30 Days As A Substitute Prince

Chapter 9

So far plan B had been a bust.

Chad had to be constantly reminding himself why he had to do it, but that didn’t eliminate the fact that it was hard. Really hard.

There was nowhere in Zadkiel’s agreement that states ‘you could fall in love with my bride’. In fact, Zadkiel had all intentions to come back and take her as his wife. He was quite proud and serious about it too. He only wanted to get what he lost all those years before taking on another lifelong duty. He wanted to be a normal human for once.

But now that very decision was costing Chad his sanity. It took everything out of him to walk away from her yesterday, especially after seeing the look on her face.

His soft heart couldn’t bear it. Even if he wasn’t attracted to her, it would’ve still been a hard thing to do. She was, after all, a human being. And Chad treated every human being with the utmost kindness.

As he gazed at himself in the body-length mirror, buttoning yet another tunic that didn’t belong to him, he dreaded the day ahead of him. Another day where he would act as if he wasn’t interested in her. Maybe after a while, it will become easier and they’ll eventually grow apart.

Then and only then his duty and favour to Zadkiel will be done and he won’t have to worry about anything like heartbreak and getting killed. He hoped dearly that Zadkiel had a solid plan on how he’ll get them through this.

Sighing deeply, Chad flung himself against the bed once his attire was complete, and he looked nothing less of a prince indeed. He was shocked that he had been pulling it off all this time. Being a prince is not easy, yet, he found himself doing it every day.

It has been three days, Chad. Don’t get in over your head now, the tiny voice in his head mocked, and he chuckled lightly at the thought.

Great. Now he was speaking to himself. Definitely crazy.

It wasn’t time for breakfast yet. In fact, they had at least twenty minutes before it was time to go down for the meal. Chad found himself waking up earlier than he intended, simply because he couldn’t sleep. So, he did what he could do with the time.

He tidied the room that he had been staying in, despite the fact that he had servants to do it for him every day. It wasn’t exactly something he was used to, since he did everything for himself basically all his adult life.

He then proceeded to wash himself, after which he spent another hour styling his hair to royal perfection. He had to admit, today of all days he felt like a royal, but not at heart.

Feeling utterly bored out of his mind, Chad peered around the room for something to do. On a table in the corner of the room, sat a small book that looked like a journal. The sight excited Chad, since he had been dying for something to draw on since the moment he arrived. He made a mental note to request some supplies soon.

The book seemed old but unused, as if it was placed there specifically for him but in an unintentional way.

He flipped through it on impulse, loving the scent on the pages as the beige plain sheets called out to him to fill them with his drawings or…words?

Oddly, Chad felt the urge to write too. In this journal he could write down his feelings that he had kept bottled up. Maybe this could help him get through the month. After all, his mother always said, 'writing frees the soul'. Maybe she was right. 

With its purpose intact, he grabbed a pen that was laying on his nightstand and set it on the paper, trying to find the words to write.

Nothing happened for a while, but then he realised that he was trying too hard. With a deep breath, he gazed at the pen, cleared his mind and let his fingers tell the tale of his heart.