alone in the night (2)

She had thought that she would be okay when the morning came but now that someone was asking her about it, shattered her resolve into a million pieces. She needed to confine in someone but she was not sure if she could ever trust again.

"The effective way to ease your pain is when you talk to someone." Richard adviced her and after a moment of silence, she finally spoke up. "He was with my maid." Her words were vague but Richard understood well what she meant by that.

"I thought that he was a good man. And Mandy...," She blinked back the tears that were about to come out. "I treated her like a sister." Saying that, she walked past him and went to stand in front of the window that was yet to be closed. Her hair that was not tied came to hover on her face due to the small breeze and in effort to tame it, she tucked the unruly strands behind her ear and Richard who was watching her picked the little action.

Richard did not utter a word as he waited for her to vent out her frustrations and it brought him satisfaction to know that she was unknowingly opening up. "I never wanted this marriage but other than being a princess, I am a woman and decisions have to be made for me. My hands are tied." Her last words came as a whisper of desperation to which her predicament was similar to that one of a butterfly that had been enclosed in a jar that tried to flatter it's wings and free but it's freedom would only be given by someone with the power to open that jar.

"So many women would kill to have what you have. You are engaged to the crown prince." Richard who had gone to stand behind her said. Her beauty was not the only thing that attracted him but also how pure she was. It felt as if this world didn't deserve her. Back at the gala, men kept on looking her way and he had the urge to gauge their eyes off. She was a true definition of perfection and maybe that's why she attracted attention anywhere she went.

He would make sure that those people who hurt her would pay dearly.

"I never wanted any of this. I wanted to get married to someone I love and not some arranged marriage. Now the man who is supposedly my future husband is out there with my own maid." She did not bother to wipe her tears and instead, she let them fall freely forming streams on her cheeks.

She turned around when she felt that he was too close to her and immediately she did, he pulled her into an embrace. After several attempts to free herself, she finally gave in. He could not bear to watch her in despair and all he wanted was to assure her that everything would be alright.

His embrace had begun to calm her down as her sobs had decreased one of his hands was on her lower back while the other one was gently stroking her hair. Staying like that for a while, she finally withdrew from the hug. "I..._ I.." She was trying to find the right words to address what had happened in her moment of weakness but he interrupted her.

"Feeling much better?" He asked to which she responded with a shy nod. Her own father had never embraced her and the thought she was in this man's arms caused blood to rush on her face. "You are not going to marry him." It was a promise to her and also to himself and he would be sure to keep it.

"What?!"

"I can make your wish come true." He assured her. "You are a good person lily. You deserve the best." His eyes were now looking at the bracelet that was on her hand which he had gifted her and seeing her wearing it warmed his heart.

It had been years since he cared that much for someone and all these feelings were new to him and the more time he spent with her, the more he fell in love with her. It would take time for her to reciprocate his feelings but he would wait because she was worth waiting.

"I don't think that that is possible. He is the king's son." She was a hopeless case and she was trying hard to adjust to that. She did not want to have hopes that would eventually be destroyed by the reality she was facing.

"Only time can tell who has power and who doesn't. He will not marry you." He repeated his words.

"You should sleep. You will be fine by morning." He advised her and hesitantly, she walked towards the bed and slipped into the blankets. Richard did not leave her room until she fell asleep.

With some guards patrolling the palace grounds, he apparated back into the attic. As he continued to rummage through the things in there, his feet stepped on some part of the floor that piqued his interest. Sitting on his heels, he knocked the wooden floor with his knuckles. With little to no effort, he opened the place that seemed to be hidden from everyone's eyes and a small wooden box came into view.

Carefully picking the old wooden box, he teleported from there.