The World Cannot Know

Chapter 57

Prince Sebastian

The rhythm of the horse beneath me was steady, grounding—one hoof after another striking the earth like the ticking of a clock I couldn't slow down.

Each beat carried me further from him.

The morning mist clung to the trees like breath held too long, curling around the path ahead, softening the edges of the road. It was supposed to be a fresh start, a new beginning. But all I could think about was the look in Matthew's eyes when I turned away. Not pleading. Not broken. Just... steady. Unyielding.

The kind of look that stayed with you long after the road curved out of sight.

I didn't speak. None of us did. Not for a while. Hector rode just ahead, his posture crisp, like he was already halfway into strategy and troop formations. Marcus muttered something under his breath behind me, but even his usual sarcasm had gone dull at the edges. The soldiers followed in a loose line, quiet in a way that told me they felt the weight too.

Every mile was a choice I was still making. To go. To lead. To become something bigger than the life I wanted with Matthew. Not instead of it—never that—but alongside it. Or so I kept telling myself.

I adjusted the reins. My fingers were too tight on them. I loosened my grip.

I could still feel the ghost of Matthew's hand on my arm, that firm, quiet hold before I left. It hadn't been a kiss, hadn't even been a goodbye. But it said everything. I'm still here. I'm still yours. Come back to me.

And gods help me, I would.

I shifted in the saddle, eyes flicking to the trees on either side of the trail. A prince didn't have the luxury of sentiment. A prince had to see angles, threats, terrain. But today, I couldn't shake the feeling that something sacred had been left behind in that clearing. Not something weak—no. Something vital.

Matthew was right to worry.

It wasn't dying I feared.

It was changing.

I'd spent so long shaping myself into what the crown needed, what the rebellion needed, what my mother and my father and the entire damned realm expected. The right words. The right posture. The right distance from the things I wanted most.

But Matthew wasn't a want. He was a constant. The steady beat underneath all the noise.

I'd promised him. When it was safe, we'd stop hiding. We'd stop pretending that our love was something that needed to be tucked behind closed doors and carefully worded letters. When the kingdom was ready—or when we stopped waiting for it to be.

I would keep that promise.

Even if it meant breaking a few others along the way.

Ahead, Hector slowed his horse, glancing back. "There's a ridge up ahead. Good vantage. We'll rest there, regroup."

I nodded, though my voice caught a little before I spoke. "Fine. Let's move fast—we've already lost enough time."

He studied me a second too long, like he saw more than I meant him to. But he said nothing. Just turned and urged his horse forward again.

I let the others pass me, falling back slightly. Gave myself a few seconds of quiet at the rear, where no one could see the flicker of doubt I kept forcing down.

The mist was starting to lift. Sunlight spilled in golden slants through the branches overhead.

I looked back once—just once.

The trees had swallowed the clearing. The path behind us was empty. But in my mind, I could still see him standing there, arms crossed, face tilted toward the light, stubborn as ever.