Leah could not believe what she had just heard. The prince really did have feelings for her. That thought was sure to make her smile uncontrollably but first, she had to let him know that he really could trust her.
"You can let yourself have feelings, Leo. You can be whoever you want to be around me."
"Leah, you still don't understand. I've done things that you know nothing about. I've killed so many people. I have so much blood on my hands. You deserve so much better."
"I know what I deserve. I don't know if you've heard but I've had so many suitors in the past and I didn't acknowledge any of them. Do you know why? It's because I knew that when the time came I would be married to the Prince of Drastos. I never even knew if I would have liked him or if he would care about me but I was willing to do my duty to my kingdom and now I've changed my mind and realized that's not even why I want to get married anymore"
"So you hate me now"
"No, not even close. I'm falling in love with Leonidas Artheyls, Prince of Drastos. The feared prince that everyone's afraid of. The handsome prince with captivating eyes. I want to get married because I care about him and hope that he continues to feel the same way about me"
"We're going to our rooms immediately"
Leah didn't even have that chance to respond when Leonidas picked her up bridal style and carried her into the palace. When they reached the hallway, Leah expected Leonidas to put her down so she could walk into her room but instead, he carried her into his. His room was incredibly large and decorated magnificently with red and gold. There were even some beautiful paintings hanging up on some of the walls.
"Wow, your room looks amazing"
"Thanks, Flora actually decorated it as she did with yours. I also have reason to believe that she will be arriving home soon and will meet us as dinner."
"I cannot wait, I've so many good things about her."
"Again with hearing things from other people. At least what you've heard about her seems to be accurate. She really is a kind soul"
"So why did you bring me in here"
"I actually wanted to show you something"
Leonidas soon started looking through one of the desk drawers till he found a small wooden box covered in silver hearts.
"Leah..."
"Is that what I think it is?"
Leonidas then dropped down onto one knee and couldn't help but gaze into Leah's beautiful brown eyes.
"Leah, I know that we've been engaged since we were born but I thought that I'd make it official. I'd never thought of doing this before but what else should I be doing for the girl who's melting my heart. So I guess that this is my cue to ask; Will you marry me?"
"Leo, of course, I will."
As Leonidas slid the ring onto Leah's finger, she noticed just how beautiful it was. It had a gorgeous heart-shaped sapphire in the middle with many small diamonds surrounding it. It truly was magnificent.
"Well, I suppose it's time to head downstairs for dinner"
"Of course, Let me take your hand"
As the two walked down the stairs, Leah's face was completely lit up while Leonidas maintained his expressionless facade. All of those who beheld the couple couldn't help but notice the drastic differences in their demeanors.
When they entered the dining hall, they were met by Leonidas's sister Flora.
"Leonidas, it's so good to see you again. Is this Leah? It's so nice to meet you"
"It's nice to meet you too. How was your trip to Hydreas?"
"It was wonderful. In fact, I actually brought someone back with me"
As if on cue, a man appeared next to Flora. He had light brown hair with sparkling blue eyes and the first person he looked at was Leah.
"Everyone, this is Chase Wilder, Prince of Hydreas. We got along really well so I invited him to dinner. Chase, meet my brother, Leonidas, and Leah, Princess of Alriya.
"Wow, you're beautiful"
"Leah's actually engaged to my brother"
"Oh, pardon me I was just appreciating how lovely she looks this evening"
"Well, let's get seated, everyone. I heard the chef has prepared something special"
When they all got to the table, Leah noticed that there was a glass with a red liquid in it. She was intrigued by it and took a sip. She thought that it tasted really good and so she drank the whole glass. After dinner, she started feeling dizzy but kept up her unaffected facade and when Leonidas and Flora went back to their rooms she said that she would be up there soon.
When she got up from her chair she realized that she couldn't walk straight. Chase noticed this and caught Leah as she was about to fall.
