It was a sunny day. the weather was good and the sight was as pleasing as ever in the princess's garden. It was always good to talk in such a place, so Alexander specifically asked to be guided here every time he visited.
He took a breather, taking in the sweet scent of The flowers, his eyes closed.
Although Alexander was always charming and bright, as he certainly was today as well, but the air around him seemed to be unusually gloomy.
[ The newly found princess. Court her.]
He remembered what his mother told him on their last meeting before he headed to the capital. His mother was never a caring or kind person. She always had a scheme in mind and she would stop at nothing to achieve her goals. And although he knew all about it, he always complied with her demands, as much as he could.
He never regretted his choices. He always made sure her demands weren't harmful to any innocent person or that it's easy to counter.
This time though, he felt a little bit uneasy.
'I shouldn't have done that.' he rebuked himself for obeying his mother, hurting the woman in front of him as a result.
Her face looked pale, and her lips were slightly trembling.
"what....why? I thought we ...we're great together. so why? why breakup? I don't understand." She asked in a subdued voice. Even though she tried to sound as calm as possible, her words came out shaky.
" I apologize, Beth. We're just not meant to be. We're not fated. "
"huh!" a small laugh escaped her mouth.
Not meant to be, he said. not fated.
why?
"who said that? who's to decide? isn't it too early to come to that conclusion all by yourself? Everything was alright just until today so why? we are so compatible. We share so much similarities and we.... I thought we had some affections for eachother...so why? what changed so suddenly?" She said breathlessly.
Alexander closed his eyes once again. How could he make her understand without hurting her feelings?
He went with his mother's wishes at first. he knew the reason she asked him to do what he did, yet he still obliged. but he had no intention to go through with it till the end. thus, when his older brother said he should break up, Alexander decided to do as he said. he didn't want this issue to catch his brother's attention any further, less he might discover his mother's involvement in it. And that was no good.
Alexander sighed internally again.
"I'm sorry, Beth." He shook his head apologetically. He was sorry to hurt her. But he had to do it anyways.
Beth looked down at the ground not meeting his eyes.
".....why ...." a low mumble resounded along with the birds chirping in the nearby trees.
" I'll take my leave now. I'm really sorry. I hope the next time we meet we can be good friends."
"Friends? huh." she scoffed " I'm sorry, I can't do that." she shook her head in a quick motion.
" I can't possibly see you as a friend when I have feelings for you, right? " she said with a slight tilt .
Then with glistening eyes she said:
"I love you, Alex." a couple of tears escaped her eyes followed by an endless pouring of tears.
Alexander's hands moved reflexively toward her cheeks trying to wipe her tears away, but....
CRASH!!!!
the sound of shattering glass stopped him in his track. his head turned sideways immediately towards the source of the noise. His eyes widening slightly.
The ceiling-high window In the second floor, which he recalls to be Bethy's favourite receiving room, has completely disappeared, along with some parts of the walls as well. Shining dust akin to diamonds floating in the air glistening in the sun light.
Alexander's eyes narrowed in a frown when he noticed the ice traces on what's left of the walls.
Throughout all the hustle in the palace , Bethy was still crying with her head down. She didn't seem to notice, or she just didn't really care.
But in reality, Beth was wracking her head, trying to figure out why the sudden change. Did she do something wrong? Did he perhaps know about yesterday's happenings with the duke?
No if that was the case he would have confronted her. Alex was a gentleman, but he was just as outspoken as he was kind. he would have voiced his disappointment honestly.
'If that was the case, he wouldn't be apologizing to me. ' She reasoned.
but then, why?
Suddenly, a conversation she had with her close maid resurfaced in her head.
[You haven't shared a kiss yet? ]
She still remembers how shocked Anna, her maid, looked at that time. She said it was absurd that they didn't kiss even once although they dated for nearly two months now.
'Oh, is that it? it makes sense now.'
Why would anyone date if not for at least a certain level of intimacy, right?
"I'll get going."
hearing that, Beth snapped out of her musings, looking up at the man in front of her turning around, ready to leave.
Without much thought, her legs moved forward, her arms up, hands grabbing the man's collar and bending him down towards her.
It didn't make sense to share a kiss with a stranger duke when she could only dream of kissing her own lover.
only one thought roamed her head; If I do this, if I show him I can do this too, then maybe....
just maybe ...
...he won't abandon her.
she pulled him down with all her might into a kiss.
But the lips she so much longed for never touched hers. Instead, she felt herself being pulled backwards. Stumbling, her back hit something hard; a man's chest.
"Leave." the word reverberated through the man's chest. a voice she grew quite familiar with now.
he had one arm around her shoulders and the other one wrapped firmly around her waist, pulling her one arm away from Alexander.
"what are you..."
" Leave, marquis." before Alexander could ask what in the world was his brother doing here, and why was he acting this way, David said again. in a more threatening voice this time.
" I understand." Receiving his brother's glare was nowhere near comfortable, so he decided to retreat for now and ask his questions later.
His ears picked Bethy's protests and pleas, but he ignored it, refusing to turn around.
on the exit, He found his brother's most trusted servant, Jackson. he was standing, watching on standby besides the maid Anna. they nodded at him, and Alexander asked:
"what is my brother doing here? "
" The duke came back to fetch his pocket watch."
It was Anna who answered. she thought Alexander was angry because of the duke's intervention in their date, and might take it out on the duke's servant instead. but she froze momentarily when she heard his next question.
"And why was he here in the first place?"
he couldn't have known the duke had eyes for the princess, could he? or maybe he knew of what happened yesterday? just like she saw the scene, another servant might have witnessed them kissing and informed the marquis.
but it was Jackson who answered this time.
" The duke and the princess are acquainted."
"What? since when?"
"since yesterday." he answered, matter-of-factly.
Alexander was bewildered. he never knew of such an acquaintance between the two.
"I think the lord should take his leave right now. his Highness will be furious if he is to wait any longer. and please do inform him of his Grace's inability to attend due to some very urgent matters. "
" You think he wouldn't know David was here when he even broke a whole ceiling high window?" Alexander stated, shaking his head. he then heaved a sigh.
"as you said, I should leave. I shall ask him personally about this later. "
"I would advise you not to. not today or tomorrow, not until he calms down. "
" I still don't get where the problem is." he scratched the back of his neck.
"I will explain properly later, my lord. please have a safe trip." Jackson said then bowed, to which Alexander nodded and left.
Anna was in awe. It was the first time for her to see a servant being this assertive with a nobleman. A marquis at that. and the more impressive was how it didn't sound disrespectful or inappropriate at all. it even sounded polite. it made the respect she had for the neat and polite man skyrocket.
her attention then shifted back to where the duke and the princess where still standing.