𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 - 𝐀 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

chapter eight - disillusioned

Diaspro never imagined there would be a day where she'd be avoiding Violet, and it was a cruel twist of fate that it was all at the cost of regaining her fiancé.

To be fair to herself, it wasn't like she wanted to ignore her. No, even then, her heart clenched as she fought the urge to ring her up and talk about anything and everything with the girl who'd been her home since childhood. But . . . it was for her own good. It had to be. Diaspro might not have known why he benefitted from Sky loving her, but whatever the reason was, it must have been serious enough for him to blackmail her using her best friend as leverage. He'd made it clear that any resistance on her part, including telling anyone else, would only implicate them in the crime of treason against the Crown Prince of Eraklyon - and Diaspro absolutely refused to do that to Violet.

As the blonde looked longingly at the missed calls littering her phone, she thought bitterly that Valtor deserved to rot away the rest of his life in the Omega Dimension. He was the cause of all blame, and she'd rip him into shreds if he dared to lay a finger on her friend.

But . . . a voice hidden deep down within her whispered that even if he was absolutely vile, he'd given her this happiness, hadn't he?

It had only been about three days since the celebration, but within that time, Sky had shown more affection to her than he had in the years they'd been engaged.

It made her heart pang as she remembered the picnic he'd set out for the two of them in the palace gardens just yesterday, a bright smile on his face as he told her he wouldn't let such a nice day go to waste without spending it with her. And she almost became giddy as she thought about the way he clasped his hands with hers each time they were near to each other.

But the thing that softened her the most was how he wanted to listen to her, to hear her thoughts and opinions on the most mundane of things - and he wanted to hear them right then as was getting his suit fitted for their engagement party.

Her stomach fluttered. Engaged. They were engaged, and every thought of it warmed her heart just like the first time had.

"So, what do you think?" he asked, his blue eyes looking keenly at her. They were so perfect, and she had to take a second before she responded, fighting the urge to stare into them for enternity.

"You look great," she responded, unable - and unwilling - to hide her smile. "But I don't think the jacket is suitable for an engagement party."

"But, Princess, it was you who chose the cotton, the fabric, just a few days ago," the tailor said, looking nearly exasperated.

She did feel kind of bad for him, but was it so wrong of her to want everything to be perfect? Just as she was about to tell him as much, Sky spoke up, making her smile softly at him.

"Well, now she thinks something else would be better. This is a major party, and we have to look perfect, right, sweetie?"

"Yes, of course. It will be unforgettable." She held his hand as she spoke, and she swore she could have stayed like that forever if it weren't for the door bursting open as royal guards rushed inside.

"The palace is on high alert," one told her. "An unauthorised aircraft just landed on the grounds. For your safety, you and Prince Sky should follow us."

It took a moment for the news to sink in, and when it did, Diaspro had grown pale. What sort of danger was this now? She barely looked back as she followed the guard, assuming from the movements on her left that Sky was following behind her.

It was only as after they had gone down one of the winding corridors of the palace did she realise that he was nowhere to be seen.

"Sky?" There was no response.

Panic rose within her, and she was just about ready to rush back to the fitting room when another set of guards approached. They looked red and flustered, and this outward embarrassment was enough to put Diaspro's nerves on edge.

"We apologise, Your Highness," a head guard – judging by his uniform – told her as he fell into a deep bow. "It turned out to be a false alarm."

"What do you mean false alarm?" she asked, the shock seeping into her voice.

"There was a visitor who didn't realise the palace itself was a no parking area," he explained, averting his eyes as he spoke.

She supposed that ought to have been a relief, but something about it didn't sit right with her – even if she couldn't quite put her finger on what.

Clearing her throat, the blonde gathered her thoughts and further straightened her shoulders. "So nobody bothered to check before declaring this an emergency?" She was hardly even pretending to be bewildered anymore.

The guards must have offered up a million excuses as they escorted her back to the fitting room, but they all sounded flimsy to her ears.

"I understand what you're trying to say, but the palace guards should be able to tell a real danger from a false alarm," she said as she pushed the door open, freezing as she caught sight of Bloom standing dangerously close to Sky.

Oh.

"The Winx?" she asked, her voice a whisper of disbelief.

Diaspro hardly remembered anything else she did or said, the hot adrenaline rushing through her and erasing everything except the feeling of growing dread as the girls were chased out of the room.

Sky must have joined the guards in the hunt because before she knew it, she was alone, staring face-to-face with her reflection in the wide gold-edged mirror she and Sky had been trying engagement outfits in front of only a short while ago.

She could see the realisation dawn in her amber eyes the longer she stared at herself: this was not going to end well.

Her fear was confirmed when only minutes later, Sky reentered the room, a deadly serious expression on his usually serene face.

***

It was a few hours later that Diaspro stumbled into the bedroom chambers of her own palace, but it felt as if she'd spent a lifetime being prodded and poked with questions she couldn't even bring herself to remember anymore.

She fought to suppress the tremble in her fingers as she dialled the number she'd memorised long ago.

"Violet?" she asked, eyes already welling up.

"Diaspro?" the voice said from the other side, familar and warm even despite the metallic quality of the phone. "Are you okay?"

Her voice caught as she squeaked out a response. "No. I don't think I am."

That's when she finally allowed the tears to spill.

~
a/n: y'all it has been a very long week and i feel drainedd lmao. i love uni but sometimes it makes me want to become nara smith 2.0. but anyway- i hope you all liked this chapter from diaspro's pov. please vote and leave a comment if you did and enjoy the story so far!

also, i just wanted you to know that every moment diaspro was romanticising sky i was heavily disagreeing and booing him haha (not even a joke tbh).