𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄

𝟎𝟏𝟑

a/n; don't be a silent reader! hope everyone enjoys and please do comment down your thoughts! wowee seems I'll be averaging 3k+ words for each chapter unlike my usual 2k

—

Your first day alone felt unreal.

You woke up the next day feeling impossibly lonely. Clearly, you hadn't kept to schedule, for it must have been late afternoon when you woke up from your sleep. You found that yesterday's late night sleep hadn't been pleasant.

Cold seeped into your skin as you wrapped the blanket tighter around yourself, teeth chattering and body shivering. You could hear the conversation that your mother and father were having outside in small blips. Their voices were rising.

"Of course you would be happier after you spent time with the Emperor."

"You and I weren't supposed to marry," came your father's voice, "we —"

"Maybe I wouldn't be so bothered if not for the fact that you had said you loved me!"

A clatter of the plates and then a shattering of metal. You winced. You didn't get what they were talking about, but you certainly understood that your parents were furious at each other. You rolled over to your side and stayed in bed, having no inclination to get up. A heavy feeling settled within you as you realized that there would be nothing to look forward to — Silas and you had been separated.

You had wanted to write about Silas in your journal. You had wanted to write about the discovery that Silas was the crown prince. You couldn't deny that you felt betrayed, but you needed and wanted someone to love so desperately that you had shoved it under the rug. Instead, you focused on your feelings of excitement that Silas would be the one that you would serve. That Silas would be your friend and your master.

Three years. Three years was such an imperceptibly long period of time. And it would be three years in which your blood, sweat, and tears would be shed. Three years of working yourself to the bone and hoping to retain whatever happiness you could hope to save.

After staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, you dragged yourself from your bed to wash up and change. You entered the dining room, pretending not to notice how the yelling ceased. It was funny how your parents thought they were protecting you by not raising their voices at you, but they easily forgot that you could hear everything easily. If anything, you would rather them continue the fight. It would, at least, fill the suffocating silence.

"Y/n!" Your mother smiled at you, reaching out to you to hug you. "Did you have a lovely sleep? You slept in, didn't you? You're nine now. Well, it's unofficial, but..."

You hugged her back, feeling her frail arms envelop you. Her breath smelled like wine, and soon, you drew back. "Yeah," you lied, "I dreamt really well! There was you and Daddy in the dream, and Silas..."