Page 118 of The Frog Prince

Otto pressed a swift kiss to his mouth. “I do not feel cheated. If human eyes weren’t so blind to real beauty there wouldn’t have been a curse at all.”

Alwin risked a glance up. “You were the only one to accept.”

“In eight years?”

Alwin nodded. “Some I did not ask, but those I did refused. Until you.”

“My heart aches for your suffering,” Otto said. “But I am selfishly glad that it was me.”

Alwin smiled despite the echoing pain of despair and loneliness. “Fate made it so. I fell in love with you long ago, after all.”

Otto frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I met sunshine in a person in a foreign country when I was young,” Alwin said. “He’d come to balls and gatherings occasionally with his family, would run wild through the gardens and chase a golden ball around.”

Otto gasped and pushed up on his elbow to stare at Alwin.

“You were there?” Otto asked. “That was you?”

“One of the not so highly esteemed children,” he teased.

Otto flushed. “How was I to know when you refused to give me a name! And if anyone there wasn’t esteemed it was me. How do you even remember me?”

“Nothing about you is forgettable, Otto,” Alwin said, lifting a hand to cup his cheek. “You used to be a beacon of light during those dull days. I loved your spirit and your passion and your mischief. I thought it was just a childhood crush, but you were never out of my mind. You visited often in my dreams.”

“I didn’t—”

“No, I know you didn’t reciprocate,” Alwin interjected but Otto shook his head and kissed his forehead.

“I didn’t know it was a possibility. I might not have known you were a prince, but I knew who I was. A lowly nobleman’s son. We were not on the same level. We never would have been allowed…”

Alwin watched a shadow pass over Otto’s face.

“My love?”

Otto looked up. “You’re still a prince. And I am no longer even a lowly nobleman. I am a village healer with nothing to my name. We can’t…”

“You have all of my love to your name, Otto. I have learned how not to be a prince, and I will gladly do it again if it means keeping you.”

“You can’t give up on your kingdom,” Otto whispered.

“They have been surviving without me all these years. I will not give up willingly, but you are my priority.”

“Alwin…”

“You are my future,” he said firmly, and Otto cuddled back into his side, tracing shapes into Alwin’s skin with the tips of his fingers. “Besides, there really is no telling whether I will be accepted back.”

“Of course you will. Your kingdom wept for you. They will be overjoyed to have you back. Your family more than anyone.”

Alwin held up his hand, green and four-fingered and decidedly inhuman. “I am not as I was. As much as I love them, the minds of people are hard to change.”

Otto covered his hand with his own gently, curling his fingers into Alwin’s palm. Pink smothering green. “Then we conceal it for now. Until you feel prepared to reveal it.”

Alwin looked between his eyes. “How?”

“Gloves. High-necked shirts—you already love those. Boots. We can get them tailor made.”

“My face…”