"I heard she was having an affair with Prince Marcus while she's engaged to Prince Arthur."
"She's such a slut."
"How could she take her eldest sister's fianceé?"
"She's such a disgrace to the Northwest family. Why would Prince Marcus claim to love her? She's not even beautiful when compared to her sisters. She's just a plain Jane."
"I heard she's actually pregnant and blackmailing Prince Marcus so her child could have the throne."
"She's such a power hungry slut. How can she show her face after what she did?"
"I feel sorry for Prince Arthur. His fianceé isn't even loyal to him. She fools around with his brother and comes back to him without a single remorse for her actions."
"Awa is going to hell if she marries into the Royal family and claims the throne with Prince Marcus."
"She's the reason the other kingdoms are mocking us."
"She gives everyone in this kingdom a bad reputation."
"Rebekah Northwest is our downfall."
Lies.
Lies.
Lies.
All I heard were lies. Everywhere I went everyone had more lies to spread about me. It's unbelievable how society believes every little rumor they heard about someone. Because since when has Society ever cared about whether what they heard was true or not. They believed it either way.
They trusted the pointless and never-ending rumors circulating around them. Not once giving a thought to the possibility that those rumors were nothing but lies, twisted and retold differently by each person it was past onto. It was ridiculous how a small sentence can be rephrased repeatedly until its original sentence is lost. But what do you expect in this world that we live in? Society priorities one's looks over their originality.
Every person in Awa almost seemed like a replica of another. Their behavior or their looks. It was all the same. You're always expected to be perfect but no one could ever be perfect. We're humans not clay to be molded in someone's own image.
We all have flaws. We all make mistakes and learn from them because in the world that we live in you could never tell the difference between right and wrong.
After all, every decision we make is equally right as it is wrong. Everything we do in our one life on this earth has a consequence. That's why I'm in this situation. My choice to wear that mask that night turn my world upside down. From peaceful to chaotic. Happy to miserable.
Because the decisions I made that unfortunate day I was seen as anything but the victim. After all what evidence did I have to prove that I wasn't at fault? I attended the ball without a care in the world. I wore the mask. I danced with Arthur like a happy couple would. And soon after I had the crown Prince declare his love for me to which I ran, leaving behind my heartbroken sister. I never thought things would be this way. It was supposed to Scarlet's happy ever after even if I feared the worse in her rule over Awa.
Now I had to face the consequences of my own mistake as everyone judged me. My family. My neighbors. My classmates. Everyone! They all saw me as the main reason for the ongoing uproar the kingdom was in for the past week. And not once had anyone directed their lies and accusations against the Royal family.
Because why should they? To them, the Royal family was only being manipulated by a high school girl. A girl who had both Prince's wrapped around her fingers. Or so they've concluded on their own. I didn't know why I bothered to attend classes or socialize, but I did. I held my head high and kept my anger at bay. Never be rude or showing the tears I wanted to shed.
I kept going as the rumors got worse by the day. And during all of this Arthur was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't on campus nor did he attempt to visit. I was glad he didn't but angry at the same time. If he did make an appearance again I would unleash all my pint up anger at him. He was the reason I was in this mess. I should have known better than to blindly follow his orders.
As Linda and I made our way towards our next class I could feel the burning gazes from everyone around us. I could see the hateful and jealous glares sent my way. I could see the way the boys in this school looked at me with hungry eyes or disgust. It made me sick to my stomach the way they saw me. I wanted to just leave and never come back. I wanted to escape and finally live the life I dreamt of having.
But I didn't cower away or run. I showed them that their words didn't affect me. But the truth was their words stung. It made me want to scream in frustration. I wanted to lash out in anger. I wanted to shout that I'm as innocent as a baby lamb. That I didn't know any of this would've happened because of a stupid yet gorgeous mask. But I convinced myself that they didn't know what they were talking about so I kept my emotions bottled up inside me. After all, what was the point in fueling the flames of an already burning fire?
