The guards guarded that place until Arthur was done talking with Gwen. Those scenes piqued interest from the people outside and they were slowly gathered in front of the cafe.
"What is going on?" Max came to pick Arthur up since he did not come back from buying coffee. His appearance created another scene where everyone's focus shortly shifted to him and talked about his relationship with Helena but Max did not care.
"Is Arthur inside?" Max slowly approached one of the guards who quickly told him what was just happening. "So the finding is over??"
"Not sure about that. We have to wait until The Prince is done talking with Gwen."
"Does The King know about this?"
"Eum. The Prince informed The King and Queen yesterday about the situation. Prince Arthur asked us to wait here."
"So, He's been planning it ... .What if he gets rejected–" The murmurs among the crowd were suddenly quiet when they heard the door open and Arthur showed up from the cafe. Silence emerged for a short while until he broke it.
"Starting from today…" Arthur spoke loudly in front of his people, "I, Arthur Frederick Zachary, The Prince of Astoria announced that The Finding Tradition is over."
The crowds got hyped again after listening to Arthur's announcement. Arthur's eyes met Max, who had been waiting in front of the cafe to find out what was happening, "Prince my ass–you're so annoying."
But then both of them chuckled and did a short high-five. Arthur asked the guards to keep guarding the cafe and sent a car to pick Gwen up if she wants to go home later because he is worried that it will be burdensome for Gwen.
—
Gwen watched everything that had been happening from the cafe. She really could not tell if Astorian people can really accept her or not. She lifted her right hand and stared at the beautiful ring on her finger.
—
"The day has come…" Arthur pulled one of the chairs and sat calmly. "I've told you I'm going to make a scene here. So, May I hear your answer?"
"Do you really have to do this?"
"I do. I'm going to end The Finding Tradition today whether you accept me or not," Arthur got up from his chair and approached Gwen. "I'd rather lead this country alone rather than marrying the wrong person…This week has been such a hell for me, Gwen. It's killing me."
Gwen looked up to him. Arthur's eyes looked desperate and she could not deny that she was actually missing his presence. But everything was still too overwhelming for her.
Arthur reached both of Gwen's shoulders, "You said you like me too. You don't have to think about the country, It's my responsibility. You just have to stay by my side. Please look at me as myself, Arthur, not the Prince."
Gwen thought for a moment until she decided to bury herself in Arthur's arms to hug him, "I thought I could forget everything by making myself busier, but I was wrong."
Arthur's arms move to hug her back, "I miss you like crazy. I can't guarantee that Palace life is easy. I understand that you might need time to adapt to it…but I want you to know that whenever you are tired and sick of it, You can always come to me."
Gwen pulled herself out of his hug and stared at Arthur's face, "Can I do that?"
"I am the one who dragged you into this life. I have to be responsible for it," He moved his hand into her neck so Gwen only looked at him, "It's not like we're going to get married tomorrow, but I want to confirm it once again, Will you marry me?"
Gwen's eyes shifted to his lips before their eyes met again, "I will." She quickly closed his eyes as a response to Arthur's kiss. She could feel him smiling in the midst of the kiss.
"I love you," said Arthur whispered right on her lips. He ended it first and took out a ring before inserting it to Gwen's finger. A smile formed on his face while staring at his ring in Gwen's finger. "I promise to always protect you. You don't have to worry about it…"
"You can just send it to my email…I'm sorry, I can't manage it for quite some time…"
"Hei! That's fine! We're all happy for you! You know what? Many people came here after you left! Some took pictures in front of our cafe and The Prince paid for everyone so everything was sold out! We have to close for several days since we need to buy our logistics…it is tiring but it increases our sales."
"Still…I feel bad for you guys."
"How about if we open a job vacancy? Our cafe will be getting bigger especially after you marry the Prince. We're short of staff for now."
"Eum…let's just count the profits and We'll decide how many new staff we can hire for this. I'll try to talk to Arthur about this since he started it all."
"Don't be too hard on him. I'm saying this not because he's the prince. He's our regular customer before he revealed his identity. I eum…actually he asked me not to tell you about this but he was the one who always left a huge tip for us whenever he came here. From the way he looked at you, I can tell that He's madly in love with you."
"Tch–alright. I'll talk to him . Let's talk again later…" Gwen ended the phone call with her best employee, Diane. At the same time, There was a knock on the door.
Gwen got up and walked to the door, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Arthur."
Gwen opened the door and Arthur welcomed her with the sweetest smile that she had been missing for the whole week, "How do you know my house?" She followed Arthur to the living room.
He put the big goodie bag that he had been carrying around since he arrived, and turned around, "My driver took you home today…"
"Ah...I see…" Gwen looked and pointed at the goodie bag Arthur bought for her, "What is that?"
