-unedited-
Chapter 29:
The sun eventually began to set as the moon began to rise, I tried my best to stop myself from worrying.
It was okay. He was with me.
We stayed there, in his room, talking. He on his bed, me sitting by his desk side right by him, close to him.
He kindly told the other maids to leave whenever they came, never letting them in so they wouldn't see me.
I really did wonder now, what would happen, if they knew I was with him. Would I get in trouble? Be sent off?
What are his parents like?
I watched him as he slowly shut the door and turn to walk towards me, my eyes met his.
"What is it?" I must have looked at him a certain way.
"Nothing," I reassured calmly, looking away as I said it.
"You can tell me," he sat back down and I followed. I always felt the need to stand a few feet behind him whenever he opened the door.
"I was just wondering what would happen," I look at him, "if they did see me with you."
"What would you want to happen?" He looked back at me.
"W-what?" I felt my eyes widen.
What would I want to happen?
"I don't... I don't have a say in what happens," I remind him, my voice uneasy at the thought.
"You always have a say," he tells me but he seemed confused, as if there was something wrong to what I said.
I shake my head at him, "I never did."
There was silence, he only stared at me and I couldn't help but look away, his gaze was too intense.
"The debt that I owe," I breathe heavily, "it was never really mine to owe."
"What do you mean?" He became tense.
The words for stuck in my throat. I had sworn that I would take this to my grave.
"Mary?"
"Something was stolen and it was sold, that is what I'm paying for," I stare at my hands on my lap.
"Why are you paying for it?"
"I was blamed for it," that much I could tell him, "I've had no choice but to keep it a secret" until now.
"But why?" He sounded angry this time.
"Because I had to," I met his eyes again, "I did."
He stays silent for a painful minute before finally speaking up again.
"I wouldn't let them do anything to you," he avoids my eyes as he says so, "at the same time, I wonder if they would even care."
"What do you mean?" I stare at him.
"My father is just happy I'm becoming king, he wouldn't try anything else," his then looks back up to me, "but I'm more interested in what you would do, if they find you with me."
I'm about to ask him again when he continues.
"You push me away, call me 'your highness', I sometimes wish you wouldn't," he whispers, eyes staring deep into mine.
"What do you want me to call you then?" My voice, too, comes out a whisper.
We stared at each other for a long awhile. I began to grow tired, even sleepy. The lights were on in his room and I knew soon enough that they'd have to be off, my mind wandered.
"Mary," he called my attention, he was calm again, "will you stay with me?'
"With you?" I looked at him on the bed. Unthinkable.
"Y-yes," I only stared at the bed.
I felt my face getting hot as he made his way to the bathroom.
"Please, make yourself comfortable then," he closed the door behind him and just like that I was alone.
I slowly made my way over the opposite side of the bed and carefully rested my hand on it. I knew instantly that this bed was softer than any bed I have ever laid on.
My curiosity got the better of me, I buried my face in the pillow as the bed felt like cushion against my body. It was so soft and so warm... like the thought of home.
I've never slept in my uniform before. That was my last thought before tiredness consumed me.
~*~
When I wake I'm alone, except this time the light source was replaced by the sun rays escaping from the window behind me, my first thought was that I over slept.
Way past over slept, I usually woke before the sun even rose.
My eyes stuck as they met the light but I forced them to stay open as I sit up, taking in the fact that room I'm in isn't mine.
The bathroom door opens and the prince, changed and all, steps out, smiling at me.
"Good morning," he greets as he makes his way over to the bed, he doesn't get on it.
"Did you stay in there the entire night?" I begin to panic. I actually don't remember him ever coming out.
He laughs lightly.
"No, it just so happens that when I stepped back out yesterday you were already fast asleep."
"Oh," I look down, "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," he reassures. I can feel his eyes on me, "you didn't take up much room, actually."
"What?" I looked back up at him and our eyes met, I quickly look away again.
"You slept on the very edge, I swore you were going to fall off but you slept very still," he explains fondly, staring at the empty side of the bed, I'm assuming that's were he slept. My feel my face grow warm at the thought, "I found it curious."
So we did sleep on the same bed then. My face was most likely already red, he probably already saw it.
"I'm used to very tiny beds," I regret saying as soon as I did.
There was a look in his eyes I didn't quite catch and he looks down.
I slide myself off the side, my feet first touches the floor before I find my sandals, which mostly like did fall off since I don't remember taking them off.
I make my way over to his side and try to smile at him.
"It's okay," I tell him before going into his bathroom, if anything I couldn't deal with anymore self pity.
I look down at my hands, the cleanest they've ever been. I shouldn't think of that when I'm with him but at times I couldn't help comparing, a deadly habit.
He's waiting for me when I step out, staring at me when I do.
"You make me self-conscious," my voice comes out a mumble, I stare back him as I walk around him.
"Why?" He asks me calmly, still staring.
"Because...," my voice trailed off, I stared at the edge of the bed, trying my best not to focus of the intensity of his stare, "you're staring."
"I'm sorry," when I looked back at him, his eyes lingered but eventually moved.
I wait a moment for my heart to settle before I speak up again.
"When is your father's dance again?" I ask, moving closer, standing between him and his closet, hidden in case anyone decided to randomly burst through the door.
He stayed where he was, right by the bed but not on it, similar to last night.
"A couple of hours," I'm about to say something before he adds, "but we don't have to be as early as everyone else there, if you don't want to."
I manage to breath normally again.
"So for now, we can just be here together," it sounded like there was going to be choice but he never continued.
I feel his eyes come back to me.
"You're staring again," I tell him, looking at the wall next to his head, "it makes me nervous."
"I make you nervous?" He asks this time, trying to meet my eyes.
"Maybe it's just me."
I finally let him meet my eyes, there was something in his that I couldn't quite read.
"I care about you, Mary." He catches me off guard.
"W-what?" I feel my eyes widen.
"I care about you, deeply," he tells me again, taking a step closer, "you don't have to carry the weight alone anymore, I don't want you to, Mary."
The words are caught in my throat and I can only stare at my sandals.
What is he saying?
"I know that there are some things you don't want to share with me, I can understand, but when it comes to your feelings..." his voice trails off and I feel him look away, maybe this is hard for him to say, "when it comes to your feelings, I can't help but want to pry in."
At that I look up at him and when our eyes meet I don't feel the need to look away.
"Is that selfish of me, Mary?" The look of his eyes and the sound of his voice made me feel quilty, no, it made me feel...
I can only shake my head lightly at him. The words still lost in my head, stuck in my throat.
There's nothing I can say, is there?
He closes the distance between us and he wraps his arms around me, I let him closing my eyes and embracing his warmth.
Like home.
"Thank you," I say again, for what felt like the hundredth time.