The tears continued to pour down, and I brushed them away, but the tears came anyway. My eyes had already turned red and swollen.
As I went to the palace, a vehicle followed me; as I came to rest, the vehicle came to a halt as well. As soon as the driver lowered the window, I realized who was in the vehicle. It's Kuya Prince, I mean Prince Emmanuel, who was waving at me. When I saw his smile. That's when I fell to my knees crying out.
"Gemma!" Prince Emmanuel jumped out of the vehicle and approached me as swiftly as possible. "Stop weeping, please." He helped me get to my feet and into the vehicle.
Prince Emmanuel drove the vehicle away, he let me cry for a minute, but when I still didn't stop, the prince sought a means to stop me.
"I missed you, Kuya; I waited much too long."
"Gemma," He ran his finger through my hair to soothe the wordless sorrow that was raging inside my heart. "I sincerely apologize for leaving you alone."
"I-I hurt him by refusing to love him back." I burst into tears. "I had no idea he would end up liking me because of the little acts of kindness I did for him."
"You seem to like him as well," he said.
My eyes were drawn to him.
"Because if you don't, you won't be hurt like that." He continued. "It is Augustus, isn't it?"
"How did you find out?"
"He was ready to face the world that night at the ball, having already embraced his destiny as king. But then he flees, not because he wants to get away from the ball, but because he believes you want his help; he doesn't hesitate to hold your hand and drive you back to the hospital."
There was a loud bang on my door, but I ignored it until my door finally opened. As Prince Augustus entered the room, his face worried.
"Gemma,"
"H- he's gone..." I covered my face with a shaking hand. "Allerick, he's gone!"
"No!" Prince Augustus grabbed my hand and helped me stand on my feet. "Come on, I'll take you to him. The prince pulled out of the room and went through the back of the palace where there was no guard until we escaped the palace.
As I sobbed, Prince Emmanuel reached out and gently dabbed away my tears. "You, Gemma, made a huge difference in his life by showing him how it feels to be happy once again."
"But, like Raeanna I shatter him again, and he returns to being cold and heartless."
"What exactly are you afraid of? What is it about him that you can't seem to love?"
I made a shaky motion with my head. "How can I love him if one of King Lucien's commandments is to never fall in love with him? I couldn't breach that rule since he's the only one who can help me with my father."
"There are certain rules that aren't met to obeyed."
"But..."
"Rules may also be broken at times, particularly if doing so frees you to do something you desire," he said as he caressed my cheek. "It's not wrong, but letting it interfere is."
"But he's been ignoring me, I don't know what to do,"
"Break the rule, Gemma, and go see Augustus if you love him." Prince Emmanuel kissed the top of my head.
I hastily went to his chamber, but there was no trace of the prince at all. There was no sign of him until I started hearing the piano's symphony fill the air.
He's sitting at the piano, practicing some music. I yelled out his name many times, but he continued to play regardless of my calls. Even the prince's piano playing has become more intense.
"Can I have a word with you, please, Prince Augustus?" I took a few steps closer to him and reached out for his hand.
"Get the hell out of here!" He hit my hand with his hand.
"At least give me a chance to talk," I pleaded.
"Just leave me alone! I'm done with you!"
"Prince..."
"Get out!" he yelled angrily. "Don't come near me, leave the palace, leave my life alone."
I shook my head, refusing to comply with his demands. "No, I'm not leaving until you speak to me."
With his palm, Prince Augustus banged the piano. "All right, if you don't want to leave, I will."
I was unable to keep him from walking away from me even after grabbing his arms.
Like him, I am adamant in my refusal to give up. To prevent him from ascending, I obstructed his path. "Negie, don't let me push you."
"Go ahead and push me if that's the only way you'll listen to me," I said boldly. "The only thing I need is for you to listen to me. You don't have to say anything or even forgive me."
The prince scoffed. "Why should I give you what you want? You didn't listen to me either, so we're even."
He was ready to shove me when someone screamed the prince's name out of nowhere. Deacon was permitted to enter the palace, which surprised me.
"What the fuck?" The prince's hand, which was going to shove me down, suddenly dropped in surprise at seeing Deacon.
"I spotted him standing outside the gate, waiting for someone to come out. This kid seemed to be here for Gemma. That's why I allowed him in." Prince Emmanuel explained.
"Are you out of your mind, Emmanuel?" He strolled beside his brother, Prince Emmanuel, who was a few feet away. "You allowed a stranger in; you had no idea who he was; what if he was up to something?"
