"May I know why you're crying, little princess?" I heard Lucas mutter behind me, "I thought princesses weren't supposed to cry so their crowns wouldn't fall," said the blond with a goofy grin as he looked me in the eyes.
"That stupidity is too cliché even for you Mr. duke" I replied as I wiped the tears from my face, I was sure my face looked like a tomato.
"We wear noble titles and participate in pretentious upper-class meetings and protocol. Our life is a cliché in itself, Lia," Lucas replied, sitting down next to me, "Still, that's no answer to my question, why are you crying?" he asked, taking my face and wiping away the tears.
The reality was that I couldn't tell him I was crying because he had graduated from the course he was taking at university and would be going back to England in a few days. We didn't talk much, but Lucas and I had a good relationship. Besides, I was still his best friend's little sister, so I didn't want to make things awkward for him.
"I got a bad grade on my English history exam. I guess rereading Jane Austen and the Bridgerton saga over and over again doesn't guarantee a broad knowledge of your country's history," I lied, pushing him away, the closeness of his face wasn't good for my heart.
Lucas frowned and stood to one side looking straight ahead. "I guess not." he mused, then turned his gaze to me in concern and spoke, "Lia, I know I'm about to go back, but if you need help, I could stay a little longer and tutor you, or we can even video call, I can help you with your classes."
As tempting as his proposal was, I still had some sense left so I put on my best smile and shook my head, I couldn't let him do that, I knew he missed his family.
"I got a tutor at school. Besides, you should go back, you always talk about how cold Belair is in the winter compared to London," I declared turning to look at him.
Of course, I didn't expect his face to be inches away from mine and I could feel his breath hit my lips. Of course, I didn't expect him to move even closer and ask me who the supposed tutor was angrily averting his gaze from my eyes to my mouth.
"Would it be wrong to want to kiss you, Liana?" he asked.
"Liana." I heard him call out to me in a distorted voice. Strange. Lucas used to call me Lia, never Liana or Ellie like my family. It was always Lia.
"Liana!" I heard my sister's voice yell at me.
Fuck. I got so lost in the memory of my dream that I forgot I was sitting with my sister in the dining room.
"You were saying, Louie?" I replied seeing my sister looking at me from the other seat with a raised eyebrow.
"Where's your head, girl? I've been calling you for 5 minutes asking you what you want to eat," she grumbled. "Are you alright? You look like you've been on cloud nine since yesterday." She looked at me now with concern.
Eloise, or Louie as I had called her since I was a child, was the typical overprotective older sister. Always concerned about my well-being, whether I had eaten or slept well; she even helped me when I made my mother angry. Louie had also been my confidant in my crush on Lucas.
The royals had a significant disadvantage, I didn't have people close to me who I considered my friends, I was quite lonely but my sister was great company, even Leo was; the three of us are very close so we had the confidence to talk about all sorts of things.
So, I plucked up the courage and asked.
"Louie, remember what you said yesterday, about Lucas and me? What exactly did you mean by 'feelings between us'?" I asked.
My sister sighed looking back down at her empty plate, breakfast was taking longer than usual.
"Ellie, this isn't a good time, Lucas is coming down for breakfast any minute and I don't think it's the best time to talk about it right now."
I nodded silently and prepared to get up as my mother, brother and Lucas walked through the dining room door.
All three greeted us in time with a simple good morning, and my mother came over to kiss me and my sister.
Breakfast was brought to the table and I sat down to eat in silence while the others talked about different subjects. My mind drifted back and forth to my dream, in the actual memory of 2 years ago Lucas never came close to me to kiss me. In fact, after our conversation at that time, he excused himself and went back inside. I remember not seeing him for the rest of that day.
My appetite was almost nil and I had been busy moving food around my plate from one side to the other until I heard my mother call out to me.
"You were saying, mother?" I replied.
"Lucas is speaking to you, love."
"You were saying, Mr. duke?" I looked at the man in front of me.
"You don't seem to have much of an appetite this morning and I've already finished my plate. Will you join me in the study? We can continue our talk from yesterday." he said smiling.