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For the past few hours, I've continuously thought of the fact that I wasn't going to have a choice in whether to be married or not. One's opinion never mattered when it comes to royalty. The decision was for them to make. I should know better than anyone else since I spent most of my life around royalty.
I knew they would expect me to make decisions for hundreds of people. But how could I when I couldn't even decide if I wanted brownies or cheesecake for dessert. Did they seriously expect me to leave everything behind just to rule over an entire kingdom? Didn't they think about the fact that I didn't know the first thing about ruling a kingdom?
The more time I had to think about it I knew that I wasn't ever going to be thrilled about any of this. My eldest sister was heartbroken. My parents wouldn't talk to me nor look me in the eyes for longer than needed. And I was the gossip of the kingdom.
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The silence in the room was suffocating. No one said a word. Even my overly bossy mother was keeping to herself. She was angry and disappointed at what happened a few days ago. But she never voiced her thoughts on it. She simply acted as though I wasn't her own flesh and blood. Nothing more than stranger.
This was how my days ended. I would go to school. Endure the taunts and hateful glares directed at me. After all that I would go back home and be surrounded by the silence in the confines of my room. Everyone acted normal with each other but when I was around no one said a word or looked my way. It was infuriating how they gave me the cold shoulder. None of this was my fault yet I was treated like an unwanted criminal in my own home.
I had attempted to make small conversations earlier but only got one-word replies in return or none at all. The only one I had a conversation with was my father. He didn't treat me any different but he always seemed to be more distant each time. Like he was practicing to be without me. I didn't get why since I would always be here.
"Rebekah, there is something I need to discuss with you." My father said while drinking from his glass of expensive wine. I looked at my mother and sisters to see if they knew what he was talking about. And from their expressions they did.
My mother shook her head and angrily walked out of the room. Scarlet and Lizzy looked at me with eyes full of hate and disgust. They both got out of their seats and left just like mother did. What was going on? I turned to look at my father, expecting him to suddenly leave as well. I don't why but I just thought he would leave too.
"Father, why did they just leave like that? I know they blame me for everything that happened but they didn't have to walk out and leave chiefs meal like that. He works hard to make them." I whispered with my head hung low. I knew he heard but he didn't say anything. I wasn't going to say that but I did. I wanted to prolong the lecture that I knew I would get.
"Rebekah, darling we don't blame you for what happened. No one knew that the Crown Prince would take such a drastic step in front of his people. We expected it to go as planned. But as cruel as it may sound I don't disagree with the Prince's choice to marry you even if he was engaged to Scarlet. She has always put herself before others, judging and belittling them. I admit the agreement between the Royal family and us was for the eldest children of both households to be wed. But there was never a written contract to prohibit the Prince from choosing another. The king and I merely thought they would be the perfect match for each other since they always held a fondness for one another. And after thinking about it for the past few days we shouldn't have made that agreement. It would have been better for everyone if we never arranged such a proposal when they were so young." My father explained while sadly shaking his head.
I knew what he said was true because they had told us about it when we were old enough to know. And he was right. If they hadn't made such an agreement and gave everyone high hopes for the future, none of this would have happened. Prince Marcus would have picked someone else.
"You said that we needed to discuss something, what is it?" I asked. He sighed before finishing his glass of wine. I waited for the lecturing I tried to avoid. I didn't do an excellent job avoiding it. But I decided it was better to get it over with.
"Rebekah, you have two days to pack your belongings and leave." He said seriously. My eyes widen in shock as I stared at my father as he kept his serious expression. Not one sign of the sadness he showed minutes ago.
What did he mean? Was all that talk about everything not being my fault, a lie? Was he getting rid of me?
I couldn't form a coherent sentence as my mind was plagued with negative thoughts. My heart hammering in my chest as I stayed frozen in my seat. And all I could do was to ask...
"Why?"