Princess Thief [✔]

Side Story: Yves

MY BETROTHED

timeline: after the main story, before the epilogue

The world has changed, specifically the one I have known ever since. Father died. Mother's body had been preserved all along. Our eldest brother was alive. My sister was the infamous thief plaguing the continent.

It was too much to comprehend.

As much as the scene before me.

Willow, my betrothed. My future wife.

With the Crown Prince of Carrion.

This was a solemn funeral for all those who died and sacrificed their lives to the war that ended the rivalry of the two hidden races that dealt with magic: the Amicas and Cattivos.

Yet here I was, watching my beloved in the hands of another man as he was trying to comfort her.

The thing that I should do but cannot when I know who caused this tragedy.

My very own father.

Our kingdom never had the best reputation, but each royal family had skeletons in their closet. Ours was just aired to the public to cause fear and demand respect.

The end was foreseeable by then. Father was now six feet underground below me.

When all the deceased are being mourned with honor, my father's tomb was desolate.

As it should be with all the atrocities he had committed. It could be the curse, but it was no excuse. He let it consume his whole being and affect the people that he should be protecting.

Footsteps came closer as I was drowning in thoughts. A hand tapped my shoulder. Peering at the owner of the hand, Lian offered a smile.

She and Erodessa were draped in black, and veils covering their faces.

I glanced around, and our youngest was on the opposite side, standing along our eldest brother. Her expression was also obscure from the veil, while June's demeanor was void of emotions.

Perhaps it was the best. Blood was not always thicker than water. What's important was they found their happiness, even if it was without us.

I was the witness to Father's bias. The only reason the three of us were here was that no one could deny he was a responsible father to them.

He mentored me in a way to be an honorable ruler despite our lackluster reputation to become one. He was a different person when we were alone. It was as if Mother was still alive. Maybe he was a man of multiple facets, but I knew in my heart he was a genuine father to me.

And so he was to my two sisters. He spoiled them rotten despite his strict attitude and ploy to alienate our youngest. The only stain in their relationship was Erodess's arranged marriage.

But of course, he knew us best. It may sound political from others' perspective, but looking back at mine and Erodessa's arranged marriage, who would have thought it would both become a love match.

With Prince Asher's death, the fiery spirit that no one could temper died out.

Father always told me to take care of her, but I had no inkling why. My sister could stand on her own. She had everyone under her thumb and was never the person to let herself get daunted. It was more natural for her to antagonize others than the one being oppressed.  But the moment her husband died, she became a person I could not recognize. Just like how Father had changed last year, as the curse swallowed him further.