"Sure. Bon Appetit, family." I got up and went to the bathroom in my room to brush my teeth and then headed to the study.
"Here I am." I spoke.
As I walked into the den, I saw Lucas sitting on the couch with a box in his lap and I walked over to him. I hesitated whether or not to sit next to him for a moment and decided to better take another seat before he noticed.
"Anything, in particular, you want to talk about?" I heard myself say in a monotone voice looking at the man in front of me.
Lucas POV:
Watching Lia was one of my favorite pastimes since I met her as a young girl. The innocence and beauty she exuded was simply mesmerizing. Lia was beautiful, there was no other word to describe her, and I had been in love with her for too long to deprive myself of seeing her even for a moment.
Coming back here after almost 2 years I had a very clear objective. To reclaim the love story that belonged to me with Liana. I had fallen in love with her the second her brother introduced her to me 4 years ago and although I knew it was morally questionable for me to get close to her because of her age, I couldn't help it; however, I always stayed within the boundaries of friendship.
But now, Lia is an adult and has had the opportunity to live and explore the world through her eyes; now I can approach her and show her how I feel.
As I waited for her in the studio, I replayed the breakfast scene over and over in my mind; Lia seemed distracted and absent, I would go so far as to say she even seemed sad, and for someone with such lively and striking energy, that was rather odd.
I don't remember how long it had been since I had been waiting for her in the studio but her voice brought me out of the reverie I was in and I stopped to look at her. I saw her stop in the middle of the room and hesitate whether to sit next to me or not, a new warning sign that left me even more puzzled, her attitude totally different from yesterday.
Finally, she sat down on the couch opposite me and although I felt my tongue itch to ask him the reason for her remoteness, I let it pass.
"Anything, in particular, you want to talk about?" he said seriously for a moment I almost regretted asking him to meet me here.
"Not much in fact, you don't seem to be in much of a mood this morning. Especially considering they made blueberry pancakes and you didn't even turn to look at them." I replied.
"I'm not very hungry and I highly doubt you summoned me here to talk about my eating habits, Mister Duke."
"You're right. I wanted to continue the conversation we left halfway through yesterday."
I saw her frown and that indicated to me that she didn't feel like talking about it. Lia had always been so easy to read.
"Anyway, besides that, I wanted to give you this." I spread the box on my lap. "It's a gift, I meant to give it to you yesterday but I forgot."
"May I ask what it is?"
"You already have," I replied smiling, trying to make the mood more bearable.
Lia narrowed her eyes and for the first time that morning, she smiled at me
"Stupid question, I get it."
"You should open it. If you don't like it, we can always take a flight to London to return it," I suggested trying to sound casual.
"It's a tempting offer but I'll make sure first."
And boy was it tempting, the furthest we had ever gone together was the lake near her house, taking her with me to London was not only a temptation but a dream I hoped to fulfill one day, sooner rather than later.
As Lia opened the box I took in her beauty, her long dark hair with waves, her long brown eyes that made you want to look into them. Her small, petite body and that tiny waist often made me sin in my thoughts for wanting to hold her. All of her was a wonder, I hope I could soon call her mine.
"You kept it. I thought you'd get rid of it. It's the corniest gift in the world" Lia spoke in front of me with a smile.
"I assure you it is the most meaningful gift I have ever received. I wanted to return it to you with my own annotations and a clean new version so that we could reread it together. I'm sure our ideas and opinions have evolved over the years," I replied, watching her carefully.
Lia blushed and reached over to leave a kiss on my cheek that stunned me.
"It's very meaningful to me too. Thank you, Lucas."
"Don't thank me, seeing your smile is more than enough."
Lia laughed and then replied. "English gallantry doesn't do it for me, Darcy. But a pizza for lunch may be your way to my heart."
She didn't know. Neither the meaning those words encompassed nor what they aroused in me but I was more than willing to show her my love, and if the pizza was a tool... Well as my grandfather used to say, in war and in love all's fair.
Of course, my grandfather was also a duke who never went to war and lived all his life in the family mansion in comfort but the analogy serves a purpose on this occasion.
