Too Sweet ⋆ E. Mikaelson

𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮

𝒞𝐻𝒜𝒫𝒯𝐸𝑅 𝒯𝐻𝑅𝐸𝐸

I can tell that we are gonna be friends
- We're going be friends by the White Stripes

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Fifteenth century England frowned on women reading, some places even going so far as to forbid it. The Beaumont brothers never understood it, but to understand it they would first have to understand that they were living in a man's world. Adeline however, was lucky enough to be born a witch, where she had no other choice but to learn literacy.

Throughout her childhood, Archie and Henry went out to pubs and events, leaving their little sister at home with nothing but the company of her books. As a result, Adeline would read whatever she could get her hands on. She craved the lives lived in fairytales, and the ability to do something so big you have your own biography. Adeline was a girl lost in her own world, and when she ran out of roads to take, she pestered her brothers until they went to the bookstore and brought back more.

Even as she aged and began reaching out to new books, she'd always find herself returning to the comfort of her fairytales. There was something about those books, as silly as they may be, that dragged her back no matter how far she strayed. Castles and princesses, princes and knights, right and wrong so clear it was black and white. When she was in her very own fairytale, she was no longer the villain of the story, but the magical girl who saved the day.

Elijah made her feel as if she were in a fairytale.

He was her very own Prince Charming. Noble and polite, knowing exactly what to say and when to say it. When her footwork got slower and the night grew darker, Elijah didn't move onto another partner and leave her to fend for herself amongst the crowds, but rather suggested a walk around the gardens.

Adeline was never completely tired in his presence, there was always some spark keeping her awake. In a world where women were meant to be seen but not heard, Elijah made it seem otherwise; keeping attention as he listened to the woman ramble all night long.

Elijah was also the type of man that Adeline could never have. She knew how this went: he'd have fun with her for a few months before eventually realising she wouldn't marry. He'd move onto a nice, polite girl with no secrets needed to be kept, and they'd live happily ever after.

Maybe it was her cruel twisted fate, always forced to watch other girls live out her fairytale. Karma, if you will. It was just the fact of life, and her brothers knew it as well, so they'd allow her to have that night and the nights that followed until her inevitable heartbreak.

It had been days after that night, and Adeline hadn't seen her Prince Charming since. That may be due to the fact she didn't leave the house for those three days, but Adeline chose to ignore that minuscule detail.

She lay on the floor, in the small room that her best friend called home, head on her friend's lap as she offloaded all the details of that night.

"He sounds to be absolutely smitten with you, Adds," Genevieve stroked her best friend's hair. From the moment Adeline walked through the door, Genevieve could sense something was wrong, and had pestered her about it until she confessed. "Please tell me you're seeing him again."

Adeline was always cautious at first to tell her friend about the balls when she attended them, but once Genevieve had got her to start every worry or thought drifted away. Genevieve found joy in hearing descriptions of the fancy events her best friend attended, some part of her always longed to attend them. She'd never voice such thoughts, she had made her decision when she chose to marry a man below her wealth, but Adeline saw right through her every time.