"You should be more careful princess"
"Leo, is that you? You look different. Can you take me back to my room? I don't think I can walk there by myself"
Chase obliged and carried her up the stairs. He was going to take her to his own room but he heard her say something else.
"You're really handsome. And you have really pretty eyes. I can't believe that I'm falling in love with you so quickly"
In her state, Leah didn't notice that she was saying this Chase as she thought that she was talking to Leonidas. She also didn't realize that Leonidas had seen her saying these words to Chase while he was carrying her in his arms.
"What do you think you're doing", Leonidas asked angrily.
"I was taking her to her room", Chase lied.
"She's my future wife"
"You left her downstairs "
"Leave her with me and go to your room immediately"
Chase transferred Leah into Leonidas's arms and went back to his room but not before looking back to see the soft look on Leonidas's face. He realized that the feared Prince of Drastos had an undeniable weakness.
"Leah, who do you think you are"
"I don't know what you mean"
"I'm going to put you in your bed and then we're going to talk tomorrow because clearly you're about to lose consciousness"
Leonidas then realized that she had already fallen asleep so he laid her down on her bed.
"I'm sorry for what I'm about to do..."
When Leah woke up, she couldn't really remember what had happened last night during dinner. After she got dressed, she walked downstairs hoping to find Leonidas, She didn't see him in the dining room so she walked out of the palace.
"I'm sending you back to Alryia," Leonidas said expressionlessly.
"What about our kingdoms? We're supposed to bring them together"
"I won't let mine fall because of a foolish young woman"
"You don't mean that. I trusted you and you trusted me. What went wrong?"
"You're leaving immediately. I'll have a carriage prepared for you"
"Ok then Leo, break my heart. Let it shatter but don't break your own."
"You've a;ready broken my heart, Leah. To think you were different from every other girl was wrong. Get out of my sight"
With those last words, Leah entered the carriage in tears and prepared to leave when she saw that Kylo was also getting in.
"Good evening Princess Leah, I'm here to accompany you back to Alriya. I'm really sorry about the Prince. He doesn't realize how amazing you really are"
"Thank you for flattering me Kylo but I just don't understand. We were getting along so well and as soon as I thought that I'd broken down some of his barriers, I'd realized that I'd barely even scratched the surface."
"Well, I'll be there for you, Leah"
"Thank you but it seems that I'm on my own now. My whole life has been leading up to this moment. I was supposed to unify our kingdoms but right now I can't let my own perish"
From that moment on Leah had changed. Her once kind heart had turned to stone. Little was left of the girl her people knew.
As Leonidas watched Leah's carriage disappear down the road, he couldn't help but feel a sharp pain in his chest, in his heart. It hurt him to remember his words but it hurt him even more to recall the memory of Leah telling Chase that she was falling in love with him.
Leah was his fiance or rather ex-fiance now. He couldn't help but wonder how a girl that made him feel so happy could cause him such agonizing pain. Leonidas also knew that a king couldn't have any weaknesses and Leah definitely fit that description.
Meanwhile, in Alyria, Leah had entered the castle and was greeted by her mother.
"Leah, dear it's so nice to see you again. How is my lovely daughter doing?"
"I am perfectly content, mother", Leah lied with a straight face.
"How come you are here so early? I thought that the wedding was to be this week"
"There is no longer going to be a wedding. Leonidas and I aren't getting married"
"What happened?"
"I don't want to go over any details, mother. Can't you just let it go?", Leah yelled suddenly.
Leah soon stormed out of the room and headed towards her room. When she got inside she started crying uncontrollably. She found her journal on her writing desk and started looking through it. She stopped when she found a page that had Leonidas's name in it. She had written it when she was only fourteen and it contained her curiosity about him.
"He's a monster that doesn't deserve your love. Nobody deserves your love!", Leah yelled as she threw her journal across the room.
When she left her room she was greeted by her old maids but Leah had locked her heart away behind a barrier of ice. Her warm, loving gaze was replaced by an icy glare. The sparkle in her eyes was gone.
"Hello Princess"
"Chase?"