a Lout and a Prince

Part 20

There's no one more gullible than the person who wishes to be fooled.

It really wasn't an implausible explanation and Cale really could half believe it. There was no hint of deceit on Bob's face when he spoke either.

There was no hint of honesty either.

More so the realization that Bob could possibly be the crown prince, the possibility that he could have been lying caused his heart to tremble.

If Bob was telling the truth and he really was a secret relative to the prince, then Cale's reaction was irrational and cruel. To mistrust a man whom he'd given his heart to on an unfounded suspicion was ridiculous and he would owe Bob an apology.

If Bob was lying...

There were few reasons why he would persist in a lie such as that and very few of them boded well for the relationship.

Cale wanted to believe him. Want to believe him with every fiber of his being. Wanted to be completely wrong and forced to apologize for acting so impulsively. And perhaps his desire to be fooled did most of the work in convincing him that it was quite possible that Bob was telling the truth.

It would explain how he looked so similar without a magical disguise. It would explain why he was clearly noble but had no obvious ties to any nobility that Cale knew. It would explain why he was so secretive.

It was a neat explanation and there wasn't any rational or logical reason to disbelieve it.

And yet, when Bob had looked at him and explained it, every inch of Cale's body itched with the word liar. It wasn't like when Cale would observe a man and find his tells, learn what he looked like when he lied and come to a logical conclusion.

It was instinctual and illogical.

There was only one thing that Cale was absolutely sure about though.

He couldn't meet with Bob like this. If Bob was innocent, Cale risked losing everything by losing his temper and tearing the bastard apart. If Bob was guilty, Cale risked losing his rationality and surrendering himself to a fucker who truly didn't care about him at all.

The opportunity to return home was always available and Cale was swift to take it. He'd already stayed in the capital far longer than was planned. He'd leave and think matters through.

He needed to clear his mind before he faced him.

Yet the fear that rumbled in Cale's heart wasn't satisfied merely with returning to the Henituse territory. Regardless of Bob's innocence or guilt, he was a man with the resources to make a swift journey to meet Cale there. If Cale was merely a plaything to him then he'd have no reason to give Cale the space he needed. If he truly cared about Cale then he might try to seek Cale out for an explanation before he was ready to provide one.

Still, Cale's options were limited. His father was already unsure what to think about his extended stay in the capital and made it clear that he was to return to the territory if he were to leave the capital.

It was a strange impulse but there was only one place that Cale could think of where no one would think to search for him within the territory.

"Ron."

The elderly butler stopped preparing the carriage and gave his young master the full attention he deserved. Cale was staring off into space, the desire to run away filling him and chasing away all other thoughts.

"Take me to Harris Village. Only my father is to know about this."

There was only a hint of hesitation on Ron's face before he nodded. If a person adept at reading Ron had been present, they might have spotted the worry hidden behind his benign smile.

Cale wasn't even looking to notice.

He wanted to hide.

He wanted to hurt.

He wanted a distraction.

He hated Harris Village. Irrationally and completely. He associated the entire place and every piece of shit that lived there with the death of his mother and he hated the very fact that the horrible place existed at all. He'd even admitted as much to Bob, in moments of intimacy and vulnerability.

That's what made it the perfect place to hide.

He hadn't been unclear about his feelings. Cale would happily walk through any of the deadliest forbidden regions before he ever stepped foot into that wretched place. He hadn't been lying either. He hated it.

But Cale hurt and one thing he'd learned at a very young age was that a good way to deal with a lesser pain was to inflame a larger one. If he couldn't tolerate the pain of a papercut then the pain of a broken arm would overshadow it. The key was to use pains that one was used to tolerating to bury pains that were new and fresh and intolerable.

Cale didn't know how to cope with the heartbreak that Bob might have been toying with him this whole time.

But he had ten years of experience coping with the agony of losing his mother.

It was a truly maladaptive way of coping but Cale didn't have any good coping mechanisms. He only had ones that allowed him to keep moving and breathing when the pain threatened to overtake him.

Harris Village was perfect. No one would anticipate his arrival there, especially not Bob, and he could suffer grief rather than heartbreak.

In Cale's twisted mind, it was truly the perfect plan.

And for its intended purpose, it truly did throw that lousy bastard off of his trail.

Alberu hadn't heard about Cale Henituse leaving the capital. Perhaps it had been reported to him but a lot of information had sunken away in the time he'd taken to realize and digest the true extent of his feelings for Cale.

So he truly was caught unaware when he arrived at the estate to learn that Cale had already left without a word. Without even leaving a letter.

It was the final stab to the heart necessary to truly dismantle Alberu's foolish thoughts.

The choking emotion he felt when he realized that Cale left him first.

The horrifying pain at the thought that Cale might not care for him at all anymore.

The panic that this really was the end between them.

Alberu felt the world crash down and understood well and truly for the first time the weight of ending things meant.

It wasn't like putting an end to a business relationship with an ally or saying goodbye to a friend.

It ripped away at his very soul and stole his breath.

He couldn't breathe.

The narrow world that darkened in the gap made by Cale's absence.

How stupid. How had he ever been stupid enough to think that something like this was for the best?

So what if there would be obstacles to their relationship. Alberu had been overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles his entire life.

It was the moment he realized he'd only ever been a coward.

A stupid coward who'd only managed to hurt the person he loved by thinking only in terms of what was best and logical without a single care for how those words could cause more harm than healing.

Cale Henituse left without saying goodbye and the implication was clear.

Cale had made his decision.