushed.
Beautiful in a way that made her stomach twist
with something more than desire—
with need.
She cursed herself for looking.
And looked again.
The air between them grew thick—
charged, pulsing with unsaid things.
Valeria's breathing hitched.
Her jaw clenched.
But her eyes kept falling back
to the one thing she didn't dare touch.
Her lips began to tremble,
and it made Valeria's eyes snap up—
from the soft temptation of her mouth
back to her eyes.
Eyes full of something raw.
Something too sacred to name.
"I can't…" Seraphina whispered,
her voice barely holding itself together.
It wavered, trembling like her breath.
Longing and fear tangled in every syllable.
Tears welled in her eyes.
Valeria's hands, once buried in the grass,
rose instinctively—
one reaching to cup the princess's cheek.
Her touch was warm, grounding.
Rough from labor, but impossibly gentle.
Seraphina leaned into it.
She opened her mouth,
but her voice faltered—cracking with emotion.
Still, she dared to speak.
Her heart thundered like war drums inside her chest.
"When I'm near you…"
She paused, trying to breathe—
but the words burned to be free.
"I can't breathe."
Valeria's breath hitched,
her eyes wide, desperate.
Seraphina went on, her voice now a whisper of flame:
"When I'm away… I ache to hover in your presence."
She exhaled—
a confession, unshackled at last.
Valeria's chest rose sharply.
The world narrowed to just them.
She leaned in slightly,
her voice low, breathless, scared:
"…How do you feel?"