21 Don’t Touch Me!!

Luthiel staggered towards his chambers, suddenly finding himself feeling quite lightheaded.

He clutched his head in dizziness and squinted his blurry eyes.

"What's going on?" He asked himself and placed his hand on the wall to support himself.

He hurried up, but before he could make it to his chamber, he accidentally bumped into William, who quickly caught him before he could fall.

"Luthiel, are you okay?" He asked in deep concern and became even more worried when he saw the blood on his clothing.

"Are you hurt?"

He inquired, now deeply worried, and Luthiel shook his head at him.

"I am fine!" He groaned, feeling himself about blackout, and William, who knew better than to allow him to walk to his chambers alone, placed his hand on his shoulder and supported him as he led him to his chamber.

The guards standing at the door quickly pushed the door open and, carefully, William helped him towards his bed and laid him down.

"Call the maids!" He ordered the guards, and they quickly hurried off to call the maids.

William turned to look at him, and deep confusion emerged on his face.

He had never seen Luthiel in this condition, not even when he was wounded.

In fact, he had never even seen him sick, so what could be wrong?

He glanced at his bloody clothing and moved to help him take it off as it was making him sweat profusely.

But, surprising to him, Luthiel pushed him away with a dark expression on his face.

"Don't touch me!" He warned, and William, who couldn't understand why he was being so aggressive, fluttered his eyes in deep perplexity.

"Okay, I won't do so then." He took a step back from him and quickly turned around when he heard the door push open.

Six maids hurried inside and bowed to Williams, who turned to look at Luthiel.

"Take care of him."

He said to them with a half smile on his lips and turned around.

He walked out of the chamber and strolled towards his, with his hands stuffed into the pocket of his pants.

The maids quickly hurried into the washroom and proceeded to set up a warm bath for him.

Once they had done so, they helped Luthiel out of the bed and into the bathroom.

He shook his head at them and sent them out, letting them know that he didn't want any disturbance.

They nodded at him and, quietly, they made their way out of the chamber and the guards shut the doors.

Luthiel slipped out of his clothing and stepped into the warm water.

He relaxed inside of it and rested his head back with his eyes closed.

What in the world was happening to him?

He had never felt this vulnerable before.

Not even when he had experienced more awful things than imagined.

It was as if his entire body had lost its energy and he was just so powerless.

He let out a deep breath and soaked deep into the water with his eyes shut.

___________

"Mother, you can't be serious!" Daphne, William's twin sister, cried out, completely angry to the core.

"Calm down, Daphne. You are their princess, what do you expect?" The empress smiled apologetically at her, and Daphne turned to look at her mother.

"Their princess? Mother, can you even hear yourself? You and father are selling me off to the Deringthon empire all because of your stupid alliance with them!!"

"What about all the times you kept telling me that you would allow me to marry the true love of my life?"

"I am not the heir to the throne, William is! For the love of God, you and father should be focused on him, not me!"

She scowled, and her mother pinched between her brows in stress.

"Daphne, I know I made that promise to you, but... things have changed."

"Your father needs that alliance, and you know the kind of person he is. He will never back down from something he wants, so instead of sulking about this, prepare and have a smile on your face."

"Your suitors will come tomorrow, so I shall take my leave now." She explained and turned around to leave.

"Mother, do you have any idea that I already love someone else?"

The empress instantly halted on hearing that sentence and slowly turned around to look at Daphne.

"What... do you mean by that? Who is he?" She questioned, and Daphne gazed at her with bubbles of tears bubbling in her eyes.

"You want to know? Well... he is General Luthiel-"

"What!!!? Daphne!" Instantly triggered, the empress yelled at her, but ready to stand her ground, Daphne balled her hands into a tighfistsst.

"You never noticed, you see. You never noticed how I looked at him! How happy I am when he spares me even a glance. I love being around him and this is true love, mother! "

"I want to marry someone I love, not some crooked head crown prince who only knows how to party, drink, and sleep around with women!"

She yelled, and in sudden anger, her mother slapped her hard across the face.

"You will keep quiet this instant! It is not my fault that you were born a woman. You, of all people, should know that we women are just tools for men. We have no voice and all we are trained to do is to smile and accept our fate."

"Did you think that I wanted to marry your father? Did you think that I didn't have someone that I loved? But what could I do? I couldn't fight for what I wanted and had to sit and watch myself sold to your father."

"Do you know how much it hurts me every day to live in the reality that the man I married does not even care for me one bit?"

"I sit and watch him do all kinds of things before my eyes, but what can I do? Nothing! I would be dead if I ever uttered an unruly word before the emperor, so if you know what's best for you, Daphne, just accept your fate and learn to live with it."

She turned around once she was done with her words and stormed out of the room.