Royal 4 (Book four in my Selection series)

Chapter 12

I walk around the gardens alone that night and come across the painted mural with bushes full of flowers for the "forgotten" princess. Her name was Lilian, but you would never hear about her on the news anymore.

It had only been four years since she had passed away from some mysterious illness that happened so suddenly. There wasn't a lot of information on the news about her so nobody knew for sure what happened. One minute she was the sweetheart of the entire country and the next all we knew was she was gone.

"Hey." I turn and see the prince.

"I can go, I'm sorry. I just didn't feel like going in for the night." I tell him quickly, looking away from him.

"No, it's fine. I came down to accompany you." He smiles and comes to stand behind me, placing one hand at the bottom of my back. Miles looks at the mural for his sister for a moment and then says, "You don't really hear about her anymore do you?"

"Not in a really long time." I say softly.

"Mother doesn't like to talk about it. She still doesn't really talk about it at all, so father makes sure there aren't reports on it." He tells me after a moment.

"I don't blame her, it has to be hard." I respond quietly.

"Yeah." The prince stands there for a moment. "I just want people to remember her. She was such a beautiful soul, it's not fair to hide her memory."

I didn't say anything for a while, I could tell he seemed to be getting upset so I just stood there and gently leaned my head against his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." I say quietly.

He doesn't respond, but I feel his head touch gently against mine and I turn to hug him. Neither of us say anything as we stand there, but it felt so natural.

"It's getting late, you should go back up to your room." He tells me and pulls away barely, looking at me closely. "I'll walk you back up."

"Are you alright?" I ask him as he walks me through the hallways.

"Of course, darling." He says with a small smile.

"You just seem sad." I tell him as go up the steps.

"Aren't we all allowed to be sad sometimes?" He says, looking down at me closely. I don't answer because I didn't know. I had never been told that I was allowed to be sad— at least I wasn't allowed to show it.

When we get to my room, he still seemed to be a combination of tired and sad so I stand on the tips of my toes to hug him around the neck. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything and we just stood there for a moment with his arms around me as well.

As I pull away he kisses my cheek so softly I was barely even sure he did it at all.

"Goodnight Violet." He says with a gentle smile.

"Goodnight." I barely have time to murmur the words before he walks away and leaves me there. I walk into my room quietly and sit on my bed, still confused at what exactly had happened. I could feel my heart beating recklessly in my chest and I still felt the softness of his kiss on my cheek.

I go to sleep quickly that night, not giving myself time to think about anything for too long.

The next morning I go to breakfast, but I'd slept in and arrived late. I was the last one to enter.

Everyone looked up, and by the awkward silence that settled, I realized they were all thinking about my outburst the previous day and I assumed it had been on the news since then.

I sit in my usual spot and try and avoid eye contact with most of the girls around me.

"I saw the news, Violet." Josephine says beside of me. "You really didn't cheat on him?"

"I would never." I tell her honestly.

"I'm sorry." She says quietly.

"It's alright." I say, keeping my eyes on the table.

"I couldn't imagine how hard it must've been when he did that to you." Josephine continues and it was the most human I think she ever sounded.

"It's honestly okay, Josephine. It's all been for the best." I tell her. "I wouldn't have wanted to stay with anyone who couldn't trust me and I couldn't trust anyway."

She stays quiet for another few minutes as we eat in silence.

"I like your hair." She tells me after a a bit, noticing the awkward silence.

"Thank you." I respond, letting the rest of the room remain in an awkward silence.

Not long into the meal, I'm finished and decide to leave early. I stand from my chair, curtesy and leave without saying another word to anyone else. As soon as the door shuts behind me, it opens again and Miles reappears.

"Hey." I say quietly and slightly shocked. 

"Good morning." He smiles a bit and then asks, "I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date tonight after dinner. Just walking around the gardens or something?"

"Sure." I answer with a smile. "I'll see you tonight."

"Sounds great." He responds and retreats back into the Dining Hall. I walk away smiling, but deep down I knew I needed to stop. I needed to stop pretending that everything here was going to work out.

I ignored those feelings and went to my room, excited to tell my maids about my date.

A/N

I'm so sorry for the slow update, I went from being sick straight into exam week and it has not been fun but hopefully I can update a few times over Christmas break :)

4 days till Christmas!!🎄❤️