I shouldn't have married the Crown Prince

Chapter 28

The next event in the story was Cadmael's birthday. Up until now we didn't ever celebrate his birthday. I was avoiding Cadmael as much as I could but still felt bad not getting him anything. Therefore every year I secretly baked him a cake and left it in front of his door so that he would feel loved. This year I would finally have the occasion to celebrate his birthday publicly!

In the original novel, Cadmael never celebrated his birthday. In fact no one cared about him in the dukedom and the first year of high school he would finally get the chance to change this. Diana would hear about his upcoming birthday and get him the perfect present: a sword. Not any sword but an antiquity that she stumbled upon by chance and got for an amazing prize. It was a very powerful magic sword that would become Cadmael's favorite as well as his first present ever.

I didn't know if Diana already liked Cadmael but knew he would be waiting for a present from her. Therefore I organized a little birthday surprise party and invited Diana, Gilbert, Alphonse, our classmates and Cameals' sparring club mates to the event. I knew where the sword would be and immediately went to buy it before giving it to Diana:

"You could give this to Cadmael for his birthday.

-Oh, thank you. I didn't know what to get him. But do you have another present to give him?

-Yes don't worry. This is yours.

-Then tell me how much I own you.

-It's really nothing. You could buy me dinner someday.

-Perfect!"

Everything was going perfectly and I couldn't hide my good mood. While walking home Cadmael glanced at me with a smirk:

"What happened?"

I really tried to act as if nothing.

"I'm just in a good mood. There is a lot of sun today.

-Do you want to eat outside?

-Like a picnic? Great idea! Should we pack sandwiches?"

I rushed to the kitchen and looked around for ingredients. Cadmael watched me from the door with a curious smirk.

"I never saw a young master make sandwiches."

I smiled still in a great mood:

"That's your loss. I make the best sandwiches in the entire country.

-Then I can't miss it."

He finally came to my side and we packed a few sandwiches. Once outside we looked for a comfortable tree and sat under it before unpacking our dinner. Cadmael took a bite out of his sandwich and made a satisfied sound:

"This is indeed the best sandwich I've ever had.

-See? I told you I was the best.

-That I'm sure of."

I really enjoyed the peace and quiet and closed my eyes to feel the breeze on my face. Cadmael didn't say anything and devored his sandwich quickly. This made me laugh:

"What's gotten into you? Haven't you eaten in days?

-It's because it's so delicious.

-Stop you'll make me blush.

-That would be worth it."

After the sandwiches, Cadmael took out lemon candies from his pocket which made this day perfect.

"They're my favorite candy.

-I always have them on me.

-Then I'll always stay close to you."

I was about to take a candy but Cadmael suddenly closed his hand which made me look up at him. He had a weird smile:

"Is this a promise?"

Being still in a superbe mood I didn't think about it and nodded:

"Of course."

After eating we stayed outside to read until sundown. Then we packed our things and went back to sleep. I thought it was a pity to let this day end so soon and went to the balcony to have some fresh air. While sitting outside I looked at the sky and almost fell backwards. I had never seen such a gorgeous sky before. There were thousands of stars and no clouds out. I usually went to sleep early and rarely looked at the sky but seeing it shine so bright I ran out of my bedroom and down the stairs.

My room as well as the rooms of all my family members were on the first floor whereas everyone else's room was located on the ground floor. While running down I remembered people were probably sleeping and immediately slowed down. However the carpet didn't like my sudden stop and slipped under my feet propelling me forward.

I closed my eyes ready for the crash but it never happened. When I opened my eyes I was in the arms of a huge and soft wall. Cadmael was surrounding my waist and shoulders with his arms, his eyes a little round:

"What's wrong?"

I laughed, embarrassed and quickly backed away from him.

"Sorry. I got overly excited for a second.

-You shouldn't run like that. What if you got hurt?

-But you caught me. Speaking of which, what are you doing up?"

Cadmael rubbed his neck a little embarrassed:

"I heard you sprint out of your room and got worried something happened.

-You heard me? How?"

Cadmael didn't answer and I didn't really pry. He was the male lead after all and he had amazing powers. My small mana couldn't compare.

"Where were you off to?

-I wanted to look at the stars.

-Now?

-Yes. There are no clouds and the sky is gorgeous."

Cadmael slowly nodded before turning towards the entrance. I smiled while following him:

"Are you going with me?

-I have to keep an eye on you in case you decide to fall again.

-As if I was the one deciding when to fall."

I laughed. Seeing Cadmael being all worried about me was funny. The child was acting like an adult and wanted to protect me. I wouldn't have thought that it would feel so nice to be looked after. For tonight I could let him be the adult. Only for tonight.

