He nodded and dropped her gaze, opting to glance at Brielle before he leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees and pocketing his head in his hands.
“I was a lost kid desperate to feel powerful, and you made me feel small. I lashed out in the only way I knew how to take that power back. I’m sorry, Lucinda. I’m not that kid anymore.”
Part of her wanted to believe him for Ira’s sake, but up until a minute ago, he hadn’t even recalled the memory.
“She doesn’t know what you said about her, but if I have to tell her, I will. I don’t know what you are playing with her, but she’s been through enough. She deserves a chance to be happy.” Luci said.
“And I could never make her happy?” he said it like it wasn’t a question at all.
“She is kindness embodied and good to a fault. She deserves someone as equally good and kind,” she said.
Lucien tilted his head, and Luci knew by the way he studied her that she already hated what he would say.
“Good thing she is engaged to Ira, who is both of those things,” he said.
It cut as much as she thought it would. Just like that, she was sixteen in a garden maze, feeling two feet tall. A spoiled prince was reminding her of how much power she actually had. Everything she condemned Lucien for was a trait she was partially guilty of. She was cynical and stubborn. She may not have been spoiled, but she certainly wasn’t good or kind.
“Maybe it’s better that way,” Luci said.
Lucien’s eyebrow rose.
“Giving up so easily? That doesn’t sound like the Lucinda that Brielle and Ira speak of. I suppose you would be the first to offer them congratulations on their wedding day,” he said.
“Wouldn’t you?” she asked, knowing he was too selfish to understand.
He stood up and flicked a piece of lint off his shoulder.
“If that was what she wanted, then yes, I would, but we both know it’s not what either of them wants. So you can dislike me for a wrong I did you ten years ago, but know that I won’t be silent and watch her trap herself in a marriage where she isn’t loved the way she deserves to be. Ira is a good person. He always has been and always will be. A perfect Prince Charming, but you and I know that he’s in love with someone else. If you actually loved either of them, you wouldn’t subject them to a fate where respect supercedes love.”
His words were nails in the coffin she’d built for herself, and he knew it. Yet it wasn’t in his nature to win and walk away. Lucien Vencia needed to know he’d left his opponent decimated before he could walk away. So when he was nearly to the door, he turned around and leveled her into oblivion.
“Maybe I’m not the selfish one after all,” he said.
Too slow to process and six feet under, Luci waited until the door shut behind him to ask what a spoiled prince knew of love, but maybe he knew more than a broken servant after all.
Another day passed, and Luci decided eating was better than suffering another visit from Luien, who was yet to darken her door again. Meals and snacks were made in regular deliveries,but Ira didn’t come anymore either. Only Noah and Gladys visited now.
Gladys tried to coerce Luci into washing up, promising to stay with Brielle the whole time, but Luci refused. She’d gone away when Brielle needed her most, and even though it saved her life, she wasn’t leaving her side again. Not while she could help it. Eventually, Gladys gave up and left, promising to come if there was anything Luci needed.
Ira’s twin was much more like him than their younger brother. She carried herself with grace and kindness, but an undeniable respect followed her wherever she went. Her words carried weight, but she never abused that power. Always leaving a choice. She would have made a great queen if she’d been born a few minutes earlier.
Noah came every six hours to give more tonic, but the last round, he said they needed to be careful about giving any more because if they wanted to attempt to grow any more, they needed to salvage the rest of the flower. So now it was time to wait. Given that Brielle’s appearance had improved dramatically, Luci couldn’t argue. Somehow, the magic worked to gain weight back while her hair shone bright blond and silken soft, and her skin was without imperfection.
Still, the thought of perpetual sleep plagued Luci, but she and Calcifer continued their vigil. Another sunset passed by, and Luci decided to pull out Brielle’s favorite story. Incidentally, the Vencia’s claim to fame. Though reading through now felt a little like peeking through the curtain, knowing what a true beast the love interest was. The horrors he committed.
It felt wrong that his legacy was anything other than the destruction of an entire race, but so the history pages went to the victor.
“Knowing she couldn’t stay in the castle a minute longer, Isabella ran through the bitter.
cold, desperate to make it back to her village and to her father. Unfortunately, the night was not made for maidens running from cursed princes, but rather for predators. The first howl of the wolf stalking her sent a chill into her very bones, but Isabella never wavered. It was either that she remained trapped in a damp and lonely castle or that she braved the night.
Desperation at her heels, Isabella launched through the trees, but it was too late. Snow crunching below her boots, she saw the first set of yellow eyes watching her. Another after another eye appeared, surrounding her. That was when she knew no help was coming.
Tears streaming down her face, Isabella grabbed a stray branch and attempted to ward off the wolves, but they only prodded on deft feet closer and closer.
Just as the first wolf leapt, teeth bared, a force barreled through the trees, toppling bushes and snow alike, and slammed into the wolf. Isabella let loose a wild cry as she was sure she was done for, but instead a form she knew all too well was lifting the wolf and throwing it into the woods with a yelp-”
“Kind of ruins it a little when you realize how much of a monster he actually was.”