Chapter 891: Rowena"s Nightmare
For a lingering second, Prince Liam admired her beauty but then quickly redirected his gaze back at the ceiling. It almost felt like he was besmirching the woman by simply looking at her.
"Get yourself together," he told himself.
Even though he was a prince, the crown prince at that, it felt like he was some ruffian that tarnished "Harlow"s" peaceful sleep because he laid his eyes on her.
Although this was his first time sleeping with a woman in the same room, in all honesty, it was his own reputation that he needed to be worried about. Luckily, it wasn"t Prince Liam with Harlow, it was just "Julian".
"I wonder if he likes it there," Prince Liam asked himself idly.
If Julian was really captured, it meant that he was taken to the royal palace and would experience the luxury of a crown prince. That meant this "Julian" might have gotten overwhelmed and enticed by the riches of being a prince and what life it would offer them.
However, n.o.body in their right mind would have simply left "Harlow" right? This young girl was so interesting and beautiful that any sane man would definitely choose her over life as royalty. Well... at least Liam would.
Prince Liam suddenly felt very envious of both Rowena and Julian. The two seemed to have known and lived with each other for quite a good amount of time that they were close enough to share a room.
He never knew what it was like to have a bond like this.
It was true that Prince Liam had a good relations.h.i.+p with his royal bodyguard. The old man was kind to him, but if he hadn"t been the prince and didn"t have this role… it almost felt like he would amount to nothing.
"Tomorrow, or rather later this morning," Prince Liam knew it was already past midnight. He whispered underneath his breath and came to a decision. "If he doesn"t return… surely, it wouldn"t be so bad?"
Maybe someday, or maybe when they were far away, Prince Liam could explain the truth to "Harlow" right?
Or could he lie?
She and Julian parted ways, so Prince Liam could tell her anything and n.o.body would be able to counter it except Julian himself who was not around. She might understand that Julian chose to live as a prince and that they came to a mutual decision together.
"No, that doesn"t seem like the right thing." He was frustrated by his own thoughts. Prince Liam enjoyed his time with "Harlow" but it wasn"t right to just steal someone"s ident.i.ty right?
Morning soon came for Prince Liam who didn"t quite get enough sleep.
***
Rowena saw a younger version of herself locked up in a tower, dressed in simpler clothes and fill
ed with longing to go out and touch the gra.s.s.
She dreamed and remembered dear Leia, the first person who took care of her when she was a child, and saw how much love the woman had for her.
The next scene occurred and this time it was Lucent who came up, her beautiful feathered friend who had been a constant presence in her life throughout all the painful and tedious process of being a princess.
When she felt alone, dejected, and without acceptance… without the love of somebody she deemed as her family, Lucent had been there for her.
And finally, it was Julian.
He was cheeky, mischievous, and someone who knew about the world far more than she did. All of them gathered together underneath a lovely tree, a picnic blanket laid down during the morning"s bright and blue sky.
Rowena"s heart brimmed with deep emotions at the sight of them.
It was so happy to be reunited–no, Leia was the first one who disappeared, struck in the head and decapitated. Lucent finally burst into flames and turned into ashes, until only a single feather remained and even that was swept away by the wind.
Julian looked over towards her, the last one to go… but unlike the other two, he simply stood up and waved a hand. "Goodbye, Rowena."
When her three loved ones finally disappeared, a figure suddenly appeared and his form grew bigger. King Draco turned into a giant that rose above the sky and blocked out the sun, his laughter thundered and darkened the sky.
"I"m the only one you"ll have, child," King Draco said. "You belong here."
"Nononono–!"
Rowena sprang up in the bed in a panic, her heart thundered in her chest as she looked up at the bed and found the blankets neatly folded together. Her eyes widened and she turned around wildly in the small room.
"Julian?! Julian–!" Rowena"s heart was in her throat until the door opened and "Julian" stepped back inside with a tray filled with breakfast.
Prince Liam looked over at Rowena with concern. There was a haunted look on her face that reminded him of his mother. Sometimes, he caught his mother with the same exact expression.
"Are you alright? Did you have a nightmare?" Prince Liam asked.
Rowena nearly collapsed back into the floor, but then she forced herself to sit back down on the bed and faked a smile. "I"m fine, Julian. I was just surprised about… well, I thought you suddenly just left after last night."
"I would never do that," Prince Liam said and felt like it was something that Julian would have said. Even if he wasn"t around here right now.
"Of course, you wouldn"t leave without s
aying goodbye, right?"
"To leave you without saying a single word is utter rubbish. Have some breakfast first, there"s also tea if you"d like."
Rowena looked over at "Julian" and felt her smile weaken. She didn"t realize how much she was affected by her emotions.
Since she was a princess, Lady Mary and Lady Liz instructed her on how to control her emotions. On how to not let them get the better of her and to suppress any negative emotions that might mar her face.
However, all of those emotions came tumbling back and Rowena was now afraid that she"d lose Julian too. Was she going to lose him when he was all that she had left?