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The door creaks open.

Jumping, I turn to see Prince Lux standing in the doorway. “Eden,” he says, his auburn hair looking like he ran all the way here.

I swallow down a heart flutter. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be in your room. Castor found me and he⁠—”

“Don’t apologise. He told me he brought you here.” Stepping inside, he closes the door behind him. He doesn’t lock it, but for some reason I panic that he might.

“I-I should be going.” I glance at the door.

He moves towards me. “Eden, if I can just explain⁠—”

“Please don’t.” I raise my palms. “I don’t want this to be any harder than this has to be.” I was a fool to fall in love with him.

Love. I cringe internally. Did I really let my first love be a prince who tried to buy me from my father?

“Eden, you’ve got this all wrong,” Lux insists. “I’m so sorry for not wanting you to read the letter before. Your father is a very old-fashioned man, and I didn’t want the way he spoke about you to taint your relationship with him. Trust me when I say that I do not approve of his language at all, and I will make it very clear in my reply.”

My brows draw together as he presses an envelope into my hands.

“Just read it. Please. I promise whatever you were thinking it was, it is not as bad as that.” His fingers curl around my wrists. “Please.”

Guilt bubbles up inside me. Maybe I have got this all wrong…

Lowering my gaze, I slide the letter from the envelope. My eyes narrow as I notice an ink stain on the top right corner.

“I spilled some ink while reading it.” He grasps the back of his neck. “But you can still read everything he wrote.” He points at the body of the letter.

Clutching it tightly, I let my eyes fall over it.

Dear Prince Lux,

Princess Eden is very precious to me, as all my dear daughters are, so forgive me if I find the topic of marriage difficult to talk about.

That being said, as Princess Eden is a particularly beautiful creature and, as I’m sure you have noticed, was blessed with the same very appealing curves and strong birthing hips as her mother, it is of no surprise to me that you wish to claim her as your own. But alas, all good things must come with a price – and beautiful things, an even higher price. Please see below the cost that my daughter’s hand is to be:

My nails almost pierce the paper. The amount of gold he’s asking for is quite possibly the biggest number I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t even know where to find money like that… and to demand that of Lux? Like I’m cattle. With very appealing curves, apparently.

“That’s disgusting.” I resist the urge to tear the letter in two. “How can he speak about me like that? His own daughter.”

Behind me, Maxine chirps in agreement.

“You see now why I didn’t want you to see it,” Lux speaks in a gentle tone. “I didn’t want you to see your father in this way.”

My teeth grit together. “This is nothing new. I should’ve known he’d want money from you. He held an auction for my eldest sister and forced her to marry the highest bidder.”

“Yes. I heard about that,” Lux says. “But I was not present at this auction, I assure you.” He meets my gaze. “And I’m so sorry for your loss. You must miss Amaryllis dearly. To be… murdered in the way she was… That will never happen to you here. I promise, Eden.”

“Well… I do miss her,” I reply. I should probably tell him that she’s not really dead, that she’s very happy living with the assassin who supposedly murdered her, and that the lovely ‘servant’ who gave him this letter is another assassin from their guild.

But I’ll save that story for another time.

For now, I can’t quite shake the lingering discomfort in my chest. “Lux,” I start, “I really didn’t like how you spoke to me earlier. I wish you would’ve just been honest from the start. I wouldn’t have minded you reading the letter privately first, it was addressed to you after all. But you didn’t need to be so… rough with me.” My wrist burns where he grabbed it.

“I know. And I’m so sorry, Eden. You deserve so much more than just an apology from me, so I’ve planned something much better, something I think you’ll love.”

Curiosity makes my head tilt. “What is it?”

“I know how much you love ballet.” He grins. “So I’m going to buy us tickets for the next performance at the Opera House in Brightsun.”