When the banquet was over, Darryl withdrew to his room and so was everyone else. The day after tomorrow, he will be travelling to the central village with the Chieftain to arrange the wedding ceremony and he hoped that he would see Xhemin again and eventually make her his wife. The road back to her wasn"t full of rainbows and b.o.n.e.rs, it was one heck of a ride and yet he was wis.h.i.+ng destination was worth of the sweat. This time, he will not let her go.Darryl was having hard time sleeping as everything overwhelmed him. For the last two years, all he ever wanted was enter the beautiful Manggan Island and yet here was, the only thing lacking was Xhemin on his arms.
As Darryl"s thoughts was full of Xhemin, a small knock on the door pulled him back to his already dark room. He wondered who could be seeking him at this time of the night, yet he pulled his exhausted self-up toward the door.
"Who is it?" Darryl asked. The chambers in the Somer lands do not have a locks so even without Darryl"s consent, the sliding door cracked open.
"h.e.l.lo my dear," A female voice called and in the darkness and Darryl saw the silhouette of Princess w.a.n.g standing before him. Although it was dark, the windows in Baruk Tam"s household were big and so the light of the moon from the outside gave the room a little light, enough for one to recognize people at a small distance.
Darryl was completely surprised with this unexpected visit, but since he was a guest in the Manggan Island he choose to be casual to her.
"Princess w.a.n.g, I don"t think it"s a good hour for you to knock on my door," Darryl said in a neutral tone as he stepped back to make a big gap of distance between them but the princess entered even without permission.
"I know and I"m sorry to disturb you from your peaceful sleep," The Princess said with a sweet smile. Although Princess w.a.n.g wasn"t as pretty as her other siblings, she had some features that could definitely capture a man"s attention and one of it is her smile and tonight, she was wearing that a.s.set to her advantage. "But the thing between us ran off pretty fast and I thought perhaps we can spend some time tonight to get to know each other since—"
"Princess w.a.n.g hold it right there" Darryl cut her off completely. The words she had breathed out gave Darryl a hint why she went to see him but as to how she got that idea, Darryl didn"t know. Nevertheless, he need to explain the thing to her because clearly she went beyond everyone"s interpretation "I think you had misunderstand"
"I"m sorry. I know your decision to marry me was completely out of duty and perhaps because you don"t want to say no to father, but I do think that as a couple to be married soon, we should work things—"
"Princess w.a.n.g I"m not marrying you" Darryl cut in straight to the point. He didn"t like how her sweet expression changed into something else, but he had no choice but to end her fantasy. The earlier she"ll realize the fact, the lesser it would hurt.
"What are you talking about? You are to marry me, father just announced earlier at the banquet" She told him surprised of his supposed fiancée"s words. Darryl"s statement came as a hard slap to her face and right then she regretted approaching him.
She had imagine earlier at the banquet how they would spend the night together, perhaps by strolling at the beach under the moon or just inside his chambers, alone, the two of them. However, Darryl"s sudden rejection teared off all her expectations tonight and her heart did not only broke into pieces, it was shot dead on the spot.
"You are not the princess that I"m going to marry," Darryl repeated to make it clear to her. He had seen how the girl was having hard time accepting the truth but it must be said to avoid further complications. He had gone through h.e.l.l to follow Xhemin, he cannot afford to lose her again just because another princesses a.s.sumed that he was pursuing her. "I don"t know why you come up with that conclusion as you have many siblings and as I learned from the Chieftain, many of your sisters is in a marrying age"
"But I am the Highest Princess! I"m have the highest status amongst every girl in the Manggan Island and most of all I am—"
"But you are not the woman I love," Darryl told straight to her face "I"m sorry for the misunderstanding. I made it very clear to the chieftain who I want to marry and that is not you,"
"Then who is it?" Princess w.a.n.g"s frustration made tears rounded up in her eyes. She had never been in this kind of situation ever before where she had swallowed all her pride but end up getting rejected. She wondered who amongst her sister was the lucky one and realized there was only one possible candidate to be the Somer hero"s love.
It"s the healer—the intruder who had pulled Princess Tang down to a pit and the roux blooded who ruined all her mother"s plan.
Without waiting for Darryl"s answer, Princess w.a.n.g turned her back immediately away from him. She ran back to her room crying.
Why was the heavens so unfair with her and so favorable to the healer?
The healer had already gotten all his father"s love and attentions. The Chieftain had given her the first born"s chambers, jewelries and the best of everything and right then he was also so willing to her the man that she had desired the most at her own stake too as she will be skipped.
That cannot happen.
She should not watch everything goes to that adopted princess.
She should fight for what she wants.
She must be the one to marry the hero of the Somer lands and not that healer.
With that being said, she"ll find a way that Darryl will end up marrying her and not that healer.