Tale Spinster

EP 16: THE SECOND PRINCE

Once Meister found sleep, he was not so easily awakened. Perhaps the day's labor had a toll on his fragile body because considering that four strangers –five, if you count Liam, were still in his house, he found peaceful sleep fast.

It took me about thirty minutes in total to explain to him the new reminder system, and around three hours of arguing because he kept forgetting things. But in the end, he let me take charge. After checking on the concoction I made to distill the elixir, he forgot about most of the things we talked about and chose sleep.

Margeritha slept in the chair in the living room while Van Dich and Paul slept on the floor. Earlier this evening, Paul came back with Claire bringing food and warm blankets. I told them they could just go back to the palace without me yet they refused. They tried to stay up to accompany me and as a courtesy, but in the end, slumber found them too.

The night was calm, full of stars and a new moon was in sight. So I carried my cup of coffee and sat in front of the window overlooking the night sky. Next to me was the table full of lab equipment. The spiritus was on, boiling a flask of rose water with a smaller tube filled with the rolexia stone. It had been boiling for at least six hours now.

"Are you not going to sleep?" Liam asked as he approached me. His eyes darted to the book on my lap. It was the third book I opened that day.

"I am not tired yet."

"Of course, you wouldn't be," he said, "You are drinking your second cup of coffee. That doesn't mean your body is not tired. Coffee only tricks your brain into thinking your body is not tired."

"I really am not tired," I said as I sipped the coffee. "And I am determined to make notes about the villagers' livelihood with Agrier before we set out on how best to handle the contamination."

"Won't your father or brothers look for you?" he asked, though his voice sounded unsure. "The Blackrose Kingdom was a bit of a mess when the prince was gone even for a night. I assume that it would be the same with you."

I laughed a little then continued my reading. But when I looked at Liam and saw that he was not laughing with me, I felt the need to explain. "I don't think they would care..."

I didn't really know what Diana's father and brothers would do. But I had read that they would give Diana up in a heartbeat. Some of them who managed to get away in the original book never tried to save Diana from Kieran's clutches. And my real family? My stepmother would be delighted if I were gone. My brother would not even notice.

Father? I hoped he would look for me. But I think ... it would be easy for him to forget about me and move on. Have they even discovered my body in my dorm?

"They'd probably think good riddance," I said.

A heavy air lingered between us and I knew I had made it awkward for both of us. So I continued to read.

Liam nestled next to me like a bundle of fur. He was warm and so my body instinctively leaned to him.

"Are you not going back to your kingdom?" I asked, "You may not be the prince but I figure there would still be people worried about you."

He was silent for some time that I didn't think he bothered to answer. But then he whispered something, his voice was so small that I couldn't hear properly.

"What's that?" I asked him.

"I didn't say anything," he said.

I was pretty sure he did though.

***

I didn't sleep at all. I dozed off a few times but I could not sleep more than an hour at a time because the same nightmare kept on haunting me. That image of Kieran violating me appeared every time I closed my eyes. And each time, I would wake with a start that I'd awaken Liam a few times too.