His forbidden soulmate

Chapter 6

After waiting until everyone was asleep, I snuck out of the castle and headed over to Crystal’s cove. I had a feeling Willow was going to be there.
When I got there and sat down at the bar, Simon came over to where I was sitting.
“Hey, Theodore.” I took a sip out of my glass of water. “Hello Simon.” I greeted. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Speaking of seeing you, I’ve noticed that you’ve been coming in less this month. Why is that?” He asked.
I started getting a little nervous. He might suspect that I’m the prince if he realizes that some events line up almost perfectly. I didn’t want to do this, but I had to lie to his face.
Why am I feeling bad about this? I’ve been lying to him this entire time!
I decided not to think about it. “I’ve just been a little busy lately, nothing to worry about. Has anything important happened here lately?” I asked. “Not really.” Simon responded. “Nothing big happens around here anyway.”
That was good to hear. If anything big happens here, this place would be found. I would probably also be found because they’d want to find everyone who went here.
But I used a fake name, so I was probably fine. Nobody really saw my face in great detail anyway. They probably wouldn’t be able to find me. And I’d probably be standing right next to them. It’s a good thing we found this hidden tavern, I’d say, because there may have been some bad things happening there.
I’d try to force myself to act like a brave leader taking down a threat, but I’d still be very sad on the inside. This place is kind of like my second home, and I can’t afford to lose it.
“What’re you thinking about?” Simon asked. I must’ve been staring off into space. “Oh, nothing much.” I said, trying to make it seem like I wasn’t feeling the worst.
“Alright then.” Simon went to serve other people. He couldn’t talk to me the entire time, because that would be rude. I wasn’t the only person here, and other people needed their orders taken.
I drank another sip of my drink, feeling relaxed. This place was a lot calmer than the castle. Sometimes, you can find almost everyone running around everywhere because of something important that everyone is freaking out about.
That was why I liked this place. It was less hectic, and I could come here if I needed a break.
And that was often.
Suddenly, I heard the door open. I saw Willow enter the tavern. How do we always end up at the tavern together? I wondered. Is there a reason for this? Is the universe telling me something important?
I decided to just consider it a coincidence because I was probably thinking too much into it. I come to this place all the time, I’m bound to run into him at least a couple of times.
He saw me and sat down next to me. “Hello again.”
“Hello to you too.” I responded. I could tell that he was feeling a little bit weirded out by the fact that we were both here again, but I paid no mind to it. “So, do you like the money I gave you?”
“Of course I do.” Willow responded like I was stupid. “It’s money.” He looked around, making sure no one was listening to us. “But honestly though, thank you for this. I think I might be able to get food without having to steal.”
His face lit up in realization. “Oh, shoot. Please don’t tell anyone that I’ve been stealing. I don’t need your parents to know about me and hate me.”
“I won’t, trust me. I’ve actually seen people stealing from us. The only reason why I didn’t say anything is because then my parents would freak out and place higher security on the castle, and that would mean the end of going to Crystal’s cove.”
Willow nods in understanding. “I know what it’s like to lose something you want. Sometimes, it’s for the greater good. But other times, it’s something you love, and you would do anything to get it back.”
I understood what he was saying, but I could tell there was something else behind it. Did he lose something that he loved very much?
I didn’t want to ask him about it, since I would definitely be invading his privacy. But maybe he will tell me someday.
Only if he wants to, that is.
We sat in silence for a few minutes before I decided to change the topic of our conversation. “So, what’s been going on with your life?” I asked. Willow looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve told you all about my life. I would like to know a little bit about what’s happening in yours.”
He paused for a moment, looking a little surprised. “Nobody’s ever really asked me that before. Thanks, I guess.” He cleared his throat. “This may be a little surprising to you, but I actually work in a bakery.” He was right, it was surprising.
“That’s the main place where I get my food. I sneak in after hours to steal some bread. I’ve never been caught before.”
“Wow. I’m not sure if I should believe a single word that you’ve just said. I would never expect you, a dark and brooding person, to be working at a bakery of all places.”
“You’re dark and brooding too! You hide your face and make yourself look mysterious.”
Well, he was right about that. “Besides, it was the only place I could find where I could work anyway. Most of the jobs I could find sounded terrible. I felt like I would either die from boredom, or I would actually die. At least at this job I get “Free food”.” He said, making air quotes with his fingers.
I felt bad that he had to steal food from his job to actually have something to eat. Meanwhile, I had all the food I could ever ask for in the castle. It just didn’t seem right.
It was then that I did something that I would never do a second time, let alone a first. I wanted to help Willow out again. “How about I get you some food from our kitchen?”
“What?!”
I had to shush him. “You can’t be too loud in here. One, this is a quiet place because people could find us and this place would get shut down. Two, like I’ve said before, I don’t want people finding out that I’m here.” I could not stress enough about how bad that was.
“Alright then, Theodore, why would you like to give me some of your food?”
“You just said that you had to steal food.”
“That was before you gave me money!”
I wanted to shush him again, but I figured that would make him even more mad at me. “I know you can afford your own food now, but I want to give you good food. I’m sure you want me to steal from my parents again, and the food we have is much better than anything someone like you would have.” I suddenly realized what I had said. “N-Not trying to be offensive, but-”
Willow stopped me before I could finish my sentence. “It’s fine. I was going to accept your offer anyway. It’s not like I would ever pass up food from the royal kitchen.”
I looked around again to make sure that no one was listening to us.
“Alright, then it is done. I shall bring you some food when I am able. I can’t bring it in here because they don’t allow outside food, so how about we meet somewhere close by?” I suggested.
“Oh, I know a good place. Follow me.”
I looked over to Simon. He had a look on his face that said I see you’re not buying anything once again.
I rolled my eyes at him as I walked out with Willow. “Alright, where is this place?”