As the girls took breakfast together the next morning, Y/n knew she needed to confront Lily.
"How was the ball yesterday?" She asked while slowly sipping her tea.
"It was wonderful, I had quite a bit of fun." She sighed wistfully.
"So you had fun dancing with the prince all night, then sneaking off to the gardens?" She smirked knowingly and watched Lily blush.
"... Yes. He's very nice, the prince."
"I am sure he is. I haven't spoken to him much. I trust your opinion though since you are around him all the time." Lily hesitated. Despite the smile on Y/n's face, she felt guilty.
"Are you mad at me?"
"Lily, why would I be mad at you?"
"It was in your plans to have the prince. That was the goal. I feel as if I have moved in and stolen him from you." That was the partial truth. Lily held back what she was really feeling.
"Things don't always do as you expect them to. You are happy with him, Lily. I had no real claim to him anyway. I am happy for you." Lily listened to her words with a contemplative look on her face. "There was something I have to ask you, though. Why were you saying all those horrible things the other day? How the prince only cared about how you looked and nothing more? You don't believe that, do you?"
Lily was silent, her head hung low as she swirled her small spoon in her tea.
"Liliana?" Y/n called out to her.
"You don't understand," She finally said.
"What don't I understand? Speak to me, Lily."
"You are beautiful and talented and smart. You have defied society's expectations continuously and have secured far greater power than most will ever know. You are what important men want to have. You are the best of the best." Y/n was silent listening to Lily. What did she mean by all this?
"In comparison to you, I am nothing. I am seen for my body and my face. You are untouchable, I am too touchable."
"That isn't true, Lily. You are adored and-"
"Let me finish before you speak. Please." Y/n shut her mouth. "At one point, I used to resent you for it. Even from when we were little girls, you were regarded differently from me. I have grown from that. I have learned to appreciate your success as if it were my own. To me, we are of the same blood. However, it is hard when the men that I have loved have never seen me as more than a common whore and you as the perfect bride." Y/n openly gaped. What was she talking about?
"You remember that one young lord, he was courting me when we were sixteen. Samuel. He had no real interest in making me his wife. That was for you. I was something quick for him to enjoy, not that he ever did. That was when I learned to stop loving men that were never meant for me. The prince is one of those men, I believe. I am not mad about it, Y/n. I have learned my lesson. I'll be content as his friend. Make yourself known to him, ok?" Lily clasped her friend's hand in hers before getting up and leaving the suite.
Y/n was speechless. She had never known that this was how Lily was feeling and she felt horrible. How could I not know? What kind of a friend am I? She immediately stood and rushed out of the suite to find her, but Lily was already gone.
~~~~~
Y/n rushed to the gardens thinking she would find Lily there, only to be greeted by the sight of the crown prince seated on a stone bench that looked out to the lake.
"Your majesty, lovey morning. Have you seen Liliana?" She asked him with a small curtsey.
"No, I have not. I've been here all morning." She nodded at his words before hesitating.
"May I ask you something, Your Majesty?" He raised his brow but nodded.
"Do you love Liliana?" She shocked herself with the boldness of her question.
"I think I do. It has been only two days but I am unexplainably drawn to her." He was surprisingly open when it came to talking about her. He could talk about her for hours. She heaved a sigh of relief.
"What made you fall in love with her?"
"Everything. I first saw her in the gardens on the first day of the ball. She was walking around the flowers like she was home. Her delicateness with everything she touches, the smile on her face when she sniffed a particularity nice one. Everything about her enchanted me. Then we danced together and it felt like she belonged in my arms. I have never felt so at peace. As I got to know her better, she was constantly surprising me. Her knowledge and her thirst to learn more is boundless. And she is so beautiful. She is otherworldly. She had to be a gift from the heavens." He was lost in thought, recalling his Lily. He did love her.
Y/n was tearing up hearing him speak about her best friend.
"That's wonderful to hear, Your Majesty. Please let her know that. Tonight. She deserves the love that you have for her because I think she loves you in the same way." She wiped her face before she curtseyed again. "I must go now. Thank you for telling me that." He nodded at her before returning to his thoughts.
I have to find Lily. I have to find Lily and tell her this.
