Her fingers moved slower now, dragging suds over her collarbone, across her shoulders. And as the steam wrapped around her like a veil, another thought crept in—quiet, dangerous.
Why did she care so much?
She didn't know him. Not really. Not beyond the fragments he let slip through.
So why this sudden softness in her chest?
Why the ache when she thought of him retreating again?
Was she fooling herself? Was she just... playing?
Isabella clenched her jaw and blinked the thought away.
Love? Please.
She'd never believed in that word. Not truly.
Back home, love had always been a messy promise made by broken people. A lie wrapped in sugar, handed out like candy to keep the world spinning.
She never tasted it.
Never trusted it.
And even in this strange new world of magic, beast kings, and impossible beauty, she didn't suddenly believe it existed. At least—not for her.
Fear? No. It wasn't fear.
She didn't fear love.
She just… didn't believe it was real.
