Adrian looked up at the ceiling, counting each time a certain blade of the ceiling fan would pass through his head. He wished he could roll over and whisper himself to sleep, but he couldn't. He couldn't rack his heart around the thought of Viola dying. She was his sister, of course he couldn't. Could he say it was a mistake? No, she confessed herself. Nothing. Nothing he could do to save his sister. A slight knock on the door regained the boy's consciousness.
"Come in." He spoke sternly, but not taking his eyes off the ceiling. From the smell of the perfume, he knew who was standing at the door. From his peripheral, he could see she still hadn't had the time to change. She still wore her violet colored dress with blue accents. "You haven't changed." Although he spoke directly, he couldn't really say much. Even though he had hours for his own, he still hasn't changed out of the clothing he was assigned. He kept his voice quiet as he felt a corner of his bed lower to suit her weight. Silence seemed to surround them for a while, but like everything in Adrian's life, it had to come to an end.
"Did Vi really kill him?" Anyone with common sense could read the concern in her voice. But you could hear the doubt just as much.
"What do you think?" He finally took the opportunity to dig a deeper hole. He didn't want to, but having just the slightest crack in a fortress has shown to be trouble. Just look at him for example. Him hating his father so much caused a whole wave of problems he could never expect. "You saw it yourself! She lied about me and convinced him to die! Not only that, she confessed herself!" He wanted to speak fierce, but soothing enough so she'd understand. Most importantly, he wanted to be done and over with. He wanted to sleep and forget he ever went along with Vi's stupid demands. She was the one who decided to go into his office. This was her fault. Who else could it be? He watched as Anry's eyes never moved from where it was stationed. Right on him.
"I just… I know I'm gonna miss her." She gripped her dress tighter as she came to the harsh reality they both faced. "But I know, my sadness won't compare to yours. You just lost your father. Now her." Her saddened face slowly turned into a smile. "So how are you doing?" He watched as her hand shivered due to fear. Even with nice sounding words and a nice smile, you can't give counterfeit trust. No matter how pretty she looked, no matter how elegant she made herself out to be. She was a snake. Just waiting for the perfect time to bite him in the throat.
"I'm fine. Just tired." Adrian easily dismissed her comfort as he turned over to continue counting the blades once more. "If you don't mind leaving me alone, I just want… peace." He could see her disappointment in her failed plan as she moved to leave the room.
"Alright, but if you want anything, just let me know." As her back turns to face him, he decides to give a new tactic a try.
"Hey." He spoke in a soft, polite voice, simple enough to flutter and scare her all the same. "When this is all over, I can't wait to marry you." He honestly took a slight happiness out of watching her sad face turn completely flustered. If she was going to be fake, he could too. To further seal in his purity, he took back his stern attitude for something pleasant. Instead of kicking her out, he motioned her back in so they could finally talk about everything. From her leaving her parents to now. As time went on, he got to learn more and more things about the woman that would soon be his wife. He learned about her mom, who worked as a maid for other nobles a few roads down. He learned about how selfish her dad was. Apparently he made money by selling medicine, but kept the money to himself in case of "emergencies." She hated him, but could never have it in her to speak out.
"So how about you?" She looked to the boy for the convoluted answer she sought. "There's definitely more to you than just… I wanna be king! What about your life?" Although the question seemed simple. It wasn't. That was all he EVER wanted. Ever since he would speak, he could always imagine the sound of the sirens that would ring for him when he finally became king. Now, nothing rang. The castle work was shortened by half, so any possibility of extra help would be out of the question. They had the money, just not the time.
"No, that's it." He reached his hand out to try and grasp some dust that hung so high up in the air. "That's just been my dream. Before and after my mom died." Silence quickly navigated itself between the two as time went on.
"You're lying." Anry spoke with anger in her voice. "Here I am being honest with you and all you can do is put up and act. You have to have some dream." Her defensiveness at first made Adrian more upset than you could ever imagine, but the seriousness of it all made it… coarse. He didn't know how to explain it, but talking to her these last few minutes has been somewhat helpful.
"Anry, I've been putting up an act. That… was honesty. I truly have no other dreams." Even though he hated confessing that, he knew it all too well. This was it. Everything in his life, from birth to now, was predestined. Now what? What was he to do now that everything in his life has been achieved? Lay down, die, have kids. Nothing that he wanted to do lay before him. He heard that soon he'd have to start homeschool just so studies could continue. Maybe if Vi was there it would make his classes not so miserable, but no. She wouldn't be. In the next twenty-four hours, she will be a corpse. Nothing more.