My Unchosen Ex Chases Reborn Me (Soren and Fiona) novel Chapter 49

Chapter 49 Flickers Of Desire

Chapter 49 Flickers Of Desire

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This was the Imperial Palace, not the Zonfrillo Estate; manners mattered. Though dissatisfaction still clouded his features, Callum did not so much as touch the cup again.

Claudia heard the stir near the wine table. Turning gracefully, she let a soft laugh slip past crimson lips. Her fan closed with a click that sounded like approval. “Rivermuse Wine is the crown of every vintage. If Callum happens to favor it, why ever should we deny him a second cup?”

Emperor Aldric leaned back on his carved chair, his robe catching the lantern light in waves of gold. “Tonight we celebrate among family. Should someone drink too deeply, let him. In a palace this vast, surely a quiet chamber can cradle his dreams.”

Callum rose quickly, the tassel of his jade belt swaying as he bowed first to the emperor, then to Claudia. “Thank you for your kindness.”

Aldric’s amused gaze drifted down the table until it settled on Fiona, whose cheeks already held a rosy glow from the lanterns. “Fiona, will you not sample this wine as well? If memory serves, you have quite the adventurous palate.”

Everyone knew he referred to the notorious cup she had overindulged in during the autumn

hunt.

Embarrassment warmed her ears; she dipped her head, fingering the edge of her sleeve. “When I returned home, Mother scolded me soundly. I have sworn off drinking since then- else she would never forgive me.”

Aldric’s laughter rumbled across the hall, and Zephyr hid his own behind a polite hand.

Florence, her eyes bright with mischief, tugged at Fiona’s sleeve and whispered questions. Fiona, obliged, recounted every stumble and slurred lyric of that mountain escapade, sparing none of the mortifying details.

Florence sighed as though longing itself had weight. “Had I known it would be so thrilling, I would have joined the autumn hunt. Freedom like that is all I dream of.”

Fiona answered only with a closed–lipped smile, unwilling to tempt the princess further with tales of unbridled hills and unchaperoned nights.

After the banquet, the sky itself became a stage. Thousand–layered fireworks streaked upward like silver comets, bursting into blossoms of jade light that silhouetted the palatial roofs in hushed splendor before snowing petals of fire across the night.

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Chapter 49 Flickers Of Desire

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Florence seized Fiona’s hand and darted between princes and young lords, weaving through embroidered sleeves and sword hilts in search of a vantage point unblocked by shoulders and

crowns.

Their reckless dash caught the gentlemen off guard. Fiona slammed into a broad chest; pain flashed behind her eyes like a second firework, bright and sharp.

Steadying herself, she glanced up at the stranger, mortified. “I hope I have not harmed you, sir.”

Soren lowered his gaze to her, offering only the ghost of a supporting hand. From that angle, the delicate camellia pin crowning her hair caught the torchlight, etching itself briefly into his memory before he looked away. “Ms. Fiona, mind the path.”

Fiona froze, then exhaled in quiet relief. Better to collide with Soren than with one of Aldric’s princes.

Florence stepped forward, shoulders squared. “I was too fast, Soren. Do not blame her.”

Soren said to Florence, “No one’s going to steal your place. Take your time.”

“You are right.” She nudged Fiona. “Come, let’s go.”

Fiona paused long enough to offer Soren a respectful curtsy, then followed Florence to the river’s edge, where the view broadened like an unrolled scroll of stars.

There they found Naomi and Roxanne already standing, their cloaks dusted with sparks of reflected light.

Since her brother’s rebuke, Naomi could not meet Fiona’s eyes without a blush of awkwardness. Fiona, however, greeted her with the gentlest smile, making clear she harbored no ill will.

Naomi managed a greeting, voice tight. “Fiona.”

After that single word, the conversation dissolved. One by one, they surrendered to the sky’s performance, silence deep as reverence,

Callum, meanwhile, saw none of the pyrotechnic glory. His world had narrowed to Fiona’s silhouette, the pale folds of her gown, and the snow–white calm she carried, beauty he had never noticed beneath what he once deemed needless finery.

He felt a sudden, almost reckless tenderness bloom inside his chest. If a woman like that ever became my wife, I’d hand over every coin of my salary just so she could buy any dress she likes. What does a man truly need?

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Chapter 49 Flickers Of Desire

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Without meaning to, Fiona glanced over her shoulder. Across the lantern–lit courtyard, she caught Cornelius watching Roxanne, his gaze so gentle, so liquid with affection, that for a heartbeat even the winter air seemed to warm.

So the Fourth Prince has cherished Roxanne for this long. In my last life he married her, and they lived like perfectly tuned strings—no wonder the palace buzzed about their devotion. If Soren means to claim her in this life, Cornelius will not make it

easy.

Soren cut her a glance–cool, distant, like the flash of a drawn blade–then turned away without a word. Beside him, Callum met her eyes for the briefest heartbeat, then jerked his head down as though the very act of looking had scorched him.

The truth was simple: Callum’s sudden retreat sprang from sheer shyness–though no one in Jexburgh would ever pair that word with a man built like a siege engine.

To Fiona, Callum had always embodied the ideal husband. In the previous life, he never strayed, cherished his wife openly, and carried integrity and duty in his very bones.

Soren, on the other hand, was harder to judge. His loyalty to Duflana was absolute, yet in matters of the heart, he could be as unpredictable as summer lightning.

Watching Callum, Fiona’s mind drifted to the pages fate had already written. After the New Year, both brothers would ride north to Broadmoor, and there an ambush would leave Callum. grievously hurt, the tip of his little finger forever lost.

She had once planned to trade that knowledge for a favor from Soren, but standing here she realized the bargain suddenly felt clumsy, even unworthy.

Better, she decided, to warn Callum himself. He was straightforward, free of Soren’s labyrinth of calculations, and his gratitude would be priceless coin in some future crisis.