The village square no longer seemed ordinary. Even as merchants packed their stalls and children darted between them, Elara felt eyes lingering where there had been none. A subtle glance from a villager, a knowing smirk from a passerby, the faint whisper of gossip floating on the breeze—it was all proof that the echo of her public surrender had not gone unnoticed.Her cheeks burned at the memory. The ache that had consumed her during the prince’s teasing in the fountain lingered low in her ...