The Pink-Haired Hood~A TMF Robin Hood AU Story

🔸Chapter 3🔸

The night was still, quiet, no matter how hard Hailey concentrated, she couldn't hear a single noise from the outside. Her mind, however, had not been quiet. Conflicting thoughts flooded her mind, jarring her consciousness awake.

She couldn't choose between her duty and moral obligations to her family, or what she desired for herself. Her heart ached at her predicament, but her mind kept telling her that this is what's best for her family.

Despite growing to despise the man, Hailey was promised to king Drew, in order to keep peace between the two kingdoms. Her father was relying on her, and her alone, to keep the king from waging war against Scarleton.

It was her duty, it was her responsibility. Hailey forced herself to repeat the thought over and over and over in her mind. And she was able to stomach it for a while. That is, until tonight.

Hailey tolerated the king's emotional abuse ever since she came to Rosemania. However, the gala tonight proved that there was kindness among men. She realized how tired she was of being told what to wear, what to think, what to feel, never once did the king call her beautiful, or even care about her own feelings.

That, along with her internal resentment about being born into the royal family. She was born to live above the rest of the people, she was either feared or revered. But, it also isolated her from people.

All she ever longed for was a normal life, to find long-lasting friends, fall in love with the right man, and have a family of her own. She thought she had gotten over that, but it all came roaring back that night.

The stranger she met on the terrace, caused all those feelings to resurface, she knew now that she would never get those feelings out of her mind, and her heart. Hailey wished she could see him again, but the odds of that happening were quite slim. 

She let out a somber sigh as she heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Sean. I brought you some tea."

"Oh, thank you. I'll let you in."

Hailey sat up from her bed and rushed over to the door. She let Sean, a castle servant, inside with a cart that carried a teapot and a couple tea cups.

"I could really use this right now," she continued.

"The gala was a drag, huh?" Sean asked with a slight chuckle.

"Definitely, I could barely last twenty minutes before I had to go take a breather."

He nodded in agreement as he poured her a cup. The steam rose above the brim, it tickled her chin as she gripped the teacup when he handed it over.

"Thank you again," Hailey recited after taking a sip of the warm liquid.

"No problem. I hope I wasn't intruding."

"Oh no, you weren't. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

Hailey briefly glanced at the ground. "Stuff, I guess."

"What stuff?" Sean inquired, intrigued.

She let out a soft exhale. "Just, wondering what my life would be like if stuff was different, you know. Like, say for example, if I was born a commoner rather than a princess."

"Hailey, I know you're not happy with your situation. But being a commoner is a lot harder than you would think."

"I know," she nodded along, continuing. "The thing is, I don't want everything handed to me. I want to work hard, provide for myself, and later on, perhaps a family."