The Bride

Chapter 8//: I promise

♕✿~♕✿~Chapter 8//: I promise♕✿~♕✿~

Nathan's POV

My hands clench around the remote control, a crack echoing through the small room I'm in.

Lounging in a chair, my eyes scan the T.V. as I listen to the reporter.

"As you can see, the palace is a busy hustle as the servants and maids are trying to get everything set up for His Highness' coronation, which will happen in two to three weeks from now. Delegates from the Lakelands and the Piedmont princes will be-"

Clenching my teeth in annoyance, I forcefully push the button on the remote to turn the T.V. off. I sit quietly for a moment, the screen before me black.

I knew I couldn't, wouldn't, allow for Ahren's coronation to go smoothly. I plan to never let Ahren have the chance to be king.

I would never allow any Calore monsters be on the Norta throne ever again after what Ahren's wretched father did.

17 years ago

I follow the man from a distance. I had been tailing him for the last 10 minutes. My little hands twitched, wanting to just reach into the man's pocket and run away, but Carlo had taught me differently. Thievery required patience.

And Carlo was the best thief around.

But night was coming, and I didn't want to be out here alone in the dark. I hated the dark. It hid monsters.

I had to do it now. Now, or live on the few coins my mother might have gotten from the street by begging. Determined, I walk forward and crash into the man, distracting him from my roaming hands in his pocket.

The man eyes me, noting my appearance, and pushes me away with disgust. But I got what I needed, so I didn't cry out as the man kicked me for good measure.

"Watch where you're going, you filthy peasant," the man hisses at me before walking off. I stay on the ground until he turns a corner, then open my hand to eye the money I took from the man. I feel myself smile proudly. Mom would be proud of me.

Happy now that I got the money my mom and I needed, I start to skip back home. As I turn the corner where my house is, I see an old woman on the street, begging passerby for money. Many ignore her. I hesitate at the doorstep of my house. Then, I shrug and walk up to the woman. Taking some coins that I stole from the man, I place it in the woman's palm.

She looks at me with gratitude. "Thank you, boy. You are a blessing," she murmurs as she holds my hands. A sense of pride fills me, and I puff out my chest as I smile at the lady.

"It's no problem, miss." I tell her honestly. She shakes her head.

"I have no doubt you will inspire the world later on with your kind soul," the woman tells me earnestly. I feel myself start to blush.

After exchanging a few more words with the woman, I tell her goodbye and head up the stairs to the ramshackle house my mom and I live in. It didn't look like much, but it was alright because I had my mother.

Inside, mom is chopping up vegetables for a soup. As I come in, announcing my presence, she looks up from the cutting board to give me a smile.