𝑫𝑹𝑰𝑭𝑻 [currently being edited]

chapter 24 - mean

He was absolutely pathetic.

He was a man on a mission.

He was a pathetic man on a mission. A mission to have his little moon in his arms once again every night. The sheets had begun to lose her scent, and that would not do.

No, it only served as more motivation and added to Aleksander's desperation to have Aruna back.

He knew that nothing would return back to the way it was before, he had lost Aruna's trust and respect. He had not been there to wipe away her tears that still stained her pillow case, he had not been there to support her when her bitch of a mother came nor was he there to remind her how important she was to him and how irreplaceable she was.

Not just to him, to everyone. Because everyone missed Aruna, she still smiled, not as bright as the sun but a slow and graceful smile, like the calm glow of the moon. That smile she sent to the Prince, Nikolai.

Aleksander was a greedy man, he wanted her to smile, but he wanted her to smile at him.

He knew that she was not like him, that she did not smile at Nikolai with anything other than platonic love. That she assumed him, even when he didn't deserve her, that it was merely a platonic love and nothing like what they shared.

He definitely didn't deserve her, but he was the villain after all.

And if he would be the villain of tales told over fires they would include the great beauty and kind heart that he loved, not that he deserved.

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"No so then I heroically jumped overboard and saved the damsel in distress, though mind you the damsel in distress was more of an drunk burley sailor that would not pull off a dress"

Aruna's laugh filled the library, Nikolai had taken it upon him to help his best friend and cheer her up. The two had spent the last week in the library telling stories, mostly involving Nikolai's privateering and adventures.

"Here I was thinking that you were too posh to even lift your own soup spoon" at Nikolai's face of disgust, "Does my brother really forced someone to feed him soup".

Aruna sighed, "Yes, last dinner with the royal family was quite the experience. First your mother spent 30 minutes lecturing about my uselessness as my light just plays and dances with the shadows instead of destroying them. Then your father and brother both spent that time looking at my chest instead of my face."

Dragging his hands over his face, "I am truly sorry for my family's actions, they truly make it hard to not want to be a bastard."

"Oh it's fine, Aleksander looked as if he was going to rip their heads off, and besides 'Nikolai, part time privateer and full time bastard' is quite the title."

Nikolai chucked, "Well it is a better title than, Nikolai Lantsov, Major of the Twenty-Second Regiment, Soldier of the King's Army, Grand Duke of Udova, and second son to His Most Royal Majesty, King Alexander the Third, Ruler of the Double Eagle Throne."

"Ugh don't remind me of your titles, I remember I could barely spell my name and you used to tease me into trying to write your title and I can still barely even remember it".

"Yes yes, my parents are completely terrible at names, now we need to speak about Aleksander."

"Why?"

"Because you love the man and even if he did creep me out as a child, he did use the shadows to scare Vasily over boring dinners, he would always get Vasily in trouble until my mother would quote the 'boy who cried Fjderan'."

Aruna gave a small smile at the thought of Aleksander scaring Vasily, Aleksander was quite petty.

"See I can tell that you want to go back to him already."

"Of course I want to go back to him, I love him"

"Good, even if he makes it up to you and you forgive him, don't go back to him straight away, make him sweat it out a bit, maybe even flirt with someone else or ignore him. Give him a piece of his own medicine."

"I wouldn't do that, that's mean. And stop trying to corrupt me"

"That's the point Aruna, and I have been corrupting you since day one."