꧁༺ 𝓑𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓫𝓵𝓾𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓰𝓸𝓵𝓭 ༻꧂

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 14

Liam boiled with anger. The two knights standing in front of him stared down at the floor uncomfortably, an awkward silence appearing with their bad news for the prince. The royal man rubbed his temples, trying to stop the massive headache that was coming on.

"What do you mean you can't find him," Liam said, "he's in the city!"

"Apparently not, sir." The first guard answered plainly. "We've searched the city top to bottom, and we couldn't find your brother."

"He is not my brother." Liam scowled at the knights. The first knight bowed his head lower, a bead of sweat running down the side of his forehead. Prince Liam looked down upon the two knights, displeased with them. If his brother wasn't in the city, then where was he?

His plan was falling apart. He needed his brother there, now. He needed Leon to be there so that you would already believe the prince, think Leon and the pirates liars, and then you and Leon would be split apart and able to be killed separately.

But with this sort of news, it would prove to be difficult. Or maybe not? After all, all the prince needed to do was convince you that Leon and the pirates were lying to you. Then, once you didn't trust them, he'd kill you.

Still, though. It would be a lot harder with Leon gone.

"Now," Liam started, "since Leon's gone, as you say, I'm going to need you to track him down."

"B-But, sir-" The second guard stuttered, but Liam wasn't having protest.

"I don't give a shit what excuse you have not to obey me. You will go and search for that man and his pathetic scoundrels he calls friends, and you will listen to order. Do you understand?"

 The prince stared daggers into the lowly knights, now even more irritated than before. The two men quickly bobbed their heads and dashed off down the long hall, leaving Liam to his thoughts.

He thought hard about how he would dispose of you, as that was the only part of his plan he hadn't truly thought on. He needed to find a way to dispose of both you and Leon, but how? He knew if he tried anything around the pirates, he'd be exposed. He also knew that killing you wouldn't be a simple task, either. Sirens were never an easy target for a man, and if he weren't careful, he'd accidentally fall head-over-heels for you.

As he thought hard, Harlynn stomped loudly towards the smaller man, an unreadable expression across his face. The prince was startled by the sudden noise, jumping and snapping his head around. A small sigh of relief escaped Liam's mouth once he saw the ex-pirate stop in front of him, the old man's lips pressed into a thin line.

"(y/n) asked to see ya'." Harlynn said bluntly, his voice gruff. "Don' talk to me if ya' ain't got somethin' good to tell me 'bout, 'cause I ain't wanna know." Without another word, he walked away, slamming his shoulder purposely into the prince's as he did.

Liam simply scoffed at the old man's rude behaviour, letting it slide for now. Turning his attention away from the man, he headed off towards your room. After a few twists and turns and a flight of stairs, the prince politely knocked on the door of the spare bedroom. Once he heard you voice yelling 'come in', he opened the door, only to be greeted with you wearing just the large, oversized button up shirt you were wearing previously.

The prince couldn't help but blush, surprised by encounter. He wasn't expecting you to be half-naked. He opened his mouth, but no words came out at first. He was stunned, to say the least.

"Ah, (y/n)," he managed to spit out, "you needed me?"

"Uhm, yeah. I was looking in the drawers and, well, there's no clothes." You explain awkwardly, rubbing your hand on the back of your neck. Your cheeks, too, flushed red from embarrassment.

"Oh, my apologies. Shall I ask a maid to go fetch some suitable clothes for you?"

"Yes please."

He nodded briefly. As he stepped out the door, he spotted a maid cleaning one of the many treasure held in the halls with her feather duster. He yelled out for her, scaring the poor woman, and demanded she hurry up with some clothes for you. The maid scuttled off, holding her long maid's dress up as she did.

He looked back into the room where you were. You were still standing silently, fiddling with the hem of your shirt. You seemed to be anxious about something, and Liam had a feeling he knew exactly what it was.

"Is something the matter, (y/n)?" He asked, sounding concerned.

"Mhm," you hummed, deep in thought, "I'm okay. I'm just..." Your voice trailed off as you suddenly had images of Leon appear in your head. You missed him more than you thought you would, and that was a fact. Even with the claims against him, with the well known fact that he was a wanted man, you still found yourself wishing he was here, comforting you.

"I just miss Leon." You confessed sheepishly.

Liam knew it. What else could you be thinking about, or more so who else? It was quite obvious you'd grown overly attached to his brother, and that just made the whole situation worse.

"I understand," Liam said, "you spent a lot of time with him, and he was so nice to you. But you need to remember that he manipulated you."

"I know you said that, but I can't help it."

"Did you maybe... fall in love with him?"

Your eyebrows shot up in surprise, your eyes widening in shock. You weren't expecting such a question from the prince, but you couldn't help but feel he maybe was right.

"What? No! I-" You cut yourself off, sighing. "Well, maybe. He's just so... I don't know, there's something different about him. He's so pretty, and nice, and he's so... overprotective of me." You couldn't help chuckling a bit at the memory of Leon protecting you from Harlynn. In all honesty, Leon did look pretty funny in that moment.

Liam exhaled sharply, shaking his head in dismay. "(y/n)," he started, "you know you can't trust those people."

"Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that. I get the memo. It still doesn't change my thoughts."

"You have a very bad choice in men, let me tell you that." The prince joked. You snorted, giggling at his cocky comment.

"Hey!"

"It's true! Clearly you have a horrible taste in men if you're attracted to my wanted, criminal brother!"

"I'm not attracted to him." You mumbled in protest, your cheeks heating up as you looked away from him. He shook his head, pinching his nose.

"What am I going to do with you, (y/n)?" Liam smiled warmly.

The fuzzy, warm feeling of fish swimming in your stomach came back as soon as you saw the tips of his lips turn upwards. But this time, it felt a little more pleasant. Not in a lovey-dovey way, like with Leon, but in a comforting way.

You were slowly adjusting to Liam's kind presence around you. The prince was so welcoming, even though you were a siren; definitely different to when you first met Leon and the others, but there was no reason to blame them then.

A small 'rat-ta-ta-tat-tat' noise came from the door, and shyly, the maid opened the door, holding a bundle of freshly washed, cleaned, and pressed clothes for you to wear.

"H-Hear you go, sir." She said quickly, walking over to the end of your bed and placing your clothes down for you. As soon as Liam gave the word, the woman wasted no time hurrying off back to her duties, leaving the two alone again.

"Thanks again," you said, reaching over to the pile and grabbing a pair of trousers, "I appreciate it."

"Anytime." Liam soothed. "I'll leave you be to dress yourself. See you later, (y/n)."

"Bye, Liam." And with that, the prince calmly left your room, closing the door behind him. Now, all he had to do was find Leon.

But that was an easy task.