Chapter 19
“What is the meaning of this?” Natalia’s shrill voice echoed through the rooms. The door to the bedroom was wide open, so she could see them right from where she stood. And they were both completely naked.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing Natalia?” he yelled, rising to his feet. And using part of the bedsheets to cover himself. “Barging into my room like this? You have no rights.”
The last thing he wanted was for her to get an eyeful of his junk, which she might already have done.
“Oh, I do have the rights to do so since I clearly am your fiancée, unless you’ve forgotten all about that,” she raged, poking him with a finger against his chest.
“Fiancée?” Adriana gasped from behind him.
Nicholas didn’t have to look to know that her eyes were welled up with tears. He could hear the tremble in her voice, as she gasped the word out.
“I told you time and again to keep your dalliances away from me. I don’t care how many women you fuck, I just don’t want you dangling them in front of me. You should know better than to toy with random girls you picked off the street in the palace, and in your bedroom for that matter.”
“She’s not a random girl,” he spat back, angry that she of all people was questioning his decisions. “Don’t talk about her like that.”
Once upon a time, when their engagement had been new, he used to fantasize about what having her in bed would feel like. But now, after having a taste of Adriana, she didn’t compare. And he no longer felt any desire towards her.
She cocked her head slightly, peeking over his shoulders to catch a glimpse of Adriana.
“You,” she spat, her eyes narrowing. “You should know better than to fuck someone else’s fiancé. Have you no shame?”
“Don’t bring her into this,” he said with a stern voice. “She has nothing to do with this. And don’t talk to her like that.”
“Then why is she sitting here naked on your bed?”
“Because I brought her here. And she has more rights to be here, than you.”
“More than your fiancée?” Natalia cackled. “I highly doubt that.”
“Isn’t she your designer, Nick? Yours and Xavier’s? Or is that what designing is about now? Landing on a prince’s dick? Or did she fuck herself to the top?”
“Natalia!” he roared, just as he heard Adriana’s sharp intake of breath.
“So now you’re screwing the workers too?” she scoffed, laughing. “Nick, you need to stop playing around. This is no time to hook up with foreign girls. Time to get your head in the game. We’ll be married soon, why don’t you focus on that?”
“She isn’t just a foreign girl, and she’s far much suited at being the queen than you are,” he hissed, angry on Adriana’s behalf.
“But… but… but…,” Natalia spluttered. “She is a foreigner, a commoner.”
“You,” she hissed, her gaze turning towards Adriana. “I should have you thrown to jail, for breaking your contract with the palace.”
“Her contract is none of your damned business,” he hissed.
Adriana immediately bolted out of the room, while still holding the sheets. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she muttered, grabbing her clothes. “This was a mistake.”
“Blue, don’t go,” he pleaded, walking up to her, completely ignoring Natalia shouting at him from behind. “Stay, please.”
“You’re engaged.”
“I can explain, please just hear me out.”
“I can’t,” she said, shaking her head, tears welling up in her eyes.
He knew that Natalia’s presence and words hurt her, but he was without no fault either.
It was because of him that she was in this position. He seduced her, pulled her into his bed, stripped her naked and had his way with her, even though she tried to tell him what a bad idea it was. And now, Natalia had found them, before he was able to tell her about his engagement.
It was all his fault, his burden to carry. “I’m sorry,” he said, sighing as he grabbed her hand. “Please, let me make it up…”
“I … I …” Her eyes shift back and forth between his and Natalia’s, and then she pulled her hand away. “I’m sorry, Nicholas.”
And then she was gone, leaving behind a broken heart and a fractured mind in her wake.
It was all his fault, because of his selfishness.
And now, he had to go after her, to make sure that whatever was happening between them hadn’t been broken beyond repair.
“And you,” he turned his ire towards Natalia. “Get the fuck out of here, the wedding’s off.”
***
Covered in tears and water, Adriana cleaned herself up in the bathroom as best as she could, washing away the evidence of her tryst with Nicholas away, rubbing her skin raw, to free herself of his scent.
She put on her dress which was still wet, before making a quick exit.
She was mortified of the people looking at her as if they were seeing a ghost, knowing that she looked like a soaked cat–literally– and knowing that she looked utterly ridiculous.
