and we promised

Chapter 10

OLIVIA

One month later

I've been staring at the mirror for a few minutes now. Probably half an hour. I still can't believe the thoughts inside my head.

Queen.

New Queen.

Queen of Cordelia.

I sink my face inside the water, then lift it back up, repeating the process.

Queen.

New Queen.

"Livie?", my Mom's voice tones throughout the suite. "Livie? Are you in here?"

"My little fox", Dad's voice follows.

I can't help but rush outside the bathroom. My parents weren't supposed to be here. They didn't text me they'll come. And the news about the abdication came out nine hours ago to be exact. Unless they flew away as soon as it came out, there is no way they would have made it here in such a short time.

However, they're here. Standing in front of me is them. My Mom's blonde hair falling free down her shoulders, as she's wearing a nice Chanel suit and some black heels, her blue eyes looking at me with tears inside. Next to her is Dad, his hand on her waist, offering her safety. He is also wearing a suit, one that I know was tailored especially for him. He always does that.

"My world", Mom lets out as she sees me. She rushes and has me in a long hug, kissing the top of my head, my forehead, my cheeks, then back the top of my head. I can feel her crying too. "I missed you so much, baby", she mumbles, yet her words come out shaky because of the crying. "I missed you. I missed you so much."

I hug her back and pull her as close to me as possible. "I missed you too", I say, and I can feel tears rolling down my cheeks too. "I missed you."

Mom lets me go to take a better look at me, as if to check if I am hurt or not. As she realizes I have no scratches, bruises, cuts or something like that, she hugs me again.

Dad hugs me as soon as Mom lets me go again. "How have you been, princess?", he whispers to me as he's holding me close to his chest. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Dad", I tell him, still crying.

He puts a bit of distance to be able to cup my face in his palms, then starts wiping away the tears, one by one. "Did anyone give you a hard time, my beautiful girl?"

I shake my head. I don't want to talk about Stefan now. I don't want to talk about Sierra or Karl now. All I want is to be happy. Happy they're here.

However, I can't help but ask myself: "How did you get here? I thought Karl forbid you to come inside the palace?"

"Yeah, well, Karl's not the king anymore, so he and what he says can go to hell", Dad replies, his tone like cutting blades. That's one of the reasons Karl hates him. Because he's not afraid to be though and do whatever it takes to get to his goal. I love that about my Dad.

"What your Dad wants to say is", Mom interrupts, giving Dad a look saying he should be more polite. Dad rolls his eyes faking being annoyed, earning himself a kiss from Mom. She then continues: "With Karl's abdication, his laws about forbidding us to come here don't apply anymore. And truth to be told, even if we were forbidden, we would have barged inside. Protocol be damned." Mom comes take my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "How are you, baby?"

"I'm fine", I lie.

I forgot they started knowing all my I'm fine-s.

"That's a good start", Mom tells me, letting out a soft chuckle. "Honestly, I would be terrified. I'm fine is perfect compared to that."