I stomped back to our bedroom—I liked the sound of that. I need to see her face in order to wipe that bastard's face away.
Entering the room, I spot her on the bed, ready for sleep. In her delicate hands lay a book.
"Kyrell? You're back." She sets the book down next to her as she gives me her full attention.
She looked dazzling. Her fair skin balanced out her appearance. Those light purple eyes that I wanted to only look at me.
They were all right. I am in love with her.
"Why aren't you asleep?" I make my way to her.
"I was waiting for you." She then points towards the bathing room door. "The maids have already prepared a bath for you so you can wash up before sleep."
I give her a nod before walking into the other room.
Walking out thirty minutes later, I was clean. I rubbed a small towel to dry my wet hair. A white bathrobe wrapped around me, revealing a bit of my chest. Maybe not a bit, it was a little more. The v-shape exposed my muscular chest quite well.
I found her once again, reading her book.
"You should go to bed, it's late." I say, sitting next to her on my side of the bed.
"The book is too interesting to put down," she replies. "But I'll put it down for you." She places her bookmark inside the crease of the book and then moves it to her nightstand.
"How did everything go? Did you have a meeting?" She asks, folding her hands in her lap.
"No, it was too late so I sent everyone to their rooms."
"I see." She looks down at her hands, nervousness more likely.
"Caelus was the one who saved you from your brother, no?" I ask the question she dreaded.
"Yes, he is but that wasn't the first time I met him." She mumbles. "I met him the night of the Spring's ball. I had no way of coming back to the palace without anyone seeing me battered and bruised. He offered me a ride, but I didn't know who he was. From there he asked me for my name and so I just gave him a nickname to avoid suspicion. It seems her was far more intelligent than I thought."
"You got in a stranger's carriage?" My eyebrows crease.
"I didn't have a choice back then." She musters to defend herself.
"You could have come to me."
"I didn't trust you back then."
I turn away from her, something is still bothering me.
"He calls you by a nickname. I'm taking it." I say confidently, leaving her no room to refute. "Since I am your husband, only I can call you Esty."
Her eyes were wide, plump pink lips slightly parted.
"You can call me Ky, and I better not hear you calling anyone else by a nickname, especially another man." I felt proud at that moment.
"Good night, Esty," I say.
Only then does Estella finally speak. "Good night, Ky."
I could have sworn I saw tears in her eyes in the limited light. Whatever I do, I need to make her mine. To love me.
*****
Estella
When I woke up, my eyes were a little puffy.
'Since I am your husband, only I can call you Esty.'
His words stuck like glue.
My eyes couldn't help, but water at his words. It sounded as if he truly cared for me. That he didn't look at anyone but me.
I'm a fool for getting close to him. I want to be selfish and make him mine but I would only fall into the real Estella's trap.
Why is it so hard to live a normal life?
I think I need to avoid him. Maybe if I do that it will stop this madness. Distracting myself from him will help me.
So to cheer myself up, I'm spending my day with Dilana. If I'm able to make her fall in love with Kyrell, my feelings will surely go away.
Because of the arrival of Caelus, the nobles are staying at the palace. This means that Dilana and Evianna were dragged along with the Count.
In order to assure security, the nobles cannot exit the palace for the week. This is so confidentiality remains.
Some nobles decide to bring their families with them on occasions like this.
Only after the ball are they allowed to go home, since the meetings will already be concluded by then.
"How has your knitted blouse been?" I ask, sipping my tea as I watch Evianna and Alastair play in the blooming flower field.
"I'm almost finished with it. Though I don't think it is the best project I've done." She displays a sorrowful expression, poking at her coffee cake.
"All you need is practice. Truth be told, even I don't compare to the more experienced elder noblewomen. Their skill intimidates me."
"Me too!" She gushes. "Sometimes they try to show off their pieces just to tell you that you don't have the skill. It's absurd."
"Dilana! Your Majesty!" Evianna's sweet voice came rushing to my ears. "Look what we found."
She showcased a small red ladybug on a white daisy flower.
"Oh my, Evianna. It's adorable." I pat her head on her achievement.
She is three years younger than Alastair, so the little girl still has so much to do.
She is so cute, I just want to grab her into a tight hug.
"Do you want some dessert? Try this strawberry cake." I push the plate towards her, lifting the fork to her mouth.
She happily takes a bite, beaming at the taste.
Taking the fork from my hand, she continues to eat her cake.
"Your Highness, did you find anything interesting?" Dilana asks Alastair, who turns his gaze from me to her.
"No, just some pretty flowers." He mumbles, shifting under her gaze.
Is something wrong? Why is he mumbling?
He's always so bright around Dilana and Evianna.
"Estella, do you know when the meeting will be over today?" Dilana turns my attention away.
"I'm not sure. Most likely soon since it's the afternoon."
Kyrell has been in the meeting since the morning. While I would join them, Kyrell advised against it since my father would be there.
He would try to make a fool of me in some way.
"Since it may be almost over, how about we bring my father and the King some snacks? They probably haven't had enough time to eat." She suggested.
I hesitated when answering her. I didn't want to see Kyrell, especially since last night. I need to stay away from him so I don't fall further for him.
No, I have to go. This might be a chance for Kyrell to fall in love with Dilana.
"That's a great idea. I'll tell the maids to prepare us something."
*****
Kyrell
I wanted nothing more than to leave this room. I wanted to see her, not a bunch of old men.
