Fairytale Love | Karlnap • Royal Au

Chapter 29

   My dearest Sapnap,

   I have had second thoughts about marrying you and becoming prince of L'manberg. I must confess I only pretended to be in love with you to escape the dreary confines of my life with Lady Tremaine. Alas, I am overcome with guilt and cannot go on with the wedding. My mind will not be changed. Please don't look for me.

   Your Most Humble Servant, Karl.

   Sapnap read the letter again and again, trying to make sense of the puzzle it presented.

   There was no puzzle, really. The message was quite clear.

   Karl didn't love him. Karl didn't want to marry him. He was a mess of emotions. Every other time he reread the letter, he believed it.

   "I have no-one to blame but myself," he murmured. He had told Karl, as honestly as he could, that life as the prince of L'manberg would not be easy. That if he changed his mind, he would respect it.

   And yet... deep down, he couldn't believe he'd left him. Couldn't believe that this letter was from him. The words were formal and stilted, not at all like his beloved Karl.

   But the greatest part of the puzzle was the ring...

   Tucked between the folds of the letter, it was the same ring he had given Karl the previous night. He rubbed the engraving inside the band, the one that proclaimed the love his father had had for his mother. Equal in step, equal in heart. For always.

   So why did he refuse to believe it was from him? Because if he truly left, then he isn't at all the boy I thought he was.

   Clutching the letter tight, Sapnap rang for Dream.

   "There's still no word of him, man," said his best friend, responding before Sapnap even asked. It was the sixth time in half an hour that he'd rung for him. Probably the hundredth time since the ball had abruptly ended the night before.

   "Check everywhere. The servants' quarters, the stables, the coach-house...

   "We are looking, mate." Dream patted Sapnap's shoulder. "The Grand Duke has sent his entire staff in search of him. So far, it appears he has vanished."

   Vanished. For the third time.

   Trying to sort out his thoughts, Sapnap clung to reason. The first time, he had fled at the stroke of midnight, fearing that the enchantment his fairy godmother had cast over him would expire. The second time, he had left the ball because he had feared an encounter with his stepmother and stepsisters.

   This time?

   I must confess I only pretended to be in love with you to escape the dreary confines of my life with Lady Tremaine.

   Sapnap balled his fists at his side. He still refused to believe it. "I should have gone after him last night," he mumbled to himself.

   It would not do for you to chase after him, Schlatt had said.  Especially with all the guests here, Your Highness, you must not appear distressed. It would only encourage rumours to spread, and given the uproar caused by Lady Tremaine's outery, we must contain any possibility of scandal. Stay with your father; the strain of tonight's events is not sitting well with him. He has retired to his chambers to rest. Go to him, and allow me to search for the young man.

   He'd been so stunned by Karl's disappearance and worried about his father that he had actually trusted Schlatt.

   This time, he wouldn't sit idly by. He grabbed his cloak. "Tell my father I won't be coming to breakfast, and please extend my apologies to my uncle."