Sera’s stomach clenched. “Then you don’t know him.”
“I know what he was raised in,” Lily replied. “I know what Severin men do when they’re cornered. The same as Dante men. They get colder. They get sharper. They pick the family line because it’s been hammered into them until it becomes like morality.”
Sera took a slow breath, forcing herself to stay present. “So you want him to choose me withoutproof.”
“Yes.”
Sera’s laugh came out short, humorless. “I already told him that. Itold him I needed to know he would choose me without proof. Not because I don’t trust facts, but because I need to know I’m not just the safest option on paper.” Her voice tightened. “I need to know he’d choose me even if everything stayed uncertain.”
She inclined her head slightly. “I agree.”
“And if he still doesn’t?”
Lily didn’t waver. “Then you’ll know.”
The simplicity of it was brutal.Sera pressed a hand to her sternum for half a second, not dramatic, just grounding herself the way Alaric did. “This isn’t fair.”
“No,” Lily agreed. “It’s not.”
Sera lifted her chin. “What is the proof?”
Lily hesitated, just a fraction.
Sera saw it and pounced. “Tell me. If you’re so sure, tell me what you have.”
Lily didn’t hesitate. “Everything.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s all you get.”
Sera stepped closer. “You’re asking me to keep this from him, and you won’t eventell me what it is.”
Lily’s voice sharpened. “Because if Vidar gets you alone, he’ll pry it out of you. If Alaric presses you, you’ll give it to him, and then it won’t be his choice anymore. It will be your desperation.”
Sera’s throat tightened. “You think I’m weak.”
“I think you’re in love,” Lily said flatly. “And love makes people stupid. It sure as hell made me stupid.”
Sera flinched, not because it was insulting, but because it was accurate enough tohurt.
Lily’s tone softened by a hair. “I’m not judging you. I’m protecting you.”
Sera’s voice shook, just slightly. “By turning my life into a test.”
“By forcing the universe to show its hand before it ruins you,” Lily replied.
Sera stared at her for a long moment, anger and fear and reluctant understanding fighting for space. “Alaric should know,” she said again, quieter now, the insistence turning into something like a plea. “After what Vidar just did, after he stood in there and claimed blood in the middle of a funeral, Alaric needs something solid. He needs to know he’s not fightingon quicksand.”
Lily’s expression was cold. “If I give him that solidity, he’ll stand on it and call it love. And you’ll never know whether he would have stood with you on quicksand.”
Sera’s fingers curled. Her nails bit into her palm.”You’re asking me to let him suffer,” shesaid.
“I’m asking you to let him choose,” Lily replied.
Sera swallowed hard. “And if he asks me?”
Her expression sharpened. “Then you tell him you don’t have it.” Sheleaned closer. “And if you crack, if you tell him about this conversation, about the proof, I’ll deny it.”
