30 Days As A Substitute Prince

Chapter 16

Aria sighed in relief as she watched his barrier coming down. 

She wasn’t sure what had been bothering him, and she scolded herself for waiting so long to take a big step to get through to him instead of sulking and thinking he didn’t want to be with her. 

But she couldn’t have known. It was now when she had a hunch, that she really considered that something might be wrong with him. 

“Will you tell me?” she asked in a small voice as she led him to his bed again. 

They sat in silence for a while as Chad gathered his thoughts.  He knew he couldn’t tell her the real reason why he had been acting odd, but he supposed telling her about Heather wouldn’t be too bad. 

After all, he was almost a hundred percent sure that he had been holding a physical note from her in his hands only ten minutes ago. Maybe he wasn’t as crazy as he thought. 

“I’ve been…I’ve been seeing a woman,” he said, and Aria gasped in shock as she flinched away from him. 

He immediately realised how bad that sounded and quickly rephrased his words. 

“No, not like that,” he quickly returned. “I mean I have been seeing a woman that I thought wasn’t real, but after today, I’m not so sure. I thought I was losing my mind, Aria.” 

Aria’s eyebrows furrowed deeper as she shuffled close to him again. “You’ve been seeing someone who isn’t real? Like a hallucination?” 

“Yes.” Chad nodded with a sigh. “The first time I saw her was the morning after the ball, but I didn’t see her again until the night when I caught the cold, but she didn’t stay when you returned. When I mentioned her to you, you didn’t know who I was referring to.” 

That was partially true. Chad acknowledged that in order to convince her that his cold shouldering towards her was because of Heather, he couldn’t have told her the truth that he saw her for the first time when he was sick. Or else, she’d know for sure that there was another reason why he was pushing her away. 

As far as this goes, Chad wanted her to believe that he pushed her away so that she doesn’t recognise his ‘crazy’. 

“You mean Heather?” Aria couldn’t forget the name. She hadn’t been thinking about it until now, but she remembered when he asked about the woman. 

“Yes. I think she is real, but if she’s not, I am losing my mind, Aria, and it scares me.” 

Aria could see his frustration, and all she wanted to do was take it away. “You are not losing your mind.” She sighed. “Just tell me everything.” 

And he did. He told her about seeing her in the garden, but Joshua didn’t see her. He told her about the night she brought him food when he was sick, and he told her about this morning, the note and everything. 

Once he was done, Aria was confused but she had a logic of her own. 

“Joshua,” she concluded as she met Chad’s eyes again. 

“Pardon?” 

“Joshua was the only other person who could’ve seen her. Maybe he wants you to believe that you are imagining her.” 

Chad frowned. He hadn’t known Joshua for long, but this didn’t seem like something he would do. 

“Perhaps. But why would Joshua do such a thing? You think he knows her?” 

“He could. He’s been rather sketchy if you ask me.” 

“I didn’t notice,” Chad told her truthfully. Joshua had been nothing but kind to him.