Marrying the Stranger Prince ✔ (The Stranger Prince Series #1)

I | Epilogue | I

"But it's a person's imperfections that make them perfect for someone else."
- Lola and the Boy Next Door, by Stephanie Perkins.

♚

"No, you're not doing it the right way!" Adela dropped the stick from her hand, that resulted in a loud clamping sound which echoed throughout the hall. The sound was only cut by Edgar's rugged pants as he bent down to take in some breath.

She clenched her eyes shut, and opened them when she had regained her breath. She saw the figure of Edgar, hunched over, looking up at her worriedly.

Oh. How she had gotten tired of that.

"I know you're letting me win." She said quietly, "I don't want that."

"I'm not." He frowned.

She just rolled her eyes and picked the stick up yet again. She observed it and then looked at her brother coldly.

"Shut up and do it again. This time, don't play like a 5 year old."

He huffed out a frustrated breath, but picked up his stick anyway. He shook his head to shake away the hair that had fallen into his eyes.

"It's not my fault that you're getting terribly better at this." He rolled his eyes, "Besides, this isn't something you should be worried about right now."

Indeed.

It was like a blow, the words getting out of his mouth so casually. Of course there were so many other things on her mind, so many things no one would understand.

"You'll always be the stupidest, Edgar."

The voice came from the figure that was sitting cross legged in a corner of the hall. She was looking down at something in her hands that Adela couldn't see. Her red hair was unbound, lying around in loose, elegant curls.

And then she looked up, and the sunlight coming from the wall sized window illuminated her face in a way she'd never seen before. She realized how beautiful Lydia was. It was painful to see her like this.

Her extra ordinary green eyes reminded Adela of the memories that left her cold and shuddering in the middle of the night, but she tried to push them away.

"That is exactly why she's doing this." She smiled knowingly, "She has other things to worry about that she doesn't want to worry about. She wants escape."

Edgar looked surprised, like he'd noticed that just now. In the time that she'd lived here, it was shameful how she'd come to know Adela better than her own brother.

Edgar now frowned at Adela, and she couldn't help but look away. Defeated, she dropped the stick to the floor and slowly sat down, crossing her arms over her chest.

Edgar sat right in front of her, and looked at her. As if he wanted her to say something, but then ended up asking.

"What's bothering you?" He said carefully.

Adela heard Lydia slowly walk towards them, and she dropped beside Edgar. But there was still a respectable amount of distance between them.