The Tattooed Prince 2

108.

It wasn't the first time Sebastian had said something like that before, however, it was the first time I hear the determination in his voice. Although his words brought butterflies in my stomach, nothing is easy in the palace. And Sebastian probably knows that, so who am I to stop him?

"I signed to never return to the palace or get involved with the Royal Family. The Royal Counsel would never let me back,"

"They must have forgotten who holds the crown—I did. I let these people dictate my life as if it was them who makes the decision," he responded. "You know the propose of the Royal Counsel is to prevent the rulers from abusing their powers, not to control them,"

"Sebastian, you have to think very throughly what you are planning on doing. The Royal Counsel gave you the opportunity to get help and not dethrone you because of your substance abuse. If you retaliate, they'll get rid of you,"

"Not if I get rid of them first.No matter what you say Adalyn, my mind is set. I will not stop, until you come back to palace, to the place you belong,"

The palace was never my home—he knows that. I stayed because of Sebastian and the happiness he brought with him. But to step back into the palace and govern over a country—might not be what I want anymore. I've tasted freedom and felt the kindness of strangers, I want more of that. If he plans on shoving me back into the palace and keeping me locked behind those black gates, I don't want to come back.

"You have more people to worry about. What about Libby and Ian?"

"Officer Ron is working on getting her a place and a hefty check to support herself and Ian. She won't be a problem. I can't get rid of Ian though, he's my child,"

"Sebastian, I would never tell you to get rid of Ian. He deserves to have you around and he deserves to be the next heir,"

Sebastian frowned, "there's things I can control, but not that. Rules set hundreds years of go, forbids Ian being an heir, ever. He was born out of wedlock. All I can do is finically support him,"

I licked my lips, "you really are going to fix all of this, huh?"

He nodded, "I'm going to fix everything I broke, until there's nothing left for me to repair,"

I was proud of him for taking responsibility for the damage he caused, but I wonder if he realizes there are going to be certain things he can't fix. Maybe, he can convince the Royal Counsel and his parents to let me back to the palace, but it doesn't mean things will be the same. I changed...a lot. No one is going to be able to string me left and right anymore and it's going to cause problems. And I am not going to listen to anyone, no one is going to force me to be someone I am not.

"So, you came here for me and now what?"

Sebastian shrugged, "although I know what I have to do back in Spain, I didn't think we'd end up here," he chuckled quietly. "Actually, I expected you to kick me out and for me to leave like always. I refused to let things continue on the same toxic cycle," he sighed. "I want to stay here with you, at least until the end of the week. After that, you can do what you need to do, and I'll return and start my fight, in hopes to have you back in the palace in the next couple of weeks,"

I looked away from him and smiled, "I am assuming no one is happy with your decision coming here?"

"Technically, they can't be angry if they don't know I'm here. Officer Ron is the only one aware of where I am at and he agreed to cover for me if it had to do with you,"

I shook my head, "what if someone—" Sebastian grabbed onto my face. "Let's not worry about the what if's or anything else until it happens. That's been one of our issues. We always worry too much about the future. Let's start enjoying the present,"

"Okay," I responded, leaning in for a kiss. "What do you want to do?"

"How about we order breakfast and the zoo?"

"Actually, that sounds like fun. I've never gone to the zoo before," I confessed.

Sebastian looked at me stunned, "seriously? Not even in Madrid?"

I shook my head, "my parents were always busy, plus, I was lucky enough to make it out to the mall."

"Right, your mom..." Sebastian voice trailed off.
"Well, I'm taking you to the zoo!"

"I'm excited for it," I smiled.

"How about you order some breakfast and I will get our tickets for the zoo?"

I nodded, "okay,"
♛♛♛
After we ate breakfast, Sebastian left to grab his suitcase from his room and I stayed to finish getting ready. It wasn't long before we were in an Uber heading to the zoo. It was hard not to show my excitement, I had thought about the basic tourist sites—Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, go see a broadway show. It never occurred to me to go check out other things.

I was surprised when we made it to the Uber drop off section of the zoo and no cars were parked around. I looked at Sebastian, puzzled.

"I think it's closed. But you said you bought tickets right?" I asked.

Sebastian nodded, "come on, let's see what's going on,"

We walked together towards the enterance of the zoo and a worker stepped out of the booth.

"Welcome to the Bronx Zoo, it's a pleasure to have you two here today," the brown hair guy said.

"Are you guys open then?"

He nodded, "where is everyone?"

Sebastian turned to look at me with a small smile, "I might have bought the zoo for the day and closed it off to public access,"

"Oh...why?" I asked confused.

He hesitated to respond, "truthfully? Security measures. But I also wanted you to enjoy the animals without having people bothering us," He frowned. "Are you mad?'

I shook my head, "not one bit, thank you," I smiled.