Royal Mistake || BxB || Complete.

Chapter Thirty-seven

Alexander's POV:

My steps were heavy and slow, every second that passed whispered quietly, telling me to run and never look back, but there was no running from this, I would have to face it someday and that day came sooner than my brain had prepared for, but in a way, I always had a feeling it would take me by surprise, realistically, I would never be ready to confront my so called family. 

The man I had distantly remembered as a servant, had now taken my dad's place in the castle, serving as the head butler, his smile was kind as he greeted me at the door, and I walked into that all too familiar kitchen with the non-ending sense of dread to be back, he had quickly asked for my number as it turns out Elijah also remembered me and would like to hear from me again, of course I gave it to him, knowing that I would never hear the end of it from Charles. 

He gave me a quick pat on the back as I headed for the dining room, where they would be having their meal soon, I stood at the doors for what felt like forever, finally taking a deep breath and opening the door, assuming I am just a butler here with food, no eyes drifted to me, so I pulled a chair and sat down, now two pair of horrified eyes stared at me, while the third tried their best to stay composed, 'Alexander', Alana was the first to speak, shock had clearly limited her vocabulary. 

'you seem to be pretty quiet so I'll say what I came here to say, I am not scared of you, because the leverage I have on you, it makes me a whole lot more powerful, so here is what you are going to do, you are going to let me, Charles, and that poor woman who helped him continue our normal lives, or I take a DNA test and go to the press', the confidence that had surged through my body felt foreign, I had never dared to speak against these people even when they kept me locked and hidden most my life, no matter how much I didn't want this to be about me, it felt so fucking good. 

'you dare threaten your own parents?', I couldn't help but chuckle, a bitter smile painting itself on my face, 'yeah it is true you are biologically my parents, but I will never think of you as my family, it is going to take me a long time to recover from the hell I lived, and I will not spend that time worrying about you', the queen was completely silent, her face now relaxed, she put her hand on the king's arm and gently shook her head, he sighed, his face relaxed as well, it was the most emotion I'd seen him show in years. 

'we cannot apologize, because you don't want to hear our apology, but we will talk with the Calder family and convince them to let you guys be', I sat there quiet, unsure, this felt really anticlimactic, and maybe that was for the best, 'why is this so easy?', the doubt in my mind wouldn't let me believe it was their kindness, 'we had a scandal recently in regards to the prince leaving the day of the wedding and we cannot afford another hit like that', I scoffed, 'of course', I pushed the chair back, 'have a good life'. 

I got up and left the room, I was halfway down the hallway when a voice called my name and a figure followed behind me, when I turned around I almost toppled over as the figure engulfed me in a hug, I hugged back without hesitation, when she pulled back she had tears in her eyes, 'I'm so happy for you, and proud of you, I would never want to get in the way of love, especially not the kind you and Charles have', I smiled. 

'what's next for you?', she sighed, 'I don't know really, probably college, then finding suitors', 'a person like you doesn't need anybody to help them rule, but I hope you find your person', she hugged me again, this time shorter, 'I've missed you a lot, would you keep in contact just with me, I won't tell anyone I promise', I smiled, the look in her eyes showed me she was telling the truth, so I gave her my number, and she seemed really happy. 

'tell Charles that I'm not mad at him and that I'm grateful you too get to live your love story', this time I went in for a hug, 'I love you sis', 'I love you too idiot', we parted ways and I walked back into the kitchen, Jamison gave me a questioning look and I nodded, giving him a thumbs up, he sighed in relief. 

I headed towards the car and both Charles and Warren were sitting on the bumper, chatting and laughing, I resisted the urge to stop and take a picture, as I didn't know if this sight would ever happen again, but I decided to believe that it would, they turned to me once they heard my footsteps, their faces full of worry, I intentionally stayed expressionless to mess with them, 'it actually went good', they both looked like they were going to pass out of happiness, Charles ran over and picked me up, until I glared at him enough that he let me down. 

'I am going to take the backseat and sleep, you two have fun bonding your blossoming friendship', both of them cleared their throats, 'I wouldn't call it a friendship', 'yeah I mean we just chat and stuff', I started laughing at their faces, they looked like I had just told them to confess their love for each other, 'you are both idiots, and I love both of you, now get in the car and lets drive home before I kill you both', and so we did, getting on the road once again. 

This time, staring at the moving sights didn't make me sick or anxious, it brought me serenity, and the quiet music felt relaxing, the sentence "things were going to be okay", rested in my mind with confidence, as long as I had my family and we're all safe, life was always going to be okay, and with that comforting thought, I fell asleep.