The Princess and the Noble's Secret Heart

Previously

…I looked towards Valerius’s estate again, the distant lights now seeming less like a beacon and more like a warning. My loyalties were indeed in conflict, a battle waged between the heart and the crown. And as the first hints of dawn began to paint the eastern sky, I knew that this was a battle I could no longer afford to lose. The innocence of my affections was a luxury I could no longer indulge. I had to find the truth, no matter how deeply it was buried, and no matter who it implicated. The fate of my kingdom, and perhaps even my own, depended on it.