Romance With The King

Chapter 8

The king and queen took their leave first. Cahsey was taken aaway by the woman hired by her parents. And that leaves both Creed and I alone at the hallway, right outside the dining room's door.

Creed was about to leave, but I took his hand, stopping him in his tracks.

"Princess Louisiana?"

"Can... can I talk to you about something?"

Creed's eyes were monotonous as he stared at me for a bit. "Make it brief. I still have to review another set of papers from the court."

I inhaled and exhaled, preparing myself with what I was about to say. 

"Say it."

"I-" I gulped on my own saliva, hesitating to the highest extent, whether to tell him how guilty I felt with what we were doing, and what we will continue to do in the future. "I don't think... I can do it," there, I said it.

He narrowed his eyes at me, tilting his head, as if he wasn't sure if he heard me right.

"The acts and lie that we will be doing... I can't do it."

In the next second, the monotonous eyes of Prince Oliveros Creed were monotonous no more. Instead, it held a tinge of... anger.

"What do you mean you can't do it?"

"I mean, look at us," I shrug lousily, letting out a dead huff. "We're lying to people."

"Everyone lies," he snapped.

"But Your Highness..."

"Listen to me, princess," he took steps closer to me. "You've already got yourself involved with me. There's no way out for you, and there will be no way for me to let you out of this either."

"I... what do you even get out of this?" I questioned, my chest feels tighter with every passing second. I had a bad feeling with how this things will end up for this night. "Does it really make you happy to lie to everyone like this?"

"And what if I'm gonna tell you that yes, I am happy, I am happy because I get to have things my way, out of lying," he said with sarcasm, his voice getting more and more frustrated the longer our conversation goes.

"Then it's not the kind of happiness that will give you serenity," I breathed out.  "No one will ever know the real happiness when they hurt and lie to people on the process of grasping the satisfaction they wish to have."

"Why do you even care?"

"I care because I care about you and... everyone else..." I muttered, but still enough for him to hear.

"Then I'll have to tell you that you don't have to."

I felt my body froze with his choice of words. The words he chose to let go somehow made my heart hurt, ache, as if those words were wrapped with the sharpest of blades.

"I don't want to lie to people, Your Highness... Especially when I lie about something so important," I admitted, getting a bit teary-eyed. There was hopelessness somewhere inside me, as if it wanted to tell me that arguing wouldn't help because it would not even change a thing. "You're asking me to play a major role - a queen! And we're lying to a lot of people... people even close to us."

"The moment you said yes, all the exit doors no longer exists for you. I believe that you just have to endure it."

"You're making it sound like we had agreed to this mutually. You... You left me with no choice!"

"Because you don't deserve any other option in the first place!" 

"W-what?"

"I mean, look at you. You should even consider yourself lucky that I chose you out of all people," he said, and I couldn't feel more horrible as how much I've felt now.

"Lucky?" I let out a bitter laugh. "What's lucky about living their life a lie?" I shot him the question, and even for the slightest bit, he was not affected with the power that those words hold. "Is that lucky? For heaven's sake, you're supposed to be a wise man, Your Highness."

"I don't have time to deal with this, Louisiana. I'm not going to attend to your concerns regarding this any longer."

Prince Oliveros Creed turn his back at me, leaving me no chance to talk back.

"You know what?" My mouth seemed to grow a mind of its own as I seem incapable of shutting it to silence. I guess he heard it loud and clear, seeing that he stopped on his tracks, just standing there with his back facing me, as if he was looking forward with what I was about to say. "If only you can accept changes, if only you were brave enough to face the world without the people and the things that used to be part of you, then maybe you didn't have to search for a lady to play as your wife and make your former lover jealous."

I said it.

Holy cow, I said it! What was I thinking?!

I could see how Creed turned to me once again, walking towards me in large, hasty steps with his long legs. Even from afar, I can see how his eyes looked so vividly exasperated, and with every shortening distance between us, it felt like my life span was shortened too.

"N-no! I'm sorry! I didn't m-mean it- AHHH!"

The sound of the loud thud of the way Creed's hands slammed the closed doors reminded me of the thunder. It was so loud, and it just happened in a heartbeat that I couldn't help but let a scream escape my mouth.

Caged. 

Like a caged animal that had no way of escaping, I was trapped between the hard, stern doors at my back, and with the tall built of the crown prince in front of me. He pinned me to the door, both of his hands at the either side of me.

I could feel my vision getting blurry, as tears were pooled in my eyes. My heart was beating so fast out of fear, and it felt tight and heavy and uncomfortable. It was hard for me to breathe.

He's scary. Prince Oliveros Creed is scary. 

"I r-really didn't mean it. I'm s-s-sorry," every apology were stuttered out of nervousness, and also because of my sobs. "I-I'm sorry... please-"

The time seemed to slow down, as if the planet's rotation had stopped. 

Badump. 

Badump.

Badump.

It is true that my vision as of the very moment is blurry, but there's no doubt that Creed was up to doing something. One of his hands made it's way to my chin, making me meet his eyes... his ocean blue eyes that seemed unfathomable, his eyes that reminded me of the deep oceans that buried a lot of secrets from the storms.

Badump. 

Badump.

Badump.

I can see every motion his face was making, or how his face gets closer to mine with every passing milliseconds. He was extremely intruding my personal space, and it appears to me that he has no plans of stopping. And for some reason, I felt like I was cast under a spell. It seems like I was paralyzed, incapable of moving, and all I could do was watch the distance being rid of. I knew that my vision didn't imagine him getting close to me, as I could sense the fragrance of the alcoholic grape wine aroma that he was sipping on back at dinner. 

Badump. 

Badump.

Badump.

A couple of soft, plump texture was pressed against my lips, sending me to a realm that was impossible to escape from. My mind was hazy, as if there were no more spaces in my brain to take in and understand the current situation. I was clouded with things I can't even understand, things I can't specify, things beyond my power to comprehend. And my heart felt emotions I didn't know existed. In the very moment, both my heart and my mind lost it's ability to function, as I found it hard to process things- the atmosphere, the place we were standing on, my thoughts, my feelings, the heart beats, everything. 

All I know was how beautiful the night sky looked like, as the stars phosphoresced and scintillated, given that Creed's face were slightly tilted, but enough to make me see what was behind him and beyond the open halls. The wind was comfortingly cold, and it felt like I was electrified, as shivers came running down my spine.

The night is probably the strangest night that has ever come to me, and I might not believe that this night is real the moment it's over.