But at this point, she was way past the point of caring. She just wanted to get out as fast as she could, screw looking decent, screw saying goodbye.
She was out of here for good, and she didn’t ever want to see the palace again.
Nicholas was engaged. And with Xavier, she had no idea whether he was hers alone, or if he was engaged too. But there was no way she was going to find out, because she was leaving. Her heart wouldn’t be able to handle finding out that the sweet and loving prince was playing her too.
As she made her way back to her apartment, the tears started to pour down her cheeks. She was unable to keep them at bay, and she had no idea why.
Part of her was still in shock, trying to process the fact that Nicholas had a fiancée, and said fiancée had caught her naked, and in bed with her fiancé.
Just thinking about it made her angry, and a cloud of shame overtook him. She had no right to get angry. After all, Nicholas had cheated on his betrothed with her. But it wasn’t her fault that she didn’t know. If she had known that he was promised to another, she wouldn’t have gone anywhere near him.
She couldn’t believe that she let him seduce her like that, time and again. Was she really that easy? Or was her heart really stupid for having a weakness for him and his brother?
She swallowed away the lump in her throat when she thought of their handsome faces, telling herself that she had to put them away, and never think of them ever again.
It was over, and was never going to happen again. She was never going to see them again.
She was leaving, and that was that. What was done was already done. She couldn’t change the past, but starting from now she could prevent herself from getting hurt further.
So, when she finally made it back to her room, she quickly packed her bags and booked a flight back home. She knew that it was probably for the best. After all, if she didn’t leave by choice, she had no idea what would happen to her.
The palace could sue her for misconduct, and maybe even throw her in jail. Nicholas’ fiancée could decide to retaliate against her, after all it was a well known phrase that ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’ And she knew it to be true, because she was a woman and she had been scorned.
It didn’t take her long to get to the airport. She left the workshop and everything else as it was, only taking with her what she had brought to Veronia with herself. All that mattered, was getting the hell out of Veronia, as soon as possible.
So, she sat in the departure’s lounge, determined not to let her heart cloud her judgment ever again.
She knew that it was a mistake kissing him again. She should have put a stop to it, when she found out that Xavier hadn’t been him, should’ve stopped before they went too far.
Now, she was seated here alone, going back to a life she had left behind, feeling gutted. It felt like she was leaving part of herself behind, and not just the parts of her heart that she had unknowingly shared with the princes.
***
Nicholas paced back and forth in his room, waiting for Xavier to arrive. After Natalia had left, no doubt to go and tattle on him to his father, he had shot a text to his brother, telling him about what had gone down.
He couldn’t stop himself from fuming, as he thought of all the ways he could’ve done better, how he could’ve stopped her from leaving, how he could’ve done everything!
It all just went by so quickly, and he never got a shot to repair what he had broken. He didn’t want to lose her, not now or ever. Didn’t even want to say goodbye.
But by the time he had managed to escape from his room, she was long gone. Even the workshop had been left as it was. It was like she had never even been there to begin with.
And it pissed him off to no end. He wouldn’t forgive himself for ruining what he and Xavier had with her. It was the first time both of them have been so serious about anyone. And now, it was all ruined because of fucking Natalia.
His parents were so hell-bent on making him into the perfect monarch, that they have lost sight of who he was, as a human, and to be honest, so had he until Adriana.
Natalia had been his parents’ choice, and he had gone through with it, because there hadn’t been another he had felt a smidgen of attraction to. But now, he no longer cared about being a prince or a king. No longer cared about the palace or all the riches. All he wanted was her, naked or clothed with him and Xavier, forever.
But now she was gone. Disappeared, without a trace. And maybe for forever.
And it was all because of him, because he had being too much of a coward to admit to what she really meant to him.
Now, he was left with a hole in his heart and a wish to scream his lungs out.
And so he did. Without regret, without any doubt, he released his rage on his father the moment he appeared in his room again.
“This is your fucking fault!” he yelled, pointing at him as he stepped inside without knocking.
“How dare you raise your voice—”
“No, how dare you ruin this for me? Adriana was the one girl I wanted to keep. I know you sent Natalia into my room, there was no way she would have known to barge in, when she did.”