We went back to the tree of our picnic and layed down a few feet away from it before looking at the stars. I opened my eyes wide and had a broad smile. There was something fascinating about stars. They were so huge and at the same time so small, so close and yet terribly far. They were the same as our Sun and this was amazing. Looking at those huge bodies we could feel like tiny ants and feel suffocated. However at the same time, this felt strangely peaceful. We weren't important at all. We were tiny bodies on tiny planets and our mistakes could feel huge to us but looking at them from above, they were nothing. Looking at those stars we didn't know what was in the Universe and we couldn't prove that there was no other signs of life far away. This helped me when I felt lonely. Our Sun wasn't alone. She had so many star friends and that was reassuring.

I was overwhelmed and couldn't hold back a sign:

"It's gorgeous.

-It really is."

I suddenly remembered Cadmael and turned to him my face illuminated:

"Right?"

However what surprised me was to see that Cadmael wasn't looking at the sky at all. He was looking at me. I was struck for a second before quickly looking away. Why was I so embarrassed by a simple gaze? It felt like Cadmael could hear all of my thoughts and I didn't know how to handle it. I had to change the subject:

"We could look at the stars with the others someday."

I felt Cadmael look at the sky and I could finally relax. I couldn't forget my main goal. If Cadmael did something so romantic with Diana, she would immediately fall head over heels for him. I needed to make this happen.

"It's really sad that stars are only visible at night. I could watch them all day. Now that I think about it, it isn't that bad. If stars were visible during the day, I wouldn't listen at all during class.

-You would. You love studying.

-Well, that's true. I find this year's program fascinating. From history to sparring and without forgetting chemistry. I don't know which one to choose for the future... Can't I do all of them?

-You can do anything you want."

I laughed:

"It's nice to see how much trust you have in me but that's not possible. Once high school is over, I'll have to decide what to do with my life. I can't be a soldier because of the blood and I can't be a sorcerer because I lack talent.

-You don't.

-I do. I'm not ashamed to admit it. It's a bit sad I guess but that's the way things are.

-I could lend you my powers. However much you need."

This made me laugh even more. Cadmael definitely had the same way of thinking as a child. Sometimes I was jealous of his carefree personality.

"I can't use your powers.

-Why not? I have plenty."

Just as he spoke, Cadmael got closer to me and grabbed my hand. I immediately felt something hard and hot flow through my veins and my cheeks immediately flushed. Cadmael let go of my hand panicked:

"Are you okay? Was it too much?"

I couldn't answer immediately, my vision getting blurry. How could he have so much power? In a second he overwhelmed my body completely. Cadmael got even more worried because of my silence and sat up before helping me up too. One hand around my waist he hugged me and started sucking some power back. He stopped immediately when I lost my colors and looked at my face intently:

"Is it better?"

I laughed weakly:

"I don't think I'll ever ask for powers from you again."

I didn't have the energy to move and stayed in Cadmael's embrace for a few more minutes. However I quickly got up doing my best not to collapse. Cadmael seemed reluctant to let me go and had his hands ready in case I did in fact collapse. However I wouldn't let that happen and smiled affirming that I was fine.

Cadmael escorted me to my room and I was ready to close my door when he grabbed my wrist:

"Let me help you get to bed.

-I really am fine."

Cadmael started crying. It was so sudden that I almost really fainted. How could his tears fall so quickly? Did he accumulate them for hours?

"What's wrong?

-I hurt you and now you are not fine but you don't want to make me worry..."

I never saw him crying so desperately.

"I am so sorry for hurting you. I'll never do it again, I promise. If you don't want me to, I'll never touch you again but please let me help you. I am so scared that you'll faint and I won't know."

I quickly grabbed his face to make him stop:

"Everything is fine. I really am fine. You didn't do anything wrong. It's not your fault that you have too much power."

I couldn't say anything to calm him down and signed before letting him in. Cadmael in fact didn't touch me. He just kept his arms near me in case I slipped and watched me get into bed before standing guard next to me his eyes not leaving my face:

"Are you going to stay like this all night?

-Who knows when you'll feel sick?

-I won't. I promise. You can go back to your room now."

His tears started flowing again and I panicked:

"Fine, you can stay! But don't keep standing there, sleep on the bed too."

Cadmael didn't seem comfortable with this idea.

"It's okay. You don't have to be so scared."

I grabbed his hand suddenly. He wanted to back away but I didn't let him go.

"See? You aren't hurting me. Everything is fine. You can touch me."

Cadmael didn't seem convinced but I didn't let go of him and pulled him towards the bed. He lost his balance and fell next to me.

"Now go to sleep."

And I immediately fell asleep as well.