Arthur handed the bag to Gwen, "I asked for Helena's help to pick the best one for you."
"I-Is it a gown?"
"Eum…there will be dinner next week in the palace. I have to introduce you to my parents," Arthur then noticed a slight worry reflected on Gwen's face. He took the goodie bag down and reached Gwen's hand and guided her to sit down together.
"I apologized for what I did in your cafe. Also, I know that I bring such a burden to you. You couldn't just go out freely and work because of me…but hang in there, You'll get used to it."
Gwen stared at her hands which rested warmly in Arthur's palms, "It was still overwhelming for me…"
"I know…." Gwen stared deeply into Arthur's eyes. He looks so genuine. "I do feel guilty for you."
"It's a part of the consequences of loving you. There is no turning back. I shouldn't have fallen for you when I saw you for the first time back then."
"I'm sorry," Arthur closed his eyes when Gwen kissed him to stop Arthur from saying sorry.
"I miss you."
Arthur could not help but smile when he heard what Gwen said. His index finger touched her chin and guided her face closer so he could kiss her again.
His hand instinctively traveled to her waist and brought her closer by making Gwen sit on his lap. Gwen's hand hugged his neck while their lips tangled with each other.
Gwen gasped in the midst of the kiss when she felt Arthur's hands slip into her shirt and caressed her back softly–sending a familiar tingling sensation like what she felt when they kissed for the first time at Arthur's balcony. It felt blurry back then because she was drunk but now it feels so real.
The kiss was paused for quite some time since they both needed some air to breathe. "I'll make up for what we lost in a week," Arthur took off his jacket before hugging her back. "I wanted to spend more time with you today but I had some things to take care of. So, since my duty has finished for today, I'm going to devour you all night."
Arthur pulled her closer to kiss Gwen again. This time deeper than before that he started to collide his tongue with hers. His hands slipped back into her shirt again and Arthur started to leave some love bites on her neck.
Gwen could feel his bulge growing as a sign that he really wanted her that night and probably the result of him holding back his desire for a week when they did not see each other.
She pulled herself to stand and Arthur quickly followed her. He kept pulling her closer whenever the distance between them grew apart even if it was just a few inches away. Gwen guided him to her bedroom. Once they reached the door, Arthur quickly carried her to bed and pulled his shirt off before coming back to kiss Gwen like he never gets enough of her.
One of his hands slided down into her private part and stimulated her softly making her instinctively moan his name and Arthur automatically paused, "T-That's eum.." His face got flushed when he heard Gwen moan his name. It felt so different to do this when there is no alcohol between them. They are both fully aware of what they were doing and that felt very personal for Arthur.
"W-Why?"
"No, nothing. That's…" Arthur smiled when he felt something damp on the tip of his fingers. He could tell that Gwen also wanted him as much as he wanted her. "Listening to you moan my name feels very personal to me… especially when you're not drunk like this."
Her face got reddened when Arthur caught her red handed, "I–I'm sorry."
Arthur chuckled and buried his face on the crook of her neck. He then lifted his face again to stare at Gwen's face, "Why are you saying sorry? That sounds like a lullaby to me. I want to hear it all night…"
Gwen caressed his neck and slowly pulled him for another kiss. He pushed Arthur down so she could be on top of him. Arthur closed his eyes when this time, It was Gwen who left her marks on him. He quickly stopped her when he saw Gwen went down on him then flipped her up to be on top of her.
One of his hands was busy pulling out her shorts and caressed her thigh softly before he slowly inserted himself on him. Gwen's vision suddenly got blank and all she saw were stars when she felt him inside.
Something felt different today than the first time they made love to each other a week ago. It felt very personal and emotional so she did not want to end it all.
Arthur moved slowly inside her body. The heat increased quickly due to their bodies colliding with each other simultaneously. "Tell me if you want to cum…"
Gwen shut her eyes tight, due to her increasing desire she felt inside her body, and shook her head, "I–I'm fi–Agh!" She screamed in pleasure when She felt Arthur did a strong push inside.
"I–I'm sorry I got too carried away!" He clenched his teeth–both of their bodies got wet due to the hot tension rising from them. Arthur did his one last push before collapsing on Gwen's body.
"I'm sorry…hh…" He was panting out of exhaustion and hugging her tightly, "I'm sorry."
"I'm fine…" Gwen patted his wide back, "That was….amazing."
Arthur chuckled slowly and kissed her neck softly then smiled. "Tonight is everything to me…I want to stay like this until morning…"
Gwen turned around and stared at Arthur who shifted to lie down next to her, "Then stay…"
"I can't wait for it…I can't wait to officially live with you…"