A Crown Left Behind

“You volunteered for Vescari?”

Lorenzo dragged me into his study and shut the door behind us, his face dark enough to frighten anyone else.

“Aria, are you insane?”

He stared at me, his voice pressed low. “Blackharbor is not an ordinary city. The Vescari family controls the northern weapons routes. Any woman who goes into that house becomes part of the agreement. Once they take you, it will be almost impossible for you to come back.”

His gaze fell on me again, filled with more worry than anger.

“Every unmarried girl in Vittori is praying she won’t be chosen, and you’re handing them your name?”

I lowered my head and clenched my skirt until the fabric wrinkled under my fingers.

The Vescari family had several unmarried heirs and had long brought women into Blackharbor through exchange marriages. They rarely sent anyone south in return.

They were colder than the East Coast, harder, and far more used to holding tightly onto anything they claimed. No woman wanted to trap her whole life in Blackharbor, under Vescari rules.

The contract guaranteed the selected woman’s physical safety under Vescari law, but not her freedom. Once she signed willingly, Lorenzo could cancel the agreement only by declaring war.

Lorenzo’s face turned completely grim.

“Did they hurt you again?” His voice dropped. “Dante? Matteo? Adrian?”

He turned toward the door, and I hurried after him, grabbing his arm.

“Don’t go, Lorenzo. Please.”

Only after the words left my mouth did I realize I was shaking.

It was useless anyway. When Dante and Matteo first pulled away from me because of Serena, I had cried to Lorenzo too. Serena had not even been in Vittori for a month, yet the two men who once guarded every step I took were already circling her.

I still remembered the way Matteo looked at me that night, cold and impatient, as if I were nothing more than a spoiled problem.

“Aria, can you stop acting like the entire family should revolve around you?”

Dante stood beside him with his arms crossed, his voice sharper than Matteo’s.

“Serena did nothing wrong. You just can’t stand not being the center anymore, so you tried to drive her out. Without Lorenzo protecting you, what do you even have left?”

His mouth twisted slightly.

“I can’t believe I ever wanted you.”

Those words cut deeper than any knife.

That night, I cried in the only arms still willing to hold me, Adrian’s, until I could barely breathe. He stroked my hair and told me Dante and Matteo would regret it one day.

But now even Adrian no longer wanted me.

The study stayed quiet for a long time. Lorenzo finally exhaled and forced his anger down.

“You are my only sister.” His voice lowered. “I can’t send you that far away and still have peace.”

He touched my face, his hand much gentler than the fury he had shown moments before.

“But I can’t keep watching you stay here while they wear you down piece by piece.”

In three days, the Vescari delegation would arrive on the East Coast. Once I signed my name, they would take me north before the first winter storm sealed the harbor.

“Think it through,” Lorenzo said. “When you’re truly decided, come back to me.”

I nodded and swallowed back my tears.

The moment I stepped out of the study, I saw Adrian.

Rain swept beneath the covered corridor, darkening the stone floor around him. He stood beside one of the pillars, shielding a silver watch beneath his palm.

I recognized it at once.

At a recent charity auction, Serena had bought the watch on a whim and handed it to him before leaving the table. It was an ordinary piece, worth far less than the watches Adrian usually wore, but he had kept it on ever since.

Now he was covering it carefully, keeping even a few drops of rain from touching the glass.

When he saw me, that old soft smile returned to his face.

“Aria?”

I wiped away my tears and walked past him.

“Wait.” He followed me. “Where are you going?”

I did not stop. My throat hurt too much for me to say a word.

After a few seconds, his footsteps stopped. I slowed too and looked back.

Adrian stood at the end of the corridor, still holding one hand over the watch while rain fell beyond the stone arches.

In that moment, it felt as if something had cut straight through my chest, leaving me almost unable to breathe.

“Adrian.” My voice shook badly. “Is that why you came to find me?”

Several maids and guards nearby turned to look.

He did not move.

Fine.

Then I would go to him.

I had always been like this. When they stopped, I walked toward them first. When they stayed silent, I lowered my head first. When they frowned, I rushed to prove I was not as terrible as they thought.

I bit my lip and took one step toward him.

But his voice reached me first, almost gentle, yet leaving no room for hope.

“No, Aria. I came to tell you that from now on, I won’t be handling your accounts, investment meetings, or travel arrangements anymore.”

I stopped where I was.

Adrian lowered his sleeve over the watch and turned toward Serena’s room.

He did not even wait for my answer.