The Prince and His Pauper

Chapter 67: The Prince in Shatters

Father knows. He has to. There is absolutely no way that he would still be oblivious to my past relationship with Cassiel or of our mutual feelings towards each other. It would explain why he was so insistent on having me keep my distance from Cassiel and why he would tell me that Cassiel orchestrated my accident. Though, I doubt that this is true.

After my talk with Leo, I avoided Cassiel all of yesterday and my father as well. Thankfully, we had little interaction yesterday and he didn't sent for me to help him with either the business or the kingdom. Perhaps he thought that I needed to rest and he opted my health over duties for the time being. I am glad if that is the case because I am not ready to face him just yet.

What am I going to do when the time comes for me to tell Father that I do not believe Cassiel was the one behind my accident? He would surely try to convince me that Cassiel is a menace to me and my kingdom. When that happens, I would need to provide sufficient evidence to support my claims. Otherwise, he would disregard everything that I would say.

So, I tried to prevent us from meeting or even bringing up Cassiel to him. My only escape from Father was at school since he rarely contacts me except for an emergency. At the moment, I haven't received a single text or call from Father so far. By the time lunch came around, I felt it was safe for me to assume that Father won't attempt to communicate with me until after school. I had that brief moment of relief but it was immediately interrupted by one boy with sapphire colored eyes.

"Hey, Antonio! Do you mind if we talk for a little bit?" Cassiel greets cheerfully but I was already panicking.

The last thing I wanted to do was talk to Cassiel again. However, it wasn't because I fear for my safety or that I was afraid of fainting from another flashback. No, I didn't want to talk to Cassiel because I have so many worries about my impending conversation with Father which has me practically jumping at every sound of a text or call. A talk with Cassiel is an additional problem that I don't want to deal with right now.

"Oh, hello. . . Er, now isn't a good time, Cassiel. Perhaps we can discuss at a later date?" I suggested while also attempting to move around him.

However, Cassiel kept moving in the same direction I was going which blocked any chances of escaping. He smiles innocently at me while also replying, "If I let you go now, you'll keep avoiding me. Besides, I never get talk to you whenever I'm the one who asks to talk to you first."

He has a point there. . . I thought to myself and was immediately feeling guilt ridden. My brain is screaming at me to leave him until I can sort things out with Father, but another part of me is telling me to stay. Although, I know he wants to talk about what I almost said to him the other day. I must make sure that nothing slips out of me or I'm ruined.

"It is unfair of me to refuse you after all the times I asked you to speak with me." I sigh as I leaned against the wall to my left and crossed my arms. "What would you like to talk about?"

"Oh, that was surprisingly easy. . . I was honestly expecting another argument from you." Cassiel notes but I simply shrugged it off.

"Why bother over the inevitable?" I lament since we were going to talk about my reaction eventually.

"Well, okay then. So, about the other day we talked. . . You, um. . . you kind of left in a hurry and. . . said that you can't be with another guy. . ." Cassiel reminds me a bit timidly and tightens his grip on the strap of his backpack.

What should I tell him? was my first thought when he replied because I don't know what to tell him. The obvious answer to that is one that I will not answer. However, I don't even know if I ever told Cassiel about my true identity before my accident. I do not think I did or else he would have already brought it up in one of our earlier discussions. So what can I tell him?