"Magic stones are necessary for every country. No one country can hold all of them." An Osertian noble says.
We were gathered around a large table. Five nobles from each side as well as Caelus and I, making twelve people in total.
I sat across Caelus with the Istyrian nobles to my right and the other Osertian nobles to my left.
Duke Mellon was closest to me, then came Marquis Claudonia, and Count Laurier.
Marquis Everton and Count Monor were closest to Caelus.
Count Monor is one of the nobles aligned with Marquis Claudonia, since they are in the same faction. They control the other nobles in their faction.
Caelus' eyes darted around the conversation, undoubtedly observing who to be wary of. He acted dull throughout, keeping his act up as a foolish puppet king.
Is this what he has been forced to live? A life without a voice?
"That is true. There are people that need the stones to go through their daily lives." Claudonia adds.
"Do you expect them to use these stones without any greed?" Duke Mellon's gruff voice echoed the room.
He was my father's closest friend and he stood by him until the end. If there is anyone I'm sure that won't betray me it's the Duke.
"You cannot control a person's greed but you can limit their actions. How do you expect them to protect themselves with no barriers? You must take in all the views." Count Monor says.
We were getting nowhere. There was constant chatter about whether the stones should be given or not. It was already afternoon and there was no sign of a conclusion.
I just wanted to see her face again. I can't think of anything else. Like she is haunting me even when she is away.
I can't keep doing this.
"That's enough for today. We'll discuss this further, tomorrow." I end the meeting.
"But it's far too early." Count Monor complains.
"I said that this meeting is adjourned."
They quickly trickled out of the room at my order.
"You should be more cautious." Duke Mellon says as he moves towards the exit. "Not everyone will always agree, Your Majesty."
"I know. Which is why I'm hoping for a majority." I say.
He gives me one last nod before leaving.
*****
Estella
Our heels clacked on the marble tiling as we headed towards the council room.
"We should wait by the window, we wouldn't want to block the entrance." I say, leaning against the wall of windows. Below the Sun Palace's front courtyard could be seen.
"The Sun Palace is quite large. It took us about twenty minutes to even reach this room. How are you not tired?"
"I've gotten used to it. It's how I get my daily activity in." I smile.
After a few more minutes, the doors opened revealing the meeting members. I hide my face in the corner of the hall, hoping to not be noticed by my father or anyone that will cause trouble.
"Your Majesties." Dilana bows as Kyrell and Caelus come into view.
"Did you come to greet me?" Caelus had a wide smile on as he saw the two of us. He took us in, taking note of Dilana's presence next to me.
"Dilana and I came to give you some snacks. You must be tired from the meeting." I say looking at Kyrell, ignoring Caelus entirely.
Once again, Kyrell didn't spare a glance towards Dilana. "I see, thank you for coming. How about we also go enjoy some lunch together?" He places his hand on the small of my back, leading me away from the two.
"You can go ahead, Estella. I'll go find my father." Dilana leaves, with her basket in hand.
"Are you going to leave me like this?" Caelus says behind us.
"Yes. Go find someone else to eat lunch with!" Kyrell shouts as he walks away. He didn't remove his arm as we walked.
I didn't want this to happen. I was only here for Dilana and now she's gone.
Why do my plans never work?
Once I saw his face, I just couldn't help but follow him.
"How about we go on a picnic? You brought food in that basket, didn't you?" He glances at the white basket in my hands.
"There is but you don't have to eat it. A proper lunch in the dining room would be better than this." I avoid trying to eat with him.
"No, I want to eat what you brought, Esty."
I could melt right now. I bent my neck, hiding my forming blush away from him.
How do I stop this? The way he makes me feel.
Having grabbed a blanket, he lays it down underneath the shade of a tree in the palace gardens. He helps me down gently onto the blanket, setting the basket in front of us.
This feels like a date.
Is this a date?
Why me?
"Um, there isn't much food in here. Just some small sandwiches and strawberry cake." I say opening the basket.
"I told you it's alright. I'm glad that you thought of me, Esty." He sent me a light smile that shot me straight through my heart. I hand him a sandwich and then take one in my hand.
"It's delicious." He says after a bit.
I think he's changing his vocabulary. He didn't say 'it's good' this time.
I smile watching him eat, before I take a bite of my own.
He's right.
I don't know if it was the food or the mood that made my afternoon so pleasant. I didn't want it to end. He was being sweet to me and I didn't know why.
But it doesn't feel wrong. If anything I want to feel it more.
"Why don't you say it?" He stops from taking another bite.
I give him a confused look.
"Why don't you call me Ky?"
My body tenses.
"I just—don't you think it's too informal? We're still under contract so getting close to each other isn't really a priority." I hesitantly say.
He frowns at me.
"The contract was based on business, it doesn't interfere with our personal lives. So we can do whatever we wish in our personal lives, that means having nicknames for each other." He takes his hand, reaching for mine. "Not everything is about the contract."
He says everything so smoothly like there won't be any problems. But there will be.
Having Kyrell all to myself means that Dilana can't decurse him. They need to fall in love in order for her to discover parts of her gift.
"I'm sorry. I don't think I can do that." I pull away my hand from his. "I'm sorry." I repeat as I stand up.
"Esty! Estella!" He shouts as I make my way away from him.
The tears slowly trickled down as I ran.