Page 68 of Throne Off Course

She had spent weeks pretending she could live without him, trying to force herself to forget the way it felt when he touched her, when he looked at her like she was something precious.

But she couldn’t.

So this—this was her only chance.

She reached up, framed his face between her hands, her thumbs brushing along his cheekbones. He sucked in a breath, eyes wide with something close to wonder.

“I love you,” she whispered.

The words hung between them, devastating and real.

Alexander stilled, his hands coming up to grip her wrists, holding her there like he couldn’t believe she was real.

“Say it again,” he breathed.

She closed her eyes, her forehead resting against his.

“I love you,” she whispered again, softer this time, like saying it too loud would break her.

“I love you too,” he murmured and then his lips found hers, andit wasn’t like the other kisses—this one was different. It wasn’t desperate, wasn’t stolen between corridors or hidden behind doors.

This kiss was slow, aching, filled with everything they couldn’t have.

It was a goodbye.

And she hated it.

When they finally broke apart, she felt the sting of tears behind her eyes.

He rested his forehead against hers, breathing hard.

“Stay,” he murmured. “We’ll find a way. I swear to you, Emilia, I’ll fix this. I’ll fight for you.”

She swallowed the sob that wanted to break free.

“Not until we have a plan,” she whispered. “Not until there’s a way this ends with something other than us being torn apart.”

His grip on her tightened. “I can’t lose you.”

She let out a weak, broken laugh, stepping back—forcing herself to put space between them.

“Alexander,” she whispered, “you never really had me.”

The pain in his eyes nearly brought her to her knees.

And still, she had to finish it.

“I can’t take a risk on something that may never happen,” she said, voice trembling. “So until you have a way to change this… we can’t do this anymore.”

His entire body tensed, like he was fighting something inside himself.

Then, slowly, he gave her a single nod.

His eyes burned into hers one last time. “I’ll find a way,” hepromised.

Then—he was gone.

The door shut softly behind him.