Marrying the Stranger Prince ✔ (The Stranger Prince Series #1)

Chapter 21 : The Light in the Dark.

"In the farthest corner, I will find you."
-The Kiss of Deception, by Mary E. Pearson.

♚

The week passed by like nothing.

Adela hardly came out of her room, and thankfully her parents agreed to give her space.

They were under the impression that she was thinking it through. That she was thinking rationally and coming up to a sensible conclusion.

She didn't think they understood anything. She didn't think they understood how important this was. How she was being asked to choose a person whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

Well... she didn't really have a choice now, did she?

Sebastian had already clarified it that he wasn't an option. That he was only going to be there as a formality, and in reality it would all be just a show. She was told to choose Christian.

Sebastian felt nothing for her.

He hadn't felt anything since the start. Adela had been in a stupid dream, and just now she realised that it was all an illusion. Her own sight had lied to her in the face, her mind had made stupid assumptions that weren't even a little close to the truth.

And now it was slowly eating her up. It was slowly getting back at her. And she was letting it.

She had concluded. She had cried enough. Her eyes were dry as she looked down at the coat that was clutched a little too tightly in her hands. Hands that were now too skinny.

It still smelt of him.

She didn't know how, but when she held it close to her face, she could smell him. Not his cologne, but she smelled him. The kind of smell she could never describe in words.

All it did was add on to the pile of misery that was stubbornly sitting on her heart.

She didn't smile. Didn't cry. Didn't laugh. Didn't flinch. She just looked down at the coat, her face showing no signs of any reaction.

She was going to let go of everything. Was going to let go of the Adela she had been. She was going to leave herself behind, and she was going to change into a newer person.

A person that Christian thought she was.

But it was this thought that made her shiver, that made a jolt of cold run down her spine, so hard she shut her eyes tightly. She didn't think she was ready to change. Not just yet.

She still had a day. Yes. She would do it tomorrow. A promise was made.

♚

"I have never asked you anything else, Father."

Sebastian said. He was leaning down, bent in front of the King of Larcbost. He had been that way since the moment he entered the room. He was on his knees, looking down over the perfectly clean carpeted floor.

He didn't dare look up. But he couldn't stop his shoulders from shaking. He knew his father would never miss that out.

He closed his eyes. Breathed in. Exhaled. Opened them slowly. Regained his mind.