"I accept, but not here. Let's go to the Italian restaurant downtown where your brother took us the day I left." I replied, I highly doubted he would accept but I had to risk it.
"Alright, make it twelve" Lia got up from her seat and headed for the exit.
As she reached the door, she turned to me.
"Oh, just so you know, I'll start this book right now. Meet me here at twelve."
"It's a date" I pushed my luck.
"It is, Duke" the girl replied and left the room leaving my heart racing.
I didn't expect her answer to be positive but here it was. Hours away from a date with the girl who had been making a fool of me for the last 4 years.
Year 2022, The Beginning of Lucas and Liana
"Darcy, I'm dead serious, my mother and sisters already know of your arrival. You'll only be home a couple of weeks for the holidays, don't be dramatic and go, we're expected for dinner." Said Leonard hurrying his friend.
"What the fuck, Harris? What do you think I pay for the college dorm for? I do not want to bother your family. I'm used to spending the holidays alone at home."
"Well, fuck you. Christmas in Luxembourg is for family and even if I don't like you very much it counts as charity." The prince annoyed him as he shoved him sideways.
Of course, Leonard didn't realize that the real reason behind his reluctance to spend the holidays at the Harris family castle had nothing to do with privacy but with the torment that had plagued his dreams and thoughts since he had first set foot in that house four months ago. Liana Elizabeth Harris, 14 years old, fair skin, long black hair with waves, five foot three inches tall, also known as the younger sister of the one he considered his best friend.
Lucas had met Liana along with the rest of the family when they went to accompany Leonard to his university residence on the first day of classes, his heart had accelerated like never before in his recently turned 18 years of life. The little 14-year-old was beautiful, even though her features were just maturing it was obvious that she would be a beautiful woman, with that thought in mind it took her a minute to remember that Ellie as her newly arrived roommate had called her was not only a girl but the sister of the person she would be rooming with for the next few months.
"Besides, I'm sure I'll never see her again," thought the newly-minted duke deludedly.
Fate works in inexplicable ways.
The autumn semester progressed with constant visits from the royal family to the university and many nights of video calls where the young duke was forced to see the little princess. The girl was adorable and fucking beautiful and stole the duke's heart more and more every day.
During the Christmas festivities at the royal mansion, Lucas had had no trouble at all. He blended in perfectly with the Harrises and followed all their traditions. From making and hand-painting paper lanterns for the Belair Festival of Lights on December 8 to baking fruitcakes and gingerbread biscuits for the town's orphanage. The star of such activities was none other than the youngest princess who seemed delighted with the presence and attention she was receiving from the English duke.
If Liana wanted to ride in her hair, Lucas would be behind her, making sure she didn't fall. If the princess wanted to fetch the Christmas tree before the normal date the duke would be willing to cut it down himself. The bond between the two young men was evident to all, but it seemed to become much more evident to the other inhabitants of the castle on Christmas morning.
Christmas was more than special for the Harrises, freshly baked biscuits, carols, and presents. As every year the tradition was an exchange of gifts the morning after Christmas Eve, however, such gifts were to be more meaningful than anything else, and ostentatious or fancy gifts were not allowed; all members of the family knew this, but the newcomer seemed not to have been informed.
The duke was the first to deliver his gifts, earrings for the queen, a set of professional brushes for Eloise, an expensive Rolex watch for Leonard, and a small silver and diamond-encrusted music box for the younger princess. A curious thing about the said artifact is that the song it played was nothing more than a wedding march. Subtle but not subtle enough.
After the final gift exchange where poems, family artifacts, bracelets, and drawings took center stage, all members retired from the hall leaving only the little princess and the duke.
"I have something else for you, but I thought I'd better give it to you after everyone left," said little Liana extending one last gift wrapped in a white paper. "It's a bit more special. You always talk about how much you love Jane Austen. I just reread Pride and Prejudice and made a few notes of my thoughts, I thought you might like to read it." Finished the princess looking at him eagerly.
"It's beautiful, Lia. I will return it to you soon with my own annotations. I think it's my favorite present this Christmas, little one," he said after leaving a kiss on the young girl's forehead.
"It's nothing, I wanted you to have a souvenir of this Christmas at the university."
"It's more than perfect. I already have enough memories of this Christmas; it was probably the best of my life."
"It's not over yet, we still have the last big celebration of the year. If you thought the paper lanterns were difficult wait until we make the wreaths." laughed the princess as she grabbed her presents and stood up. "I have to go, Lucas, I'll see you later." She finally said goodbye heading towards her room.
Neither of the two were aware that their conversation was being overheard by none other than Prince Harris who after witnessing the suspicious exchange went to his room wondering what to do.
With the end of the festivities and the return to school came strange events for the duke. His friendship with the prince seemed a little more distant, and he would swear that the prince was even angry with him. Visits from the royal family ceased to occur and silence reigned most of the time the two young men were in the room. There seemed to be no end to it until two weeks after the holidays when Prince Harris accosted the young duke one fine day while he was studying.
"Hey, Darcy. You busy?" said the prince.
"A bit, what do you need?" said the Englishman without taking his eyes off the report he was typing on his computer.
"Art history had nothing to do with going to see paintings in museums as he thought it did." thought the duke.
"Talk. About you. And the way you see my sister," replied the brown boy simply.
Hearing that the young duke felt his world stop for a moment. What the fuck was he answering his friend now? Ever since they met the two boys had formed a good bond but as the Christmas holidays came to an end, he noticed that the brown boy was becoming more distant by the day. He never thought he had noticed that he liked his sister.
So, he foolishly tried to deflect off the sidelines.
"Eloise is gorgeous, mate, but I'm sure she'll end up married to that Polonian prince she's always talking about," the duke tried to joke.
"I think you know I'm not talking about Eloise, Darcy. I'm talking about Ellie. I noticed how you were looking at her during the holidays, always looking out for her, even giving her an expensive Christmas present when you first met her," the young prince declared in a firm voice.
"I don't want to make any misunderstandings in my head. You and I are friends, that's why I'm asking you directly. What is it with you and my sister?" he added.
Lucas, seeing that he was serious, closed the computer screen and turned to look at his friend, taking a breath and filling himself with as much courage as it took to answer.
"I like your sister, Harris," the duke man replied sincerely and quietly.
Leonard was not a violent person or anything like that, he was rather kind and funny. But at that moment, after that relief, Lucas could have sworn that Leonard would smash his face in.
"She's a little girl" roared the chestnut.
"I know."
"It is morally and legally wrong. Darcy. She's only 14. What do you think I'm going to think if you tell me you like my little sister, she could very well be your sister."
"But she's not," the black-haired man replied, watching his friend frown. "She's not my sister, Leo, but that doesn't mean I have bad intentions. I'm not trying to get anything from her or hurt her" he felt the need to state after his friend's implied accusation.
"Your sister is beautiful, and I'm honest when I say I have feelings for her; but I'm aware that it's not right, she's still a child and I respect and value that. I'm not going to get inappropriately close to her, I would be incapable. If you want me to walk away and never speak to me again, I'll understand, but I'm being honest right now," finished the black-haired man with a dejected look.
They both looked into each other's eyes, one trying to find a trace of malice or evil in the other, and the other trying to prove his innocence.
The situation was more than uncomfortable. The doubt about his friend's intentions would always be present with the need to protect his sister.
Leonard Daniel Harris was an excellent judge of character, he was extremely intuitive and could easily determine when someone was lying to him. It was precisely that truth and innocence he saw in his friend's eyes that led him to give him that answer.
"I believe you. You seem honest. I want you to know that I'm trusting you with one of the people I love the most and that I'll probably murder you if you touch a hair on my sister's head," the young chestnut ended by saying.
"You have my word."
"If you come even an inch closer than normal to her, I'm going to kill you, Darcy. I mean it."
"If that happens, I will put up no resistance, believe me"
His words sounded confident and real, enough to put the prince at ease and separately continue his afternoon of study.