The Prince and Mia

the quiet, unassuming lanes of Mia's neighborhood. It was a journey across the world. Lights cast soft glows over cobblestone paths

ousled from running his hands through it, and his deep brown eyes were fixed on the unfamiliar road ahead. He was a man forged by duty, yet tonight he was a boy driven by guilt. Beside

spoke, her voice a low whisper. "Mia must be heartbr

ve for one second that I meant to hurt her." He paused, his voice softening, the memory replaying in his mind. "She was so be

kle climbing that old oak tree by the stables? She tried so hard to hide it, to not be a bother. You were the one who c

lips. "I was her knight those days

ght, stopping a few houses down from Mia's. "We walk f

night-blooming jasmine the scent of Mia's world, so different from his gilded cage. Ramzi remained in

bronze face stern. "The city is awake and whispering about the ball

, his gaze meeting Karim'

will keep it quiet. But hurry.

of jasmine enveloped them, a fragile balm against Tarkan's racing heart. All the fierce courage he possessed within the palace walls seemed to dissolve at her doorstep. He was no

sers, her blond hair hanging loose, she was trying to erase the girl from the palace. Her blue eyes, red-rimmed and swollen, stared at her reflection. Her beauty, once a quiet strength, felt li

rimson falcons ,an ironic echo of the palace, hung above a worn sofa. Sofia stood

soft but firm. "Tell me again. Was it just th

er stopped caring. But the Queen... she called me a trespasser. She said I would cost you e

is too bright for their world of shadows, my love. Those eyes, that golden hair, that fierce heart

the soft, hesitant kno

r body stiffening, becoming a human shield. She opened it to rev

vel, dangerous, and stripped of all its for

es raw with undisguised pain. He bowed his head slightly. "Mrs. Ritchard Sofia, please. W

n apology, Your Highness, will not erase the humiliation your mother inflicted on my daughter

had to come. I had to tell you both how deeply sorry I am for my mother's cru

too, Sofia. I'm the one who invited her. I thought I cou

in the doorway behind her mother. Her blond hair was disheveled, her blue eyes puffy and fragile. In her simple sweater, she looked impossibly young and vul

d, her name a sac

ou shouldn't be here, Tarkan. Your

reaking. "Myar invited you because I begged her to. All I wanted was to understand why you never wrote

g no trace of the tabloid prince, only the e

eyes. "I thought I was fixing things, but I just broke t

aze. Her protective anger finally softened into a weary sadness for

speaking not to a prince, but to a young man who had wounded her child. "You have made your

wanted to promise her the world, to vow protection, but he saw the wisdom in Sofia's words. He ha

is voice thick with emo

nd hair glowing like a halo under the lantern light. The apology hadn't mended the fracture between them. It had done something far more dangerous. It had stirred a hope she thought s

her face softening as she turned to Mia.

't know, Mama. He looked... broken. Not like the prince in

change his world, or ours. Your beauty, your heart, they are precious things, but in

t of Tarkan's sincerity a fragrance more pote

y silence as the city's lanterns cast f

r said softly. "But she listened. And

home; it was a fortress he had to conquer from within. "It's not enough," he said, his voice low and ha

But Sofia is right, any more irresponsible moves

e didn't have a plan yet, but he had a new purpose. The time fo

wed, more to himself than to h