Lusian arrived at the royal castle accompanied by Sofia.
They had not gone far through the main corridors when a maid hurried toward them and bowed.
"Her Highness wishes to speak with you in private, my lord."
Sofia raised an eyebrow slightly before giving him an amused smile.
"Go. These meetings are unbearable, and besides, I already know your proposals better than you do. I'll represent you properly."
Lusian let out a small sigh.
"Thank you, Mother."
He followed the maid.
She led him away from the main halls, through quiet corridors, until they reached an old private chamber.
It did not look like an office or a meeting room.
It was a secluded room, far from the noise of the castle, probably built long before he had ever arrived in this world.
Heavy curtains blocked out most of the light from outside.
The air carried the still, stale scent of a room that had remained closed for far too long.
And there was Elizabeth.
She stood with her back to him, motionless in front of one of the windows.
For a few seconds, Lusian simply watched her.
It had been eight months since he had last seen her.
Eight months in which he had learned to live with her absence, even though he had never stopped thinking about her.
Elizabeth turned around.
And something inside Lusian tensed.
She had changed.
She looked thinner.
More tired.
The dark circles beneath her eyes were impossible to hide, and even the way she breathed seemed heavier.
"Lusian..."
Her voice came out softly.
Almost broken.
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
Then Elizabeth took a step toward him.
Then another.
And finally, she ran.
The moment she reached him, she wrapped her arms tightly around him, burying her face against his neck as if she had been holding back that impulse for all eight months.
Lusian felt her trembling.
It did not seem to be fear.
It was relief.
He held her tightly.
"I'm here, Elizabeth."
She clung to him even harder.
"I thought..."
Her voice broke again.
"I thought maybe we would never see each other again."
Lusian closed his eyes.
Throughout the entire journey, he had thought about this reunion.
He had imagined what to say.
What to ask.
How he would behave.
Now he remembered none of it.
All he could feel was her in his arms.
Elizabeth finally pulled back enough to look at him.
Her eyes were wet.
Her fingers slowly rose to touch his face, as if she still needed to make sure he was really there.
"I missed you..."
Her voice trembled.
"The communications were cut off, and I didn't know if you were still alive."
"I'm sorry."
Elizabeth immediately shook her head.
She gently caressed his cheek.
"You're here."
Those words made Lusian fall silent.
Then Elizabeth rose onto her toes and kissed him.
At first, it was an awkward, hurried kiss, filled more with relief than calm.
Lusian immediately returned it.
He held her tighter.
For a few seconds, the rest of the castle disappeared.
There were no meetings.
No wars.
No monsters.
No kingdom on the verge of collapse.
There were only the two of them.
When they finally separated, Elizabeth rested her forehead against his.
"I missed you so much."
Lusian gave her a small smile.
"I missed you too."
Elizabeth kissed him again.
This time more slowly.
Without the desperation of the first kiss.
Only with the need to reclaim something the eight months apart had taken from them.
Time seemed to stop inside that room.
For once, neither of them wanted to talk about the future.
Neither wanted to think about their responsibilities.
They simply wanted to be together.
Hours later, when everything had finally settled down, they lay beside each other.
Elizabeth rested her head against Lusian's chest, idly tracing shapes with her fingers.
The silence was no longer uncomfortable.
They had recovered, if only for a few hours, the intimacy that those eight months apart had taken from them.
"You look tired," Lusian murmured.
Elizabeth let out a soft laugh.
"Yes. The kingdom is falling apart."
"How bad is it?" Lusian asked.
Elizabeth took a few seconds to answer.
"Worse than the reports say."
Lusian looked at her.
"How much worse?"
"The nobles are still talking about reclaiming the lost territories." Elizabeth lowered her gaze. "I'm already thinking about which ones we can keep."
Lusian raised an eyebrow.
"I know. Don't worry. We'll help you."
"You say that so confidently..." She looked up at him. "But I'm not a child. I know how serious the situation is."
Elizabeth lifted her gaze slightly.
"But at least I can work with a little less worry now that I know you're safe."
Lusian let out a small laugh.
"You know my mother. If anything had happened to me, she probably would have declared war all by herself."
Elizabeth lightly punched him in the chest.
"Don't make fun of me. You were worried about me too."
"I'm not making fun of you. And yes, I was very worried about you."
"You were."
"A little."
Elizabeth smiled and gently hit him again.
Amid laughter and playful teasing, they drew close once more, letting the distance between them disappear again and giving way to passion.
For a few moments, they remained silent, simply enjoying being together.
Then she spoke again.
"Do you know when I fell in love with you?"
Lusian looked at her in surprise.
"No."
Elizabeth smiled.
"The first time you didn't lower your head in front of me."
Her fingers slowly searched for his.
"Everyone did. Nobles, knights, servants... everyone measured every word when they were near me."
She intertwined her fingers with Lusian's.
"Except you."
Lusian gave a small laugh through his nose.
"That probably got me into more trouble than you remember."
"Yes."
Elizabeth smiled.
"And that was precisely why I started paying attention to you."
Her expression became more serious.
"My mother always said that the Douglas and Erkhán families were alike."
Lusian remained attentive.
"She said they were the only families in the kingdom capable of looking each other in the eye without bowing their heads."
Elizabeth slowly rested her forehead against his.
"When I grew up... I think I started wanting that with you."
Lusian did not answer immediately.
He simply looked at her.
There was something deeply sincere in her words.
She was not talking about his title as a duke.
Nor his power.
Nor the Douglas family.
She was talking about him.
The person she had come to know.
The one person who, from the beginning, had refused to treat her as someone untouchable.
Elizabeth closed her eyes.
"When I was alone during those months..."
Her voice grew softer.
"I thought about you."
Lusian gently squeezed her hand.
"I thought about you too."
She smiled.
"Even when you were surrounded by monsters?"
Lusian let out a small laugh.
"Especially then."
Elizabeth raised her head.
"Liar."
"A little."
They both laughed quietly.
And for the first time since arriving in Acropolis, Lusian felt something he had not experienced in months.
Peace.
Not because the world was safe.
Not because the war was over.
Not because the future had stopped being frightening.
But because, for a few hours, he could forget about it.
Elizabeth was still in his arms.
And that was enough.
Hours later, while the echoes of their reunion still lingered in that room, neither of them knew that, beyond the castle doors, the world was continuing to change.