Chapter 15 Aug 19, 2025 Celeste I was pacing between the rose bushes when I heard his footsteps on the gravel path. The moon was full tonight, casting everything in silver light. The roses smelled stronger in this weather, almost overwhelming. I didn't need to turn around to know it was Alexandre. I could feel his presence like a weight on my shoulders, familiar and dangerous. "It's done," I said before he could speak. My voice sounded steadier than I felt. "He knows." I heard him sit down on the marble bench behind me, but I kept pacing. I couldn't stop moving. If I stopped, I might fall apart completely. "I heard the whispers," he said quietly. "The servants talk. The guards gossip. By morning, half the palace will know you're carrying a child." "And by noon, they'll all be wondering whose child it is." The silence stretched between us. A night bird called from somewhere in the darkness, lonely and sharp. "Look at me," Alexandre said. I stopped pacing but didn't turn around. "I can't." "Céleste." Finally, I faced him. He looked older in the moonlight, the lines around his eyes deeper. The storm clouds above us rumbled, threatening rain. "I never wanted this for you," he whispered. The words hit me like a physical blow. I laughed, but there was no humor in it. The sound was bitter and broken. "And yet here we are." He stood up from the bench, moving closer. "You didn't choose this life. You didn't choose any of this." "Didn't I?" I stopped backing away and stood my ground. "I chose you that night. I chose to let you touch me. I chose to let you inside me. And now I'm choosing to keep this child, no matter what it costs." His face twisted with something between pride and shame. I could see the war happening behind his eyes. Part of him was happy-maybe even thrilled-that I was carrying his child. A child that would be truly his, not just a political arrangement. But the other part of him knew what this meant. What it would cost me. What it would cost all of us. "A child," he said softly, like he was testing the words. "My child." "Our child," I corrected. "But the world will never know that." Thunder rolled overhead, closer now. The first drops of rain started to fall, light at first, then heavier. "I can protect you," Alexandre said suddenly. "Send you away. To the countryside, or even another country. You could have the child in safety, away from all this." I stared at him. "You want me to run?" "I want you to be safe." "Running won't make me safe. It will only prove their suspicions. They'll say I fled because I was guilty. They'll say the child is a bastard born in shame." The rain was coming down harder now, soaking through my thin gown. But I didn't move toward shelter. Neither did he. "Then what do you suggest?" he asked. "We stay. We fight. We make them prove their accusations." "And if they can't prove it, but they suspect it anyway?" "Then we hold our ground until someone pushes first." He ran a hand through his wet hair. "This could destroy everything. The crown, the kingdom, our family." "Or it could save everything," I said. "This child will be the heir they've all been waiting for. Royal blood, legitimate in the eyes of the law. What more could they want?" "The truth." "The truth is dangerous. But so are lies. We'll have to be very careful about which ones we choose." Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the garden in harsh white light. For a moment, we could see everything clearly-the roses, the marble statues, the reality of what we'd created together. "If we do this," Alexandre said, "there's no going back. Once we commit to this path, we're committed forever." "I know." "You'll have to watch me from a distance. Watch our child call another man father. Can you do that?" My throat tightened, but I nodded. "Can you?" He was quiet for a long moment. Then: "I don't have a choice." "We all have choices. This is mine." The storm was fully upon us now, rain pouring down in sheets. We should have run for cover, but we stood there in the downpour, two people who had crossed a line they could never uncross. "What if Renard changes his mind?" Alexandre asked. "What if he decides exposure is worth the risk?" "Then we deal with it when it happens. But right now, his pride won't let him admit he couldn't keep his own wife satisfied. He needs this child as much as we do." "And what about us? What happens to us?" I looked at him-really looked at him. The man I'd fallen for despite every reason not to. The man whose child I was carrying. The man I could never truly have. "There is no us," I said quietly. "There's only this child and what we're willing to sacrifice to protect it." He nodded slowly, understanding passing between us like a current. "Then we'll hold," he said finally. "We'll wait and see who moves first." "Yes," I agreed. "We'll hold." The rain kept falling, washing away any evidence that we'd been here together. By morning, the garden would look pristine again, as if this conversation had never happened. But we would remember. We would carry this moment with us, along with all the secrets and lies we'd chosen to protect. As I turned to walk back to the palace, Alexandre called my name one last time. "Céleste." I looked back. "Whatever happens," he said, "you're stronger than all of them. Don't forget that." I nodded once, then disappeared into the storm, leaving him alone among the roses with the weight of it all.