The Destitute Queen || h.s. au

69. Niall

He's a goddamn prince. The man that Lena replaced me with is a prince. And he's getting married to someone else.

At first, I was heartbroken when I saw them together. Then, I wondered how and why she moved on so quickly. Then, I was angry.

Anger is an understatement. The man that Lena chose to move on from me with is a Royal, who is going to be married soon, and I'm fuming. Never in my life have I been so confused and upset. Just looking at that bastard makes me want to punch him in the face. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to charm my Lena into forgetting about me.

I look around the ballroom and spot Lena, who's gone pale. All my anger subsides for a quick moment, and I run to her. She leans against the wall when I reach her, not caring about how she's going to react when she sees me, and I ask her if she's okay. She looks up at me, and then her eyes flutter shut. She collapses into my arms and my heart begins to race.

Without thinking, I lift her up and carry her out of the room, sighing in relief when we exit the ballroom and are welcomed by the calming silence of the corridor.

"Niall!" I hear a voice call out my name, and I turn around. The man who comes up to me is none other than...Alec?! "Is she alright?"

"Alec?" I say, shocked. What's he doing here? "You're here, too?"

"Yes, and I didn't know you're here too, but we can address that later," he says, turning his attention to Lena. "Right now, we have to get her to the hospital wing!"

"Lead the way!" I frantically say, and he nods.

Why did she faint? Did the King's news affect her that much?

Alec leads me to the hospital wing while I struggle to carry Lena, almost dropping her at one point. Once we get there, he opens the doors and we rush inside. We're immediately greeted by a group of nurses and medics, leading us to a spare bed. I gently lay her down, rubbing my now sore arms, and step back.

"What happened?" A medic asked, approaching us.

"She fainted," Alec responds. "Is she going to be alright?"

The medic doesn't respond, he merely opens a drawer and searches for something. He takes out a small, glass container filled with salt, and I furrow my brows. He opens the container and puts it up to Lena's nose. Within seconds, she wakes up and starts coughing violently. I take a couple of steps back as her coughing subsides.

She looks around with confusion at the group of people surrounding her.

     "What's going on?" She slowly asks as I take a few more steps back. I'm suddenly hesitant about her seeing me again. The last time she saw me, she fainted.

"You lost consciousness," the medic explains.

"How're you feeling?" Alec asked her. I still can't believe he's here, as well. I spent the last three weeks worrying about him and Ben, when they've been here.

She tries to sit up but fails. "A bit lightheaded. What happened to me? Why did I faint?"

Alec shrugs as one of the nurses brings her a blanket. The rest of them have gone back to do what they were doing before. I look around the room and widen my eyes when I see Ben, laughing with a nurse as she helps him sit up. He's...he's here, too, and he's recovering? What the hell have I missed?

"What's the last thing you remember?" He asks her. I'm just glad I'm far away enough for her not to notice me.

"Um," she looks up at the ceiling with a wince. "I was scrubbing the floors...then the King got everyone's attention...then-oh, my God."