“I need the fertility suppressant potion.” Evelyn blushed, then felt more embarrassed that she was blushing as an adult asking for a normal adult thing.
“Well, that’s easy enough.” Margot smiled warmly. “Do you want me to start sending weekly doses to the palace?”
“Yes, actually, that would be really helpful. But I also need to take ittoday.”
“No problem at all. I’ll get the potion for you now.”
The Healer left the room, and Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief.
See? Everything is okay. This was not a big deal. Haydn can be my secret.
Evelyn and Damien returned to the palace. They made it back to her room before he rounded on her. “Why did you lie to me last night?”
She had to look away from the hurt in Damien’s green eyes. But she knew that Haydn’s Bargain magic would limit what she could say. “Haydn asked me to keep our conversations between us.”
Damien’s brows flew up. “He asked you to lie to me?”
“No, he never said that. I just promised to keep some things private.”
“Why?”
“He doesn’t want the whole kingdom to know every little thing about him.”
“I need to know things that put you in danger!”
“I wasn’t in danger!”
Damien groaned. “Why did you even go with him in the first place?”
Evelyn retrieved the emerald ring from the nightstand and handed it to Damien.
“What is this?” he asked.
“The ring Haydn gave me when he proposed.”
Damien held the ring away from his body like it might bite him. “What did you tell him?”
Evelyn bit her lip. “I didn’t give him an answer last night, and then everything was different this morning.”
“Would you have said yes today?”
“I thought Leo was marrying Hannah!”
“That doesn’t mean Ritter was your only other option!”
“I know that! Just…pleasedon’t tell Leo.”
Damien sighed. “I won’t, Princess. But you can’t keep lying to me. I can’t protect you if you shut me out.”
“I’m sorry,” Evelyn murmured.
He put the ring back in the nightstand and closed it before the emerald could jump out and attack him. “You and Leo are really getting married.”
Even with all the other shit happening, Evelyn couldn’t help but smile at that. “I still can’t believe it!”
Damien let out a short laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Evelyn asked.