“Oh, please, she was just a foreigner who was here for work. That’s it,” he said, waving it away as though it was no big deal.
But it was to Nicholas, and Xavier too. And it was high time the King finally understood.
“When are you going to get over it? It’s time you got back to business.”
“You don’t get it.” He tapped him on the chest. “You want me to become a prince. Someone people can admire. Someone fit for the throne. Yet you don’t even let me make my own decisions. You think you need to control me, but you’re pushing me further and further away.”
“A prince should care more about his country than himself,” he said. “You will be king one day, it is time you start acting like one.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be a prince or a king,” he said, pacing around the room. “Ever thought about that?”
“You don’t have a choice,” he said.
“Except I do. I could abdicate my claim to the throne, and walk out of here today and never come back.”
His face turned dark, like thunder and lightning. “You wouldn’t.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Nicholas said, clenching his fist. “Because I really am thinking about it.”
“Why?” he asked, approaching him. “Over some girl? Have you lost your mind?”
“No,” he grasped the clothes she made and held on to them, smelling them, knowing they had been in her hands. They still carried her scent. He wished he could smell it one more time.
“I’ve lost my heart.”
The gravity of it all sank in like a stone, and he felt like he could finally breathe.
“You’ve fallen in love?” the King sputtered. “With a commoner? That’s not possible, you’re—”
“And not just me, Xavier too.”
“Xavier? With the same girl? She’s got her clutches on him too? But you’re princes, you can’t fall in love with a commoner.”
“Then I don’t want to be a prince,” he said, gazing at his father over his shoulder.
“What did you say?” He frowned.
“You heard me,” he uttered, standing his ground. “If I can’t have her, it’s not worth it.”
“Nonsense. There are plenty of other actual royal girls available. Natalia for example. Are you really going to throw away such a promising match for a commoner?”
“I don’t want them. I want her. End of story.”
“And what if I don’t agree?” He placed his hands against his side.
“Then I’ll quit.”
“Quit what?” He scoffs. “Being a prince?”
Nicholas nodded. “I don’t care.”
“You’ll lose your right to the throne,” he reiterated, making sure that Nicholas understood his decision. “The palace. The money. Everything.”
Nicholas shrugged. “It means nothing if I can’t choose who to love.”
The king’s lips parted, but he was incapable of making a response.
“You’re willing to risk everything for that girl?” he asked, finally realizing that Nicholas was indeed serious.
He nodded. “I told you, she’s not just any girl. At least, not to me.” He sighed. “And not to Xavier too, I want her. Only her.”
“So you’re dismissing all the potential royal ladies waiting for you to make a choice?” he asked. “To have a two-way relationship with a commoner?”
“Yes. She doesn’t want us because we’re princes, she likes us for who we are as men.” He approached his dad. “And having her in my life was the best thing that’s happened to me in years, to either of us.”
His father sighed out loud, visibly disappointed. And he got it. His son wasn’t who he thought he’d be. Maybe it was only right that he gave everything up. He hadn’t exactly proven himself to be a great future king, especially by mentioning that he and his brother would be dating the same commoner, which was totally unheard of. But, it worked for them, so everyone could just fuck off.
So, he turned around and began to walk towards the door, after getting a text from Xavier to meet him at the palace entrance.
“Where are you going, Nicholas?” he asked.
“To find her.” He answered simply.
“And do what exactly?”
“Win her back.” He was determined, he wouldn’t let his father or anyone persuade him to stay or ignore his feelings for her. It was far too late for that, and it was high time he began to make the right choices for himself, and not what his parents thought was right for him.
“She’s probably already gone,” he said.
“I don’t care, we’ll chase her if we have to.”
“We?”
“Xavier and I.”
“He’s serious about her too?”
“Deadly.”
“ And if she was already out of the country, will you chase her then too?”
“One way or another, father, we are going to get her back.”
Maybe they were too late, maybe she was already on her way to Manhattan. But that won’t stop him from flying after her, he was a prince after all. And it was time he pulled some strings his station allowed him to.
Nothing was going to stop him from being near her again. And if it meant dragging her back to his bed, and chaining her to it, until she listened to him, then so be it.