"Augustus, I didn't know who he was, but I'm sure you do. He used to be one of your closest friends, wasn't he?" Prince Emmanuel added.
"Don't you see why we're no longer friends? It's because I can't trust him anymore. He's nothing more than a crazy sociopath in disguise."
Deacon's response was, "We feel the same, Prince. But don't worry. It's not you, I've come to ask Gemma out."
"I'm sorry, but..."
"It's all right, Gemma. I give you my permission to join him, and I believe the king will as well."
No, Prince Emmanuel. I can't go with him. I haven't said anything to the prince yet.
"Go ahead and take her." Prince Emmanuel stated as though he was attempting to provoke Prince Augustus. "Take care of her." He grabbed my hand and handed it to Deacon.
Despite my want to resist, I was unable to do so since Deacon had already dragged me out. I glanced back to see if the prince would intervene, but he just turned around, as if unconcerned, while Prince Emmanuel waved his hand in the air, grinning as if he had planned the whole thing.
"Why am I doing this?" Deacon posed the question to himself. "Just so you know I'm still pissed at you, I just agreed to that insane prince's scheme because of what he promised me."
"It's just what I expected," I whispered. "I'm sorry for putting you in this situation."
"Stop that," he said, as he came to a standstill.
"Doing what?"
"See? You're doing it once again." He let out a sigh. "It's all clear to me now. At first, I had a feeling you wouldn't like me. Regardless, I will make every effort to pursue you; I flirted with you, but STILL NO. My mistake was that I didn't realize it was the prince you were interested in until I tried to kiss you and you refused. However, when it came to the prince, you didn't turn away and you didn't show any disgust emotion, in contrast to your reaction after I attempted to kiss you. I was struck by the realization that it was not me, but the prince."
My lips longed to repeat the word "sorry" once again, but I restrained myself since it would only make him feel worse. As an alternative, I put my palm on the top of his head. "Thank you for liking me. I mean it. Deacon, although I can't return your feelings to me, I still want to remain your friend because I care about you."
He smirked a bit. "I can't believe you've friend-zoned me,"
"No, I'm just offering you the option of choosing someone better than me, like Bullet. She can be both attractive and cool, she's a sweetheart who has a lot of character."
"It's not that I disagree with her physical appearance, but you should see how she behaves in front of everybody, her demeanor is quite shocking. Bullet showed much more masculinity than I did."
"Well, that's OK with me." I wrapped my arm around his shoulders. "Should we go and see Bullet?"
"Nah," He shook his head.
Someone stopped the vehicle door from opening just as Deacon and I were about to enter. With each step we took away from Deacon, his hand clung to mine more tightly. Everyone we passed was confused, and some even assumed that he was troubling me. To dissuade them from thinking that way, I attempted to put on a phony grin and reassured them that everything was alright.
Prince Augustus pushed me inside his chamber and slammed the door behind me. "Is that what you do to attract men?"
I scoffed. "If I had wanted to speak to you before, I don't feel the same way now. I'm simply wasting my time, and you're not paying attention to what I'm saying either."
I was just about to turn around when I heard him sob in agony from behind me. "I'm exhausted, Gemma, and I'm fed up with pretending I don't care about you. Do you think it's something I enjoy doing? Every day I punish you, I experience double the amount of misery." He took a shaky breath in. "Tell me what you're feeling, and be honest. Do you like me? There is just one way to respond; either yes or no."
I turned my gaze back to him. "Did you know that the monarch has a rule that must be followed? In my mind, it seemed like a joke that I would fall in love with the prince. But they were correct in that you shouldn't leap to conclusions. You see, I was being very defensive, which is why I ended up liking you."
He rises to his feet.
"I end up admiring the person who is the most disliked by others. I end up liking the worst person..."
With no warning, he sprang forward and kissed my lips, his powerful arms around my waist. I complied, and he kissed me passionately, taking pleasure in the taste and feel of me despite the presence of salty tears in his eyes. The physical connection was making it difficult for him to manage his emotions, and his actions were becoming too much, so I had to stop him. Unable to resist, he kissed my hand before he put my hand down.
He pressed his head against mine, and I pressed my head against his. "You can't take back what you said. Do you understand?"
"Hmm," I said as I nodded.
"I love you, stupid negie," he whispered as he rubbed his finger over the bridge of my nose.