Nicole could feel Jasper growing distant, like a shadow that once clung to her but now slipped through her fingers. The warmth he used to show the touches, the lingering kisses, the tender looks had grown faint, replaced by long absences and cold drafts through the manor halls.
He often came home late, his boots leaving faint trails of snow on the marble floors, his cloak damp from the wind. When she asked where he had been, his answers were short. Meetings, he'd say. Council duties. Letters from the borderlands.
She tried to understand. He was a ruler, after all. The Snow Kingdom required his strength, his discipline, his endless vigilance. But lately, even his smile seemed like something practiced rather than felt.
