‘Ah, what perfect trap it is.’
The princess expressed in her head. She pressed herself as much as she could against the edge of the seat, as much as she could away from the King.
She stayed silent but tensed, her arm crossed, her chin still raised. She made quite an effort to divert her attention to the darkened scenery outside, still stubbornly acting as if she didn’t have a companion inside the carriage, but the King’s steady gaze made her feel more conscious and uneasy.
Ruen was already fuming inside, but he wanted to control his temper. Anyhow, deep inside, he was pleased that she was finally with him, safe, protected, and within his reach.
They had covered over twenty minutes of travel, but not even one word was released by her. Lianne indeed was trying to evade any conversation with him and she was not even giving him at least a single glance, but Ruen cared less of it. He had been accustomed to this charade of her since they were young that it didn’t affect him anymore.
“You changed your clothes,” Ruen finally broke the silence. He eyed her, unabashedly checking her out from head to toe.
It was a minute of waiting for the princess to reply and when she did it was partly sarcastic, partly the truth.
“I wouldn’t want to leave wearing a flashy gown at this time of night.”
She still refused to move her head to look at him.
“Ah, so you plan on returning to Regaleria?” Ruen inquired again, this time feeling slightly agitated by her inattention.
“I don’t plan on returning to any other place other than away from here,” she caustically replied, telling him the truth. Better be frank than to give him a false hope that she’d return to his side.
She wished with this answer he’d stop questioning her, and probably, stop bothering her, but right at the corner of her eye, she saw the King slowly lean towards her, his elbows now resting on his knees. Because of this, she tensed even more.
“But you don’t need to go away, Lianne.” The King’s voice was cool and collected, or at least that’s what she thought when she failed to notice the hint of concern roped in it.
Ruen attempted to reach for Lianne’s hand, but stopped half a second, clenching his fist in the end. He didn’t have the right to ask that of her right from the start, and he knew well that she would rebuke acidly.
“Why? Isn’t it what was supposed to be?” And rebuke acidly she did. “You promised me my freedom right? Not chain me again like this!” Lianne this time cast a sharp look at him, feeling her anger being inflamed.
But why does she have to look? Why does she have to glance at him?
It was already too late.
Now, after seeing his drowning gaze, it made her remember the truth; the truth that he wasn’t Garlow’s son from the very start.
“You act as if nothing happened between us,” Ruen seethed. “Even if you say it was a mistake, you can never deny that, and I gave you the freedom to decide! Remember… and remember well, Lianne, I did not chain you!”
The King’s words were like an ice bucket being dumped on the princess.
Lianne’s face flushed as she began to have flashbacks of what happened to them in his chamber. And with the present fact that they were inside a carriage with limited space, the memory had become almost tangible, almost real.
Both of them could feel the warm breaths they had released, just like that night.
Both of them could feel the tension and the heat around the room, just like that night.
Lianne squeezed her eyes shut and hauled in a deep breath trying to chase the memories away. How wonderful it would be to just give in; to just surrender her pride and accept that she made a mistake. But she couldn’t. Not now at least when her mind was still in chaos.
She shook her head and let out a small laugh. “Huh. It’s amazing that after just one night of oversight, you immediately think it meant something to me? To us? That doesn’t automatically put me as your possession, Your High…ness! As I said, it was all a mistake.”
“Do you plan on having the same argument again Lianne?” Ruen, with his rage simmering in the surface, asked.
He speedily reached out and grabbed Lianne’s right wrist. He pulled her close to him, but she was able to lean back in success, at least able to put a good amount of distance between their faces.
His hold on her didn’t so much as loosen, however. Their eyes locked for a moment. Lianne hurried to divert her attention away and chose to look at the floor of the carriage.
“We both know that night wasn’t a mistake, princess,” Ruen expressed, so sure of himself. “You yourself should know better. You gave yourself freely to me.”
“What I know for sure is that I am sick of your lies!” Lianne shouted in defense. She clenched her teeth and cast a sharp look at him again. “Everyone in this blasted kingdom made a fool out of me and YOU KNOW THAT ABOVE EVERYONE ELSE!!”
Ruen couldn’t comprehend what she meant.
He was still holding her wrist when the door of the carriage opened without notice. Apparently, with their hot debate inside, none of them knew that they had already arrived in the Regaleria Mansion.
Lianne, upon realizing this, immediately dashed out of the carriage, tearing her hand from Ruen’s hold who was distracted by the coachman’s innocent interruption.
Continuing to enter the foyer, the princess noticed that Lady Faye was already waiting for their arrival. However, instead of stopping to greet the governess, she hurriedly ascended the stairs to the second floor without even a slight nod.
The old woman saw the distressed expression on Lianne’s face but wasn’t sure why until such time when the King followed entry of the foyer who appeared as sullen as he was when he left the mansion three hours ago.
She greeted a welcome note but didn’t receive a response, instead seeing the King running directly up the stairs following the princess.
“Huh…” Lady Faye gave out a long sigh. “I’m too old for this drama. These two should really need to patch things up.”
Instead of heading for the princess’ chamber and try to calm things down, she decided to head to the servants’ quarters.
***
The second Lianne reached her room, she quickly closed the main door and locked it thinking that it would hinder any future entry of the King.
She turned around, pressed her head against the door, and huffed, trying to calm her breathing.
“Please don’t follow me. Please don’t follow me.” That was what she chanted in her mind, but unfortunately, it was an unheard prayer.
Seconds later, subsequent loud knocks and Ruen’s muffled voice was heard outside the main door. “Open this door, Lianne! Open this door or I will do it myself! I need to talk to you. Let me in, please.”
“No…” Lianne whispered to herself as she shook her head.
She ran to her bed chamber and once there, she twisted the lock of her doorknob from the inside and blocked out his voice.
She leaned against the closed portal as tears flowed heavily from her eyes. All of the events, the truth, and her emotions were too much for her. She needed time to think. She needed time to collect herself.
Her bedroom was dark. She didn’t have the will to turn the lights on nor did she want it turned on.
Minutes passed by when Lianne heard nothing but her own cries. She thought the King had already given up and proceeded to his chamber, but a few moments later, she heard a forceful bang inside the receiving room and then a blunt thud on her bedroom door.
Her heart quickened as she grasped the magnitude of the situation. Ruen was inside her room and he was never going to leave her alone this night.
She quickly turned around and secured the doorknob with her two hands so that he couldn’t open it if he had a master key with him.
On the other side of the door, Ruen started knocking on the wood.
“Lianne, open this door.” His command was clear. His stern voice left no room for any argument.
Lianne clasped her hands and brought it against her chest looking as if she was trying to stop the solid pounding of her heart. She shook her head again, still adamant about her decision to be left alone.
“Lianne, open this goddamned door! Don’t make me break it!” Ruen threatened, his patience gradually waning.
The princess wasn’t swayed by it.
“Go away!” she cried out.
“You know I will not do that Lianne,” the King replied on the other side.
“Just please, I beg you. Go away.”
Ruen shook his head in dismay and replied again, “Open this door, don’t hide behind it! Let us talk properly!”
Lianne, fed up with his determination, finally broke her silence. “And then what?” She pressed her forehead against the door and clenched her teeth. “Lie to me again!? Are you going to make up stories to make me the greatest of all the fools in this kingdom?!”
The other side of the door fell silent.
Lianne took this as her chance.
She hauled in another batch of deep breaths to give her enough courage and stared straight at the door as if it was the King who she was talking to.
She had fought so hard. She had tried so hard.
She kept her feelings at bay, kept the truth locked up in the deepest part of her consciousness.
But this time… this time, there was no going back. She was going to tell everything to him.