┏━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┓
Research
┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛
Chapter 21: Research (Grace's POV)
The next day, sometime after noon, we packed up, grabbed our bags, and left. I said bye to Atlas and my dad but Judith wasn't downstairs and she was the least important to me, I say that bluntly, so I left anyway, without bidding her goodbye. He said the drive was about an hour-long since his house was on the outskirts of Astella, which means it's close to the grand lake entrance, and it's close to all the beautiful spots of Astella.
"Did you buy the house?" I questioned, putting my feet up on the dashboard.
He hates it when I do that, he just doesn't say anything. "No. It was left to me by my grandfather."
I frowned in confusion, "What about your parents?"
"That's private, Princess."
"I thought we decided on our last trip together that you'd be letting your guard down with me," I whined.
"We decided that's what you want. But why is it that you want me to open up to you? I'm nothing but your guard."
"Well, we both know that's a lie," I mumbled, glancing outside, through the window. "You can tell me about the house at least, I'll be staying there for a short while."
"No thanks, Princess."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Well then, it's a good thing I did my research, isn't it?"
"Research," he mumbled. "You did a background check on me?"
"Only what was in your file that you sent to the palace before you got this job."
"You went through my file?" He chuckled dryly.
"No, I didn't. Atlas did."
He sent me a look.
"He was curious too. We were just talking and he realized he doesn't know anything about you either, so he read your file and told me what was important."
"Which was?"
I paused. "Everything about you is important."
He glanced at me. "When did you do this?"
"A few days ago. It was in the middle of the night, you were already dismissed so I didn't technically sneak around while you were on duty."
He took in a breath. "What did you find?"
"Enough. Your name, age, date of birth. All the places you've worked at before, your biggest mistake, your biggest accomplishment. Your house address was left blank though."
"I don't stay at my own house most of the time. I'm usually moving around for work, so I just rent out a loft. And for this job, I'm staying at the premises."
I nodded in understanding. "I also found out that you are quite rich, Mr. Stone. You're the highest-paid personal bodyguard in any kingdom we're familiar with. And um... your emergency contact, in case something happens to you, is your grandma. It didn't mention anything about your parents and I didn't want to assume anything. That's why I asked," I mumbled, my voice getting softer as I spoke.
"It's a long story."
"We have time," I replied.
He glanced at me again before nodding slowly. "Fine."
I listened intently, delighted at the thought of knowing more about Ronan Stone. The mystery is slowly getting closer to being solved. "I want to know everything," I said quickly.
He chuckled softly, glancing in the rearview mirror before beginning. "A long time ago..."
I laughed softly while he cracked a smile.
"A long time ago, when my father first brought my mother home and said he wanted to marry her, my grandfather refused. You know, at the time the only way to get married was arranged marriage. Royalty still believes that, right? And royals marry royals, you need noble blood. And for citizens, it was considered best to marry someone with the same social and financial status as you. My mother wasn't rich, not as rich as my father's family, and my grandfather didn't like that. So he refused to accept them. And my father refused to give up on my mother."
I stared at him while he kept looking at the road and driving as he told the story. "My grandfather then kicked them out one day when my father showed up married to my mom."
I frowned.
"But I guess even then my grandfather cared about his son, so he gave him all the heritage that was rightfully his, told him to leave and make his own family, and never come back. He wanted to end whatever father-son relationship they had. They considered each other dead. So my parents started moving around, getting jobs. They had me at some point and we were still moving around while they worked. They saved every single penny. From what my grandfather gave them to whatever they were earning. At one point, we reached a kingdom."
I wanted to ask which kingdom but I had a feeling he didn't want to tell me.
"Where both my parents worked at the palace. I was near ten, maybe eleven years old. And my father was the king's advisor and my mother was the nanny for their son. He was a little older than me, maybe? He needed a parent figure and his parents didn't want to do their job as parents. After about six months working there, my parents were suddenly fired without explanation."
"How come?"
"I found out what happened much later when I was a full-grown adult at twenty. Another member of staff at the palace had stolen a large sum of jewelry and cash from the king and queen. Somehow, the blame was put on my parents, because they had the easiest access to the queen's dressing room and the king's study. So they were fired. A few days later, we were planning to move, the house at the time was being packed up. And when I got home from a day out with a friend..." His grip tightened on the wheel to the point where his knuckles lost blood and turned white. His jaw was taught and anger radiated off of him.
I wanted to tell him it was okay if he didn't want to tell me but at the same time, I really wanted to know. "You don't have to—" I didn't get a chance to finish, he told me anyway.
"My house was on fire with my parents inside."
I let out a small gasp, staring at him in a mix of shock and horror.
"People around really tried to put it out but it didn't work. They died there." He let out a heavy sigh. "And with the help of my father's friend, I was brought back to Astella, to my grandparents who raised me for the rest of my life. A few years ago, my grandfather died as well from a heart attack."
"Ronan..."
"And now my grandfather's house and money is mine, and everything that my parents earned is also mine. That's where I get all the money from. I have enough to be set for the rest of my life. But I need to work, Grace. I need to do something, anything to move on from what happened. Something to steer me away from that craving, that thought, that desire to just murder the people who did that to my parents."
"You know who did it." It wasn't a question.
The look on his face and the sound of his voice gave it away. He knew exactly who killed his family and he was barely holding back from taking revenge. "Yeah, I do. And if I do something now, I'd only be ruining my life. I spent so long accepting my fate, my reality, I can't go back now. My house is where I lived growing up with my grandparents, but when I got older and started working, they left it to me. They moved into my great-grandmother's home and stayed there. My grandmother lives there now. Alone. She brings her friends sometimes, she has a little cat, she brings it everywhere," he laughed softly.
"She visits me now. The houses are near each other. Sometimes I visit her. And when I'm working, she makes sure that my cleaner comes and cleans every day. Sometimes, she gets lonely so she stays in my house. I really wish I could see her more often but... My job is just too demanding." He looked over at me. "That's the story. It's pretty much the entire chapter."
I stared back at him. "I still have the rest of the book to read," I mumbled softly.
"Judging from the first chapter, do you like it, Princess?"
"It sounds like a tragedy," I said sadly.
"It is."
"Tragedies are still art," I replied.
"You have a very bad habit of seeing the good in every situation."
"Not really," I argued. "But when it comes to you, yes. You carry your dark past with you and it shows, Ronan. You should let it out once in a while."
"I can't open up and pour my heart out, Princess. Because I've been silent all my life."
"Do you plan to continue that? To walk with stories burning inside of you, waiting to be told?"
"It's not so poetic. Those stories aren't stories of adventure or love."
"Then write new ones. Ones that are of adventure and love. And use the darkness to make it somewhat twisted."
"Twisted?"
"Hmm," I nodded. "Everybody likes twisted. There's darkness in everybody, we can't run from it. Most of us secretly crave it, we want it near, we want someone with that darkness in them."
"You have enough darkness in you, Grace. You don't need mine too."
"I might not need it. That doesn't mean I don't want it, Ronan." I'd take every piece of him that he's willing to offer me. Because I think I like Mr. Ronan Stone. Way more than I should and way more than what is allowed. I can already see it. Another tragedy to add to our lists of the already tragic events of our lives. We'll be torn apart, no matter how hard we try.
.
.
.
.
.
Chapter 21
first kiss coming soon??? Maybe???
next chapter: defeat