"You're a real force to be reckoned with, and I have so much respect for how you handle yourself. But for some reason... I'm the exception."
Dream x Reader/Original Character
~.~.~.~.~
Dream is only twenty one when he becomes king of the realm. Alex...
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It wasn't until much later, after we'd eaten a late lunch (which incidentally, did not consist of pearl oysters and cocktails) that Sapnap found time to speak to me again. The atmosphere at lunch had been strange. We were eating in a smaller, more private dining room that we normally ate our meals in unless we were entertaining guests. The room had a small balcony to one side, with glass sliding doors that opened out towards a view of the castle gardens below. The glass let in the sunlight, illuminating the room to make it appear sunny and bright.
Both Clay and I were still considerably shaken by the fact that Clay had lost both his parents, but the heaviness of what had occurred with Schlatt had put us on an emotional high. I recognised the expressions on Clay's face, now that he allowed us to see them. He had always enjoyed the rush that any kind of power gave him, wether it was after defeating someone in battle, or putting someone in their place as he'd done with Schlatt earlier. He was still high from it now, and it made him appear happy and excited. He and George spent the time we took to eat lunch joking about the whole incident, with Sapnap occasionally chipping in to tease Dream about getting told off by Bad in front of his court, effectively dragging Bad into the conversation. I would ordinarily have joined in, but I was not drunk on power, still feeling as though my heart had been punched out of my chest.
The pain was numb, now, but every time a thought of one of my lifelong mentors and guides entered my head, it was like salt had been thrown in the wound. Clay's parents were not here anymore - they never would be again, and I didn't know how I was going to survive without them, particularly Clay's mother. I had exactly zero female friends, and she had been my mentor for as long as I could remember. The majority of the castle guards and servants were male, and although I had a few servants who were women, I did not have a close relationship with any of them. I couldn't blame Clay for trying to numb the pain, pretending that everything was okay. In fact, I wished I could do it myself. But this had to be so much worse for him. I had been too young to remember anything when my biological parents had died, and therefore had not had to go through all the pain of it. Clay would be forced to feel it, at some point, and I only hoped he didn't continue to push it away until it overwhelmed him and consumed him.
"I'm going to go over the list of those who were present at the conference where my parents were killed," said Clay suddenly, startling me into paying attention to their conversation.
"What? Why?" I asked.
"I want to know who killed them," he stated, calmly, and I rose an eyebrow at him. Clay stared back at me, his eyes soft and concerned. "Don't you?"
"Of course I do," I replied. "I just... I don't know Clay, isn't it kinda... soon?"
"Maybe it is," he responded, twirling his fork around his fingers, before stabbing a piece of his chicken salad with perhaps a little more force than necessary. "But if we don't act quickly, they're going to try and remove any evidence left over. I'm not going to let this get to me until I have time to process it."
