His forbidden soulmate

Chapter 4

I went back inside the castle. I needed to grab money from our hidden vault. I always had emergency money on me but I promised Willow that I would give him some. So, I headed down.
I wore a necklace with quartz around my neck. It allows whoever wears it to become invisible. Simon gave it to me after some time, and I was very grateful. Now I could sneak anywhere without being caught.
I hadn’t been caught heading over to Crystal’s cove before then, so I never really used it for that. But now seemed like the perfect opportunity. I probably couldn’t get past the guards without them questioning me anyway.
I slowly went past them, trying not to make any sounds with my footsteps. I was starting to make my way down the stairs to the entrance of the vault when I heard a voice.
“Good afternoon gentlemen.”
I immediately recognized the voice. It was the head of the royal guard. “I’m here with our treasurer to inspect the King and Queens vault. I hope you don’t mind us stepping in.”
Crap! I didn’t know that there was an inspection today!
Everyone on the royal guard, especially the head, is trained to be able to detect magic. He’s going to know that I’m here.
Just my luck.
I heard the guards move to the side to let them pass. “Thank you.” They began walking down the same staircase that I was currently standing on. I moved so that my back was firmly pressed against the wall. I really didn’t want them to find out that I was here, or that I was using magic that I wasn’t supposed to. They would probably confiscate it from me.
My parents believe that most magic is dangerous, but I would like to think otherwise.
Whenever they do an inspection on the vault, it usually takes forever. They have to count up all of the money, look at all the money that we’ve spent this year, and see if those numbers make sense. If they don’t, that means that someone has stolen from us and that we have to put up extra security.
I didn’t want that to happen. That would probably mean the end of me going to Crystal’s cove for a while. But I’m supposed to meet up with Willow in a few hours and I promised him money. If I come with nothing, he won’t trust me after that.
Well, here goes nothing.
I slowly began following them into the vault. I’m surprised that they didn’t immediately sense that I was here. I walked in, and stared in awe.
I’ve only been inside of this vault a few times in my life. Every time I come in here I’m still surprised by the amount of riches in here.
Yet another reason why I should help give money to the poor.
“Alright, let’s get this started.”
I sneak around them to the other end of the room. That’s when I hear the sound of coins falling into a bag. “Ahh, I love stealing little bits of money from the royal family every year. It’s not my fault they don’t pay us enough.” The treasurer said with a scowl on his face.
I didn’t really mind that they were stealing from us. That just meant that they probably wouldn’t notice that I was also stealing some money.
I slowly began filling up my small bag with coins, trying not to make any extra noise. I don’t think they can hear me anyway, because they’re having their own conversation.
I then realized that they didn’t have any kind of papers with them. They had come in here with nothing other than a briefcase which they were using to fill with money. They weren’t counting up any of the money at all. Anyone else could’ve stolen from this vault and nobody knows about it.
They’ve been lying to us this entire time!
I decided that I didn’t feel like confronting them at the moment. So, I finished filling up the bag and quietly left.
I headed upstairs, making sure that the guards didn’t notice me. I made sure that the door to my room was closed before taking off my necklace and hiding it in my dresser. I quickly threw the money into my closet underneath my old clothes so that it wouldn’t be found. Nobody ever goes through my closet unless a piece of clothing needs to be fixed.
I realized that dinner was going to be soon, and I needed to be ready. I noticed that my hair was looking a little bit messy, so I grabbed the nearest comb and started fixing up my hair.
After a few minutes, I heard a servant knocking on my door. “Dinner will be soon.”
I finished getting ready and went downstairs to the dining room. When I got there, everyone was sitting at the table except for Tamara. She was probably still changing out of the clothes she rode in. You can’t ride horses without getting at least a little bit dirty.
We all waited until she made it to the dining room and sat down with all of us. “Good evening.” She said to everyone.
Everyone started filling their plates with food. My mother cleared her throat. “So, has anything… happened… between the two of you?” She said it like it was more important than anything.
I knew what she meant. She was asking if we had found out if we were soulmates yet. Neither of us had seen anything, and both of our chests hadn’t started glowing at any point.
The glowing only happens for about a minute, but that’s still long enough for anyone to notice. Either someone else tells you, or you see it for yourself. And don’t worry, it doesn’t happen while you’re asleep. It happens after you wake up.
“No, nothing’s happened yet.” I said. Both of my parents seemed disappointed. “We still have a few days left.” Tamara reminded everyone. “Maybe something will happen then.”
Maybe.
But I wasn’t entirely hoping.
***
Once dinner was over, I said goodnight to everyone and quickly slipped away to my room. I needed to grab the money and head out to Crystal’s cove.
I decided that I was going to use the Quartz necklace this time because if my parents found out that I was giving our money to someone who was not a part of the royal family, I would be in serious trouble. I didn’t want to risk it.
I waited until I was at the entrance of Crystal’s cove to take off the necklace. I whispered the password and headed inside.
I didn’t sit down at the bar. I immediately headed over to the same table that I sat at with Willow the last time I was here. I was hoping that he would remember and come over here as well.
I noticed him entering the bar and looking around. I waved at him, trying to get his attention. He eventually noticed me after a few seconds and walked over to the table I was sitting at.
“Oh good, you’re here.” He said as he sat down. “What, did you think I wasn’t going to be here?” I asked. “After I insisted that I give you the money when you said you didn’t want it?”
“For the record, I still don’t want it. But, I’m glad that you’re giving it to me and not someone else.”
I was confused. “Why me?” I asked. “You’re the Prince. You’re giving to the poor, unlike your parents, which makes you different. I wouldn’t take money from someone who stole from the royal family. I would like the royal family to give it to me themselves. And you’re in the royal family.”
Willow was right. I was definitely different from my parents in many ways. From what my parents have told me, both of them followed whatever rules were set by their parents. My mom was obedient because she really wanted to be the Prince’s soulmate and her mother wouldn’t let her go to his grand ball if she misbehaved more than she should.
That’s why my parents want me following the rules, and I have to be very careful if I break them.
“So, are you going to give me what I came here for?”
Willow's words pushed me out of my thoughts. “Uh, yeah.” I had been holding onto the bag of money for the past few minutes, so all I needed to do was place it on the table. Willow opened it up and looked inside. “Wow. You weren’t kidding when you said you were going to give me money. This is a fuck-ton.”
He reached into the bag to grab a few coins, letting them slip through his fingers and fall back into the bag. “This is amazing. I never thought I’d live to see the day where I had this much money.” Willow looked up, his eyes locking with mine. “Thank you so much for this. I didn’t know how much this would actually mean to me.”
I couldn’t speak. I felt like his emerald green eyes were putting me in a trance. There was just something about them that made it so I couldn’t look away.
“Y-You’re welcome.” I finally managed to say after a few seconds of staring at him. I realized I had been staring for a bit too long, so I quickly turned away, my face heating up.
“Now that that’s done, let me get you something to drink.”