After a long moment of tense silence, Sebastian spoke again, his voice carrying a different edge.

“What exactly are you doing here, Evangelina? What are you to Prince Maximilian?”

Evangeline’s head snapped toward him, her emerald eyes narrowing dangerously. “I beg your pardon?”

Sebastian took a step closer, his gaze darkening with barely contained emotion. “You are residing in his court now. He showers you with gifts, protects you and the boys, provides you with royal chambers. What is his true relationship to you?”

Evangeline scoffed, crossing her arms defensively. “Prince Maximilian is my protector,” she said with icy dignity. “He has granted me and my sons sanctuary within his court. That is all you need to comprehend.”

Sebastian’s jaw clenched visibly. “You would be safer under my protection.”

Evangeline let out a bitter laugh that echoed off the solar’s stone walls, shaking her head in absolute disbelief. “Spoken by the man who replaced me so effortlessly five years past?” she snapped, her voice trembling not with sorrow but with righteous fury. “No, thank you, Sebastian.”

A muscle in Sebastian’s jaw twitched violently. “That assessment is hardly fair,” he muttered.

Evangeline’s eyes blazed with accumulated pain and anger. “Fair? Do you even hear the words leaving your mouth?” She drew a shaky breath, her hands forming into fists at her sides. “You chose another woman, Sebastian. You cast me aside without a moment’s hesitation. And now, when I have finally discovered security and peace, you suddenly claim to care?”

Sebastian ran both hands through his dark hair, exhaling harshly through gritted teeth. “I never ceased caring,” he whispered.

Evangeline stiffened, something deep within her chest constricting painfully at his words. But she refused to allow him to witness any weakness. She would not permit it. Not after everything.

“Then you should have demonstrated such devotion when it mattered,” she replied with arctic coldness.

“You better leave now and never come back!” She snapped, turned back and left him standing there.

Sebastian stood, staring at her retreating figure, his fury radiating from him like heat from a forge.

Courtiers and servants stepped hastily aside as he passed, sensing the dangerous energy emanating from him with his fists clenched, his teeth gritted, and his mind racing with Evangeline’s cutting words.

“Spoken by the man who replaced me so effortlessly five years past? No, thank you.”

Her voice echoed relentlessly in his consciousness, sharper than any blade ever forged.

How dare she dismiss him so completely? How dare she push him away as if he possessed no right to concern himself with her wellbeing and that of their sons?

As if Prince Maximilian, a man who had conveniently appeared to sweep her away, was her rightful protector now?

Sebastian growled under his breath, his nails digging crescents into his palms as he made his way toward the courtyard.

As he neared the palace gardens, he stopped abruptly, his breath catching in his throat.

There, in the center of the emerald lawn, were Marcus and Adrian.

They were playing together, their delighted laughter ringing through the air as they kicked a leather ball back and forth between them.

Sebastian’s chest constricted painfully at the sight. Five years—five precious years—he had lost with them. Yet they were undeniably his. His blood. His rightful heirs.

The moment Adrian lifted his head and spotted him, the child’s face illuminated with pure joy.

“Sir!” he called out, abandoning the ball and racing toward him.

Marcus turned next, his expression shifting from curiosity to delight. “The prince from Uncle’s castle!”

Sebastian barely had time to react before both boys collided with him, wrapping their small arms around his waist with complete trust. He stumbled slightly, overwhelmed by emotion.

“What brings you here?” Adrian asked, his innocent eyes shining up at him.

“I—” Sebastian hesitated, his emotions warring violently within him.

Marcus grinned up at him with heartbreaking familiarity. “Do you wish to play ball with us?”

Sebastian swallowed the enormous lump in his throat. How could he possibly refuse?

He crouched down, gently ruffling their dark hair. “Do you young princes believe you can defeat me?” he teased.

Both boys laughed, bouncing excitedly. “Yes!”

For precious moments, Sebastian forgot his anger, his mission, his pain. He focused entirely on them, laughing as they darted around him with athletic grace.

But high above in his private study overlooking the gardens, a pair of dark eyes watched the scene unfold with growing fury.

Prince Maximilian’s jaw tightened as he stood behind the tall windows, his hands curling into fists. His usually composed demeanor cracked as he observed Sebastian playing with the children he had claimed as his own.

A growl rumbled in his chest as he turned away sharply. What audacity—arriving uninvited on his sovereign territory?

Prince Maximilian stormed toward the door, his mind already decided.

It was time Sebastian remembered whose kingdom this was.