Julian was taken aback by the appreciation but he took it. He looked at the Duchess and bowed, she bowed lightly in turn, and he stepped back a few paces to let them be.
The silver mist began to shimmer around the Duchess's phantasm more violently as the timer ticked down, the seconds bleeding away like the stardust in the broken glass. Duke Alaric didn't care about the magic; he only cared about the warmth of her hands on his face, even if they were made of light.
"I missed you every single day," The Duke choked out, his voice raw with a decade's worth of unshed tears. "Every morning I woke up and reached for you, only to find the bed cold. I was sorry... Bella, I am so sorry I didn't listen. When you begged me not to go to the border, when you asked me to stay... I thought I was protecting the North. I didn't know I was losing everything."
