𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬

FOURTEEN.

While Ruby was used to living in a castle, she wasn't used to staying in an actually decent one. Her home back on the Isle, the Red Castle, was barely standing, with draughty halls, flea-bitten curtains and a damp, mouldy smell in the air, the castle was hardly something to brag about, even on the Isle. It also didn't have nearly as nice an atmosphere as Ben's castle had, which was clearly a home. There were family pictures and nice decorations filling up the empty spaces. It was all in all exactly what she had expected of it. 

Ruby hated that as she looked around, she felt a sense of jealousy. She wished she'd grown up having this, having a place that felt like home. The way this castle already made her feel more at home than the Red Castle ever had was hard for her to accept.

Ben led her upstairs, taking his time when he noticed the way Ruby's eyes carefully took in everything around her. He directed her to his bedroom, which was bigger than his one at school. Ruby's eyes only scanned the room for a second before she turned to Ben,

"Your room?" She asked though she knew it was. It was pretty obvious to her by the way it was decorated. She saw the Tourney posters of his favourite team, The White Knights, and it was unmistakably his style. It was also pretty messy, which she knew wasn't uncommon for Ben, who left his clothes lying on the floor most of the time. The amount of times she'd nearly tripped over a hidden shoe lying randomly in his room was surprising for someone with as great a balance as her.

"Yeah," Ben scratched the back of his neck as he watched her take in his room, "I figured you'd be more comfortable here than in some spare bedroom on your own. Unless you prefer that...?"

Ruby didn't know why but it still surprised her every once in a while how thoughtful Ben could be, and especially how awkward he acted about it when he wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing. She thought it was adorable the way he wouldn't even notice when he started rubbing his neck.

"No, this is fine. Don't worry about it."

"Okay, well make yourself comfortable," Ben said, helping her take off her jacket. Ruby let him and then took off her heels, putting them by the door. She looked around the room again and walked over to the window to watch the view it gave. She could see the entire well-kept courtyard that had a lit-up fountain in the middle. It was a sight to behold really and Ruby could hardly believe that anyone lived like this.

Ben came to stand behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Ruby tensed up instinctively for a second before relaxing into the embrace. She didn't notice that Ben wasn't watching the gorgeous view of the courtyard like she was, instead being preoccupied with a view he deemed more stunning.

They stayed silent in each other's arms for a while longer and Ruby was starting to see a pattern after today. Not that she minded this pattern much, she quite liked the feeling of protection that Ben's arms provided when they were wrapped around her. A yawn escaped her, and she felt Ben shift.

"Want to go to bed?" He asked, his voice low as to not disturb the comfortable silence that had fallen over them more than he had to. Ruby nodded her head and Ben gave her one of his shirts to wear to bed.

She went to freshen up in the bathroom and changed into the large shirt belonging to Ben, which fell just passed her butt. She was still wearing her scarf but took it off as she looked in the mirror, seeing what Ben had seen that afternoon, but not understanding how he could still think her to be beautiful whilst knowing of this fatal flaw. She looked down at the scarf in her hand and deliberated on whether or not to put it on again. She knew Ben wouldn't mind, or so she hoped, but she couldn't help but feel insecure. And as she looked at her reflection again, she sighed.