The Crazy Tyrant Wants To Kill Me(EDITING)

32 - The Past

The only thing in my mind was determination as I stood in front of the kitchen door. It was my fault that Lucas and Cedric split up. I was no help at all here. I was only a burden if I stayed. As soon as Theo tells me the truth, I'll leave this estate to find my mysterious stalker. 

Everyone were too busy with the upcoming battle to worry about me. The knights and guards were training, the maids either packing their stuff or helping others pack. Even Lucas, the only person who wasn't distracted or had their guard down, was now gone as he had left the palace in fits of rage.

Throwing my personal feelings about Theo at the back of my mind, I slid the kitchen door open and stepped inside. The moonlight leaked through the stained glass windows and on me. Exactly twelve o'clock. 

I peeked inside, spotting Theo staring out the window.

"Theo?" The door swung open completely as I stepped inside.

Theo jumped and whipped his head towards me. He had a cup of coffee in his hands and it spilled all over his shirt after being startled by me. 

"Oh my goodness I'm so sorry!" I grabbed a handful of tissues from the tissue box and ran towards him, wiping at the huge coffee stain. "Sorry... sorry," I murmured, guilty.

"It's fine Amanda. Really. I have more shirts," Theo told me, placing a hand on my shoulder. My hands froze. 

Amanda?

Amanda.

He called me Amanda. My name.

No one had called me Amanda in such a long time. He was really the only one willing to call me Amanda, instead of Her Highness or Julia. The name Amanda sounded so beautiful, so precious out of his mouth. 

He glanced down at my frozen hands and my widened eyes. "Did I say something wrong?!" Worry filled his eyes. "Would you like me to call you something else? You've insisted for me to call you Amanda before..."

Huh? The last sentence caught my attention. 

"Amanda? Amanda!" Theo shook my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Oh.. no!" A blush crept up to my cheeks and I stepped back, embarrassed. "Please continue calling me Amanda. I was just...I..."

"It's fine, I understand. You should sit down."

Theo pulled out a chair for me and I shyly sat down. He slowly took my hand. "So... do you want me to start at the beginning?"

I nodded.

Theo thought for a moment. "It all started when Cedric was taking a walk in the streets, with Lucas accompanying him of course. Your sister, Julia, was on her way to the bread market when they bumped into each other."

Theo ran his fingers my hair. "It was love at first sight. They looked at each other with such a loving gaze that there was no word to describe. It-"

I interrupted him. "You weren't there to see it, so how do you know so clearly?"

Theo chucked and touched my cheek. I blushed. "Rumors and some stalking gave me the answer."

Stalking?! My heart almost stopped, my blood draining from my face as I stared at Theo in shock. 

The smile was immediately wiped off Theo's face when he saw my expression. "Why are you so pale? What did I say?"

"Don't tell me.... you were the stalker who left me the note!" I exclaimed.

Theo's face widened and his mouth dropped open. "Stalker....? Note....?"

He suddenly grabbed my shoulders. "Who is the stalker? Do you need protection?! What's going on? Are you in danger?"

He didn't look like he was lying at all. It looks like I misunderstood. 

I waved my hand. "Oh it's nothing."

The grip on my shoulders tightened. "I know your lying, Manda."

I winced at the pain on my shoulders. Theo instantly released me. "Oh, sorry!"

"Please, continue explaining. I'll tell you later."

Theo's face softened. "Alright.... Where was I? Oh right. Love at first sight. Cedric shyly asked Julia out for dinner. After Julia agreed, Cedric told Lucas to leave so they could be alone.

The next day Cedric decided to let Julia move into his palace so they could live together. I know right, what a fast move. However, when Cedric offered for Julia to move her,  Julia instantly disagreed. And even said that she wasn't Julia, but Amanda!"

My jaw dropped.

"The truth is, that was you and not your sister."

My jaw was on the floor. I gripped the edge of the table, trembling. Where was my sister then?>

"You see, your sister had been kidnapped on the night she and Cedric met. Because you and Julia are twin sisters, Cedric mistook you for Julia. Upon hearing your words, he became furious as he thought you were lying. He forced you to live in his estate and wouldn't listen to anything you said."

Theo reached over and poured himself another cup of coffee. "When you kept insisting that you were not Julia, he threatened to kill you if you didn't say you were Julia. Out of fear, you said you were Julia.

After that you said you 'were' Julia, Cedric truly believed you were actually your sister. Your life was miserable as you lived in the palace. You were worried about your sister, scared of Cedric and was locked in your room everyday. But one stormy night you broke out of your room, wandering the halls, trying to find an exit to escape. But instead you found me. You first thought I was on Cedric's side, however when I explained everything to you, you finally believed me."

"Explained what?" I asked.

Theo sighed deeply and looked out the window. 

After a moment of silence, he spoke. "That I'm Cedric's stepbrother - the person who hates the most, apart from my mother. Cedric's own mother died when he was fifteen, and his father remarried my mother one year later. Even after Cedric's father and my mother died, Cedric still hates me to the core."

Theo sipped his coffee sadly.

"Back to your story."

I gulped. My story.

"After I explained my story, we started secretly hanging out every night. We would sneak some snacks from the kitchen, learn more about each other and have the best evenings together. We even rode Snowy, a horse, at midnight."

We rode Snowy together?! My heart pounded in my chest, my cheeks flushing red.

So that was what Lucas was talking about.

Theo suddenly stopped, pressing his lips together. He reached for my hand, grasping it. "But then, of course, Cedric found out."

My blood ran cold.

"He attempted separate us by locking us in our rooms for weeks. But one day I broke out of my bedroom. I grabbed you hand and we eagerly fled, escaping from that place where we called a prison cell. You fell asleep in our carriage. But then an accident had to happen. The carriage tipped over on a bridge. I got dragged to the shore, while you got washed by the waves. Cedric captured me and took me away."

Theo squeezed my hand. "I never saw you again. Until now."

I was shocked. Numb even.

"This probably is a lot for you to take in, but more than half of the stuff I'm telling you is what you told me five years ago."

"I need to calm down. I need to think." I pulled my hand out of his.

"Oh.... alright."

I turned away from Theo, facing the other way. I breathed deeply, closing my eyes and opening them again.

So this is